The Assynt Garden Bird Survey, which started in 1997, has provided a wealth of data about the bird species we get in Assynt. We would very much like to continue this work and it would be great if you could help.
We have produced a checklist of the commonest birds you are likely to see in your Assynt garden. All you need to do is record which species you see in your garden each month. You just simply tick if a bird was present in your garden that month. If you have time you could provide more information in the comments section, such as the maximum numbers you saw or the first date the bird occurred.
Completed forms for 2025 should be brought to January meetings of the Field Club, or posted to Ian Evans at the address indicated on the new instructions and recording sheet, which can be viewed and downloaded from here:
Assynt Garden Bird Survey Instructions and Recording Sheet (780KB doc)
Or, to have one posted to you, please email assyntwildlife@gmail.com
Your contribution to this ongoing survey would be very much appreciated, thank you.
As part of the Assynt Wildlife Records Digitisation Project, which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Scottish Natural Heritage, we have produced a spreadsheet of the results from 1997-2023 which can be accessed here –
Assynt Garden Bird Survey Records 1997-2023 (1000KB xlsx)
Annual Summary
2023
For the year to 31st December 2023 we received results from 15 gardens and these had a combined total of 2387 records!
The results showed that, in every month of the year, Robin and Great Tit occurred in 9 gardens; Chaffinch in 8; Blackbird in 7; Goldfinch and Rock Dove in 6; Coal Tit, and Dunnock in 5 and House Sparrow in 4.
The Robin therefore shared the top spot with Great Tit as our most commonly seen garden birds in 2023. The RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch has House Sparrow as Scotland’s most numerous garden bird. Of course, we do not count the number of birds, simply their presence.
2022
For the year to 31st December 2022 we received results from 15 gardens and these had a combined total of 2353 records!
The results showed that, in every month of the year, Robin occurred in 12 gardens; Goldfinch in 9; Blackbird and Chaffinch in 8, Great Tit in 7; Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Dunnock in 6; Wren and House Sparrow in 5.
The Robin therefore regained the top spot as our most commonly seen garden bird in 2022. The RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch has House Sparrow as Scotland’s most numerous garden bird. Of course, we do not count the number of birds, simply their presence.
2021
For the year to 31st December 2021 we received results from 19 gardens and these had a combined total of 2881 records!
The results showed that, in every month of the year, Blackbird occurred in 10 gardens; Robin and Rock Dove in 9; Chaffinch, Dunnock and House Sparrow in 8; Goldfinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit in 7; Coal Tit in 4.
The Blackbird was therefore our most commonly seen garden bird in 2021, knocking Robin off the top spot. The RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch has House Sparrow as Scotland’s most numerous garden bird. Of course, we do not count the number of birds, simply their presence.
2020
For the year to 31st December 2020 we received results from 16 gardens and these had a combined total of 2450 records!
The results showed that, in every month of the year, Robin occurred in 11 gardens; Blackbird in 8; Chaffinch, Great Tit, House Sparrow and Rock Dove in 7; Coal Tit and Dunnock in 6; Blue Tit and Goldfinch in 4; Wren , Greenfinch and Collared Dove in 2, and Starling and Bullfinch in 1.
The Robin was once again our most commonly seen garden bird in 2020. The RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch has House Sparrow as Scotland’s most numerous garden bird. Of course, we do not count the number of birds, simply their presence.