Britain is a country where old men count birds in their back gardens

Yesterday my friend Del Boy and I took part, along with thousands of other Brits, young and old, in the annual 'Big Garden Birdwatch', organised by 'The Royal Society for The Protection of Birds'. The results are fed to the Society by post or on line and it is then possible to see which speicies are rising in numbers and those in decline. I'm not sure, but I suspect that this is the only country in the world where something like this happens.

It was a fine, crisp and cold day and this was our tally in my back garden :
20 wood pigeon
8 magpie
3 black bird
3 blue tit
2 dunnock
2 starling
1 robin
1 thrush
1 collared dove
1 jay
1 common gull
1 black headed gull
1 greater spotted woodpecker





This last little chap, a greater spotted woodpecker, is rare and 'made the morning' of the two old boys keeping their tally.