The Garden Bird List (Last updated December 2005)
The Garden List currently stands at 84 species (Started in March 2003). The list below is in chronological order and briefly describes the status of each species.
1. Starling	Very common. Maximum count: 72 in the garden on 22nd February 2005.
2. House Sparrow	Very common, with numbers fairly stable at 15 to 30 birds. A maximum count of 38 in the garden occurred on 13th August 2005.
3. Magpie	Common. An amazing group of 22 were seen in the paddock trees on 15th January 2004.
4. Collared Dove	Very common. Winter roost numbers regularly reach 40+. The highest count was of 72 on 10th October 2004. A partial albino bird was seen during the 2004/2005 winter.
5. Blue Tit	Common. About 2 to 6 birds regularly visit the bird feeders. A maximum count of 18 (moving through the Elder Bush) occurred on 13th August 2005.
6. Carrion Crow	Common. A pair breeds annually in one of the tall trees a few gardens down and in May 2005 a Carrion Crow was seen grabbing a Starling in its bill and fly off with it!!
7. Wood Pigeon	Common. Numbers typically build up in the winter, with the maximum count being 301 in the paddock on 28th February 2004. Occasional visitor to the garden with a maximum of 2.
8. Black-headed Gull	Common. Maximum count: 143 in paddock on 21st December 2004.
9. Blackbird	Common. Bred in the hedge in spring 2003, but the nest was robbed by Magpies. Highest count is only 5.
10. Robin	Fairly common, with just 2 pairs in the immediate area. Bred in the garden in April/May 2003.
11. Mallard	Occasional flyover and visitor to the paddock. Maximum: 5 over on the 4th February 2004. Seen in all months except June, August, September, October and November.
12. Dunnock	Not so common. One was seen being nabbed by the local ginger tabby on 8th May 2003. Maximum: 4 in September 2003, since then numbers down to just 1 or 2.
13. Long-tailed Tit	Occasional visitor to the garden and rarely to the bird feeders. Seen in all months. Maximum: 18 on the 27th January 2004.
14. Pied Wagtail	Common in the autumn, winter and spring. Scarce in summer and actually not recorded in June. Scarce visitor to the garden, mostly singletons, but occasionally two. The maximum count is of 37 in the horse paddock on 21st December 2004.
15. Green Woodpecker	Occasional visitor to the big trees on the perimeter of the paddock. Still to be seen in January and June.
16. Wren	Fairly common, though sightings during the summer months of May to July are very scarce. Seems to be just the one pair present.
17. Great Tit	Common. Typically 2 to 4 birds regularly visit the bird feeders.
18. Goldcrest	Scarce. Twelve records in total, all from the winter period and early spring.
19. Skylark	Rare, with just three sight records of a single bird on 12th March 2003, 3 on the 3rd April 2005 and a single bird on 1st May 2005. Also, one was heard singing from the Newgate Lane fields on four dates in May 2004 and on one date in April 2005.
20. Greenfinch	Common. Typically 2 to 6 birds visit the bird feeders. Maximum: 40+ in the horse paddock in October 2003.
21. Redwing	A regular winter visitor to the paddock during November to March. Maximum: 61 on 4th March 2004.
22. Grey Heron	Regular flyover and visitor to the paddock. Maximum: 3 on 16th April 2004.
23. Goldfinch	Fairly common. Seen in all months; visits the feeders practically daily from mid October to May (numbers vary from 2 to 8). Maximum: 40+ in the horse paddock in October 2003.
24. Jackdaw	Very occasional flyover. Surprisingly absent from this end of Bridgemary.
25. Lesser Black-backed Gull	Scarce. Mostly of single birds flying over. Actually seen in the paddock on 23rd April 2005 (2 birds).
26. Herring Gull	Occasional flyover. Seen in all months. Maximum: 11 on 12th June 2003.
27. Great Spotted Woodpecker	Occasional visitor to the big trees on the perimeter of the paddock. A juvenile actually visited the nut feeder on the 14th July 2004. Seen in all months except April and May.
28. Blackcap	Very occasional passage visitor (April, August, September and October). Occasionally over winters, though numbers vary. Three birds regularly visited the bird table in February and March 2004.
29. Chaffinch	Occasional visitor, scarce in the garden. A pair breeds in the school grounds opposite our house. Maximum: 5 in November 2003 and January 2004.
30. Jay	Occasional visitor, scarce in the garden. Seen all year round, though more sightings occur in late September, October and November. Maximum is just 3.
31. Mistle Thrush	Scarce. Eighteen records, all from the winter period (October through to April).
32. Meadow Pipit	Scarce passage visitor. Most records from April, September and October. A few mid winter records from December and January when the horse paddock is flooded. Maximum: 30+ on 10th Apr 2004.
33. Little Egret	Regular. Can occur at anytime of the year, though favoured months are June, July (the breeding site at HMS Frater is less than a mile away!), plus December and January when the horse paddock floods. Maximum: 7 in the paddock on 21st January 2005.
34. Song Thrush	Very occasional winter visitor (October to April). Scarce garden visitor, though a very secretive bird spent the best part of two weeks in the garden in December 2005. Just two records outside of this period on 27th July 2004 and 7th June 2005. Maximum: 4 on 10th November 2003.
35. Sparrowhawk	Occasional Visitor, more evident during the autumn and winter period. Seen in every month. Birds have snatched prey from the table on several occasions. Since the erection of the fence they have occasionally been seen resting on it.
36. Willow Warbler	Rare autumn passage visitor, with thirteen records. Apart from one heard singing on 20th April 2003, the remaining records have all been in August. Maximum; 5 on 4th August 2005.
37. Shelduck	Rare flyover, with four records. 1 on 26th April 2003, 1 on 21st March 2004, a small group of 5 on 30th August 2004 and 1 on 24th April 2005.
38. Swallow	Fairly common summer visitor, from April to October. The earliest date so far, is the 10th April 2005, whilst the latest is an exceptional record of one hawking for insects over the paddock for 20 minutes on the 6th December 2004. Maximum: 70 on 27th September 2004. May have bred in the horse stable during the summer of 2005.
39. House Martin	Occasional summer visitor, from April to October. At the height of the breeding season, the species is rather uncommon at this end of Bridgemary. Most records relate to August, September and October. The earliest recorded so far is on the 26th April 2003 and the latest is the 12th October 2004. Maximum: 140+ on 11th October 2004.
40. Swift	Fairly common summer visitor, from April to September. The earliest date so far is the 27th April 2004, with the latest date being the 1st September 2003. Maximum: 47 on 31st July 2005.
41. Cormorant	Scarce flyover in ones and twos. Seen in all months except July, August and November.
42. Great Black-backed Gull	Scarce flyover. Seen in all months except June, November and December. Maximum: 6 on 19th May 2004.
Escapee Cockatiel	Rare. Heard only on 1st June 2003.
43. Linnet	Scarce visitor, with just eleven records. Seen in March, July, August, September, October and November. Maximum: 7 on 15th November 2003
44. Common Gull	Occasional flyover, recorded mostly from the winter months between July to March. Maximum: 6 on 20th August 2005.
45. Rook	Very occasional flyover. Surprisingly absent from this end of Bridgemary.
46. Oystercatcher	Rare. Two records, 4 flew over on 15th August 2003 and 2 flew over on 16th July 2005.
47. Whitethroat	Scarce autumn passage visitor. Apart from one heard singing from the paddock hedgerow on 4 dates in May 2004; plus a juvenile seen in the garden on 21st June 2005 and one in the garden on 23rd July 2005, the remaining records have all been in August.
48. Buzzard	Scarce flyover. Recorded in the months of February, March, April, May, June, August, September and October. Maximum: 4 on 25th March 2005.
49. Sand Martin	Rare. Just three records of single birds on 2nd September 2003, 28th August 2005 and 18th September 2005.
50. Whinchat	Rare. One record, 1 on the paddock hedgerow on 3rd September 2003.
51. Spotted Flycatcher	Rare autumn passage visitor, during August and September. Just 7 records. Maximum: 2 on 29th August 2004.
52. Chiffchaff	Very occasional autumn passage visitor, scarce in winter and spring. Recorded in January (1 record), March (3 records), April (1 record), August (7 records), September (24 records), October (23 records), November (1 record) and December (1 record). Maximum: 3 in September 2003, September 2004 and October 2004.
53. Canada Goose	Scarce flyover and visitor to the paddock. Recorded in all months except March, May and July. Maximum: 20+ on 12th January 2004.
54. Black-tailed Godwit	Scarce flyover, with twelve records all from August through to December. Maximum: 30+ on 29th October 2004. Two birds were actually feeding in the paddock on 4th December 2005.
55. Lapwing	Scarce winter visitor, from October to March. In late December 2004 and regularly through January 2005, Lapwings were heard calling from the horse paddock after dark. (It was too dark to count, but sounded like at least 3+). This was repeated in December 2005. Maximum: 80+ on 3rd February 2004.
56. Kestrel	Scarce visitor. Despite the seemingly ideal habitat, this species has only 21 records to date. The pair that hang out at the bottom of Newgate Lane at the Peel Common roundabout rarely venture this way!
57. Green Sandpiper	Scarce winter visitor to the horse paddock, from October to March. Usually seen after heavy rain when the paddock floods. Maximum: 3 on 12th January 2004.
58. Golden Plover	Rare visitor. Just six records, 60+ on 9th November 2003, 17 on 28th February 2004, 17 on 2nd March 2004, 1 on 11th October 2004, 60+ on 23rd February 2005 and 60+ on 31st December 2005.
59. Fieldfare	Very scarce winter visitor, from November to March. Maximum: 9 on 12th January 2004.
60. Dunlin	Rare. Three sight records. A couple of flocks (50+ & 40+) flying over the paddock on 26th November 2003; an impressive flock of 200 swirling above the paddock on 8th January 2004 and 2 feeding in the paddock on 30th December 2005. A possible Dunlin was heard leaving the paddock on the nights of 28th December 2004 and 19th January 2005.
61. Greenshank	Rare, with just two records; 1 in the paddock on 8th January 2004 and probably the same bird on 12th January 2004.
62. Snipe	Rare winter and passage visitor. Just twelve records, recorded mostly in ones and twos. Total sightings per month are as follows; January (1), March (8), December (3). Maximum: 11 on 30th December 2005.
63. Mediterranean Gull	Rare. Two records. 1 on 8th January 2004 and 1 on 12th January 2004.
64. Teal	Rare. It was an amazing sight to see 7 males displaying to 4 females in the flooded horse paddock on 12th January 2004. Then, on 5 nights in December 2004, Teal were heard to be calling from the paddock and luckily on the moonlit night of the 28th I managed to see 9 silhouettes. Birds were again heard to call from the paddock in December 2005 and on 30th December 2005 an extraordinary 28 birds were present in the flooded paddock (16 males & 12 females).
65. Pheasant	Rare visitor to the paddock. A male was seen on four dates in March 2004; then another male was seen irregularly during January to April 2005. Two youngsters were seen on 16th July 2005. Then a male with the two youngsters put in irregular appearances from 5th September 2005 until the years end, with the female showing itself from mid October 2005 onwards.
66. Stock Dove	Rare. Just three records; Two birds over the paddock on 10th May 2004, 2 in the paddock on 28th February 2005 and 2 flew over on 7th August 2005.
67. Peregrine	One record, of an adult soaring over the house for five minutes on 10th May 2004.
68. Cuckoo	Just the one record. Heard singing at 11am for 4 minutes or so from a hidden corner of the paddock on 23rd May 2004.
69. Whimbrel	Rare, with just two records. One heard calling and seen heading south at 6:45pm on the 28th July 2004 and a flock of 5 on 24th April 2005.
70. Yellow Wagtail	Just three records, 1 on 5th September 2004 and two individuals on 29th September 2005.
71. Osprey	One was seen flying low over the horse paddock being pestered by a Carrion Crow on 12th September 2004. It was heading south west probably towards Titchfield Haven.
72. Pied Flycatcher	Rare, with just one record, a female type in the paddock hedgerow on 17th September 2004.
73. Grey Wagtail	Rare passage flyover, with four records. 1 on 25th September 2004, 2 on 16th October 2004, 1 on 25th February 2005 and 1 on 18th September 2005.
74. Black Redstart	An amazing record this one! A young male flew in through the open door of the kitchen at 11pm on 29th October 2004. It took us 30 minutes to catch it and release it back outside.
75. Redpoll	Rare. One record. 1 seen flying and calling over the front part of the house on 30th October 2004.
Escapee Budgerigar	A lemon & white bird was seen flying over the paddock on 14th December 2004.
76. Marsh Harrier	A probable bird flew east at 12:45pm on 24th April 2005. It had primary feathers missing on the right wing. Earlier (per HosList) at 10:45am a harrier was seen flying east over Pig Bush (New Forest). It too had primary feathers missing from the right wing!!
77. Red Kite	Literally just an hour after the Marsh Harrier on 24th April 2005, a Red Kite soared over the house for 10 minutes giving fine views, before it too drifted off east. This bird was seen earlier (per HosList) at 1pm flying over Titchfield Common.
78. Mute Swan	Just the one record of 2 birds flying over the paddock on 6th June 2005.
79. Sandwich Tern	Heard calling and seen heading north east towards Fareham Creek on 17th July 2005.
80. Hobby	Just two records. A single bird with prey in its talons flew over the paddock on 5th August 2005 and 1 on 16th September 2005.
81. Garden Warbler	Just the one record. A single bird in the Elder Bush on 13th August 2005.
82. Redstart	A female was seen in the perimeter trees of the paddock on 28th August 2005.
83. Coal Tit	A single bird visited the feeders for 30 minutes on the morning of 27th September 2005.
84. Redshank	An injured bird with a damaged left leg was in the paddock from 8th to 10th December 2005.