Several people say that they haven’t noticed so many blackbirds this year. Our recorder Karen Cowley has sent this information collated from our records.
Blackbirds in Gardens of R.F.N.S. Observers 2014-2018
| Breeding Code | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018
|
| FL
|
19 | 11 | 15 | 11 | 5 |
| ON
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FF
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| NE
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| NY
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Number of Records where the following Confirmed Breeding Codes were used:
NE – nest containing eggs / NY – nest with young/ FF – Adult carrying faecal sac or food
FL – Recently fledged young still dependent on adults (i.e accompanied by adults or being fed by adults)
ON – Adults entering or leaving Nest site, indicating Occupied Nest.
What do you think?
Superficially there appears to have been a fall in numbers of Garden Blackbirds in 2018 but these numbers can be misleading. The same family of blackbirds may be recorded several times over by the same recorder in some years.
You can join our garden recording group by contacting Karen at rfnsrecords@gmail.com