We held our seventh annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch event on Sunday morning. Splitting into three groups, we covered all parts of The Heath in an hour, with members of the Knutsford Ornithological Society (KOS) providing their expertise.
Overall, we observed 17 species and 45 individuals, fewer than in previous years, but we were pleased that some less common species – Coal Tit, Dunnock and Goldcrest – appeared.
The counts for this event and previous ones are below.
| Species | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Blackbird | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Blackheaded Gull | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Blue Tit | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Bullfinch | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Buzzard | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Carrion Crow | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Chaffinch | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Coal Tit | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Collared Dove | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Dunnock | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Feral Pigeon | 2 | ||||||
| Goldcrest | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Goldfinch | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Great Tit | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jackdaw | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Jay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Kestrel | 1 | ||||||
| Long-tailed Tit | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Magpie | 4 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
| Nuthatch | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Pied Wagtail | 2 | ||||||
| Redwing | 5 | 6 | |||||
| Robin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Song Thrush | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Starling | 3 | ||||||
| Treecreeper | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Waxwing | 2 | ||||||
| Wood Pigeon | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Wren | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 47 | 48 | 53 | 64 | 31 | 59 | 45 |
Thanks to all who took part.
