#club5050 The Great British Birdwatch

The sun is out. Sunglasses on or actually I wish I had them on me. If I was living on the coast I would have spent a few hours on the beach today, not in bikini of course. It is still January here in England though it is quite mild compared to last year. I would have taken my lunch out too and I would have had a dog with me to play with. A cute and just a bit mischievous puppy, a sausage dog, would have been ideal.

A golden pheasant Chrysolophus pictus.
Camera: Nikon D5600 Lens: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ISO: 900
Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/4.6

But back to reality, here I am in Richmond, London. I got a coffee to go at least. Where am I off to today? I hope some started wondering. Am I just about to miss as usual a train somewhere? Luckily not. I will spend the day here but I am travelling next weekend actually.

A ring-necked parakeet Psittacula krameri.
Camera: Nikon D5600 Lens: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ISO: 900
Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/5.3

The last weekend of January is the official annual RSPB which stands for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds big garden birdwatch. It was a hit last year during lockdown when many did it for the first time ever.

All you have to do is to spare an hour watching the birds in your own garden or in your local park which I hope you visit as often as you can like I do. Then you submit the numbers which you can easily do online and it takes not more than a few minutes. You can report your sightings until the 20th of February. I recommend you take a family member or a friend to birdwatch with who will help you keep track of and write down the correct numbers of the bird species you have seen.

A great tit Parus major.
Camera: Nikon D5600 Lens: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ISO: 1,250
Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/5.3

I was extremely lucky to see a golden pheasant Chrysolophus pictus today! It is a rare sighting and to be honest with you it has been a year at least since I last saw one. I love its colourful feathers that make the bird look so fancy which is exactly what we are used to seeing here in this part of London. I hope you are now tempted to play the video and see this golden pheasant which is even being fed towards the end.

I also recorded footage especially for you Steemians of a few ring-necked parakeets Psittacula krameri which we are so used to seeing here in West London but people from other parts of the country, Northamptonshire for instance don’t get the chance to. The green parakeets remind me of being on holiday somewhere on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I was also lucky to see and photo a nuthatch Sitta europaea. This bird is always in a rush to get to the bottom of the tree trunk and then it flies away so you need to be quick if you wish to have its photo taken.

A nuthatch Sitta europaea.
Camera: Nikon D5600 Lens: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ISO: 2,800
Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/5.3

Last but not least let’s enjoy some of the tiny garden birds which we see daily like the great Parus major and blue Parus caeruleus tits, the more of which the merrier.