According to the page for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, our efforts were above average for sparrows (we saw 7 compared to a Leicestershire average of 4) but on the low side for total birds seen (19 compared to an average of about 24). We were most pleased that our neighbourhood wren came out to play.

In fact, since we hadn’t submitted our figures from this morning, we fudged things slightly and started a new count after lunch in order to get the wren in. It isn’t exactly a cheat. It just meant that some of the birds we didn’t see this afternoon weren’t included in our submission (mainly a pair of bluetits) that was the hours counting we submitted and the total figures reflected what came in the later hour. The wren was worth it though, not only appearing but coming closer to the window and for longer than it has done before.

The census ran from Friday until today. There’s little point running out now to take part but you can still submit your figures, online, by email or by post if you’ve collected them already. It will happen again next year on the last weekend of January, as it has done every year for some time now and it helps contribute to a picture of how different bird populations are faring across the UK over time.