#30DaysWild has officially launched and today is Day number 1.

I thought I would start the month with a topic which I will no doubt re-visit time and time again. The birds in my garden!

For anyone with an interest in birds I’m sure you will agree that your own back garden is the perfect place to learn about different species and watch them interact with each other. Over the last few years we have been feeding the birds and have been delighted to see them come back time and time again. Earlier this year we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch and unsurprisingly to us our top visitor was the Sparrow. Not to down play the dear Sparrow but we wanted to diversify and start getting more species visiting our garden.

We decided to start to offer more types of bird food including Niger seeds and Sunflower seeds and just sit back and watch and wait. It then finally happened…..a Siskin came to visit, and then another. Wow! We then got Goldfinches……..amazing, in the whole 5 years we lived in our house we have never seen one! Now there are 4! A Chaffinch……….and a few weeks later after much calling a female Chaffinch is now feeding. We even got a visit from a Greenfinch and a Magpie who bagged himself a Walnut!

Chaffinch

Siskin

Now depending on where you live you may think it’s no big deal and you get these birds all the time. Not us! We got plenty of Sparrows and Pigeons and also some Starlings but never Siskins, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches before! Suddenly our back garden has been transformed and we have a whole community of different birds coming multiple times a day to feed.

This time of year is such an exciting time to watch the birds as they find a mate and start to bring up young. We aren’t lucky enough to have any nesting birds in our garden but it is great to see that the Starlings who nest nearby are taking their young to our garden to feed. They descend on our bird table like Locusts as they squabble over the handful of mealworms left out for them. It is truly amazing. And as much as I love getting out into the countryside with my camera and seeing who I will spot it is great to know that all I need to do for my wildlife fix is to walk to my kitchen window, sit and watch.

Camilla -Erika x

#30dayswild

(All photographs have been taken by Camilla-Erika Campbell)