list of the month...birds

better late than later...
- this month its "birdies seen around your house in the last month"

1. herring gull
2. blackbird (male and female)
3. blackcap (overwintering female)
4. goldfinch
5. blue tit
6. coal tit
7. great tit
8. long-tailed tit
9. greenfinch
10. wren
11. starling
12. songthrush
13. robin (who was bob-bob-bobbin' along)
14. magpie
15. rook
16. wood pigeon
17. feral pigeon
18. house (possibly tree) sparrow
19. collared dove
20. mottled chickadiddle

...not bad for a suburb eh? When we first moved here ten years ago the estate was 18 months old and we didn't see a bird from one day to the next - now you can hardly move for avians.
I got some new binoculars the other day - I don't suppose they'll help me see more birds, but I will be able to see them better - did you know for instance that goldfinches have a pillar-box red head?
What have you seen recently around your house?

the picture shows snow falling around a feeding starling in our garden - click pic to enlarge

Note - the mottled chickadiddle doesn't really exist - I just wanted 20 birds in the list