Again, usual visitors to the feeder, which includes 5-6 well fed Wood Pigeons. Well, there was, number reduced by one yesterday following a visit of a local Sparrowhawk.

We do get them whizzing through the garden fairly regularly - presume they’ve become aware of the feeder too

Only other thing of note, is the large number of Butterfly’s- we’ve had Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and Small White in significant numbers this week.

Very much the same birds each day but a singing Chiff Chaff and a Greenfinch on my feeder were welcome additions to my garden.

I live by the river in Central Frome, and we have a deck where I sit in the mornings.  Yesterday I realised that our local pair of sparrowhawks were building a nest right above me, about 80-90 feet up in an alder.  They were really close, grabbing at twigs then flying vertically up to the fork in the tree where they were building.  I watched them for ~15 minutes, realising that for tree nesters, twigs are vital currency, as they really can’t breed without them.  Pigeons, jackdaws, crows, sparrowhawks, magpies, buzzards and ravens are all competing for the same twigs!  Hopefully they will continue and complete both their nest and the whole breeding process, overlooked by my office desk!

I am settling down to do a garden list each day while the isolation policy is in place. I saw 26 species yesterday and around 20 so far today in a limited period. Song thrush was a highlight as they may well nest. House Sparrows are busy with nest material on our roof. It occurs to me that in one way the lockdown should help breeding birds as it will limit disturbance but in the case of sites where birds are “protected” such as Chough and Little Tern sites, the opposite might occur as natural predators will have free rein. Keep garden feeders going if you can and record nest sites from a safe distance. If you feel like it, report your garden/local birds here.