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Monday morning and a jay visited the kitchen window. I always think these are incredibly handsome birds and the small blue wing feathers still give me a childish thrill when I find one dropped. I can't resist picking it up to stick in my hat

This weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest bird survey. In last year's Birdwatch, over 400,000 people sat for an hour and noted which species visited their gardens; six million birds were counted. The Big Garden Birdwatch

knocking into too many other promenaders, I decide to head for the picnic tables near the Anoplotherium herd for an early lunch. Or is it a late second breakfast?Tucking in to our home-made quiche, and carrot cake, I notice a small bird flickering about

I thought my garden was already quite a haven for mammals, birds and insects, but there is always more you can do for them. With this in mind I've just registered to take part in the RSPB Homes for Wildlife scheme. After answering a few brief

Big news from the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey results just out: the long-tailed tit has made it, for the first time in the survey's 30-year history, into the top 10. I hardly ever saw these gregarious little birds until I moved to East Dulwich

. I was struck by its bright iridescent green body and red head against the drab colours of the autumn sward. Like many non-ornithologists before me I was confused by the considerable lack of wood for such a bird to peck, way up on the chalk hillsides

think foxes are so wonderful. She tells the tales, so common in farming communities, of foxes getting into the chicken runs and killing everything, even though only one or two birds are eaten. Such blatant (and seemingly vindictive) waste grates hard

I was in Peckham Rye Park on Monday and saw a wagtail strutting about by the small stream that runs past. They're not rare birds, but I watched it for some time thinking I had not seen one in ages. Although maybe not really a suburban garden bird

, and could not make out the distinctive shape of this pretty bird. Of course they are renowned for playing hide-and-seek with observers, hopping round to the other side of the trunk if they see they are being watched. Some years ago I was able to see one very

of the garden beds.We have a regular gang of these fantastic birds wheeling about in the sky far above us, but they never come down low into the garden, nor do they ever perch on the fences or even the clothes line. I can't really envisage even the most agile