At dawn, 3 Goldfinch and a Blue Tit were on the feeder, and a Great Tit visited the tree briefly at 8:50am. A further flock of five Goldfinch visited around 9:30am.

At least one Redwing was seen the nearby oak tree, showing quite well in the good light this morning. Another garden tick was a single Dunnock in a neighbour's hedge, looking for food. Woodpigeon have been displaying for the past few days now, and a female Blackbird was seen collecting nest material.

Around 3pm two skeins of circa 30 wildfowl flew over the woods heading WNW, with the latter changing direction to N - possibly to avoid the rain.

Today was the RSPB Garden Birdwatch 2007. My survey was carried out between 8:45 and 9:45am, but the feeders were quite empty during this period. However, I did add a garden first in the form of a Wren, which was seen high up in the neighbour's conifers at about 9:15am - possibly it roosted there? A Sparrowhawk was gliding in the sunlight at 9:30am, heading in the direction of Arnold from Rise Park.

After refilling them at lunchtime, the numbers picked up, and a Kestrel was seen flying/hovering very high up in the sky above Warren Hill after watching a small flock (circa 20) of Starling going to roost at 4:30pm. A flock of unidentified wildfowl flew over heading NNW at dusk.

A cold day, having had light snow through the night, brought the first Blackbird into the garden (since recording). A female had come to explore the water I'd put out on the lawn. Two small flocks of Lapwing were seen flying NW in the direction of the Pit Top at about 9:30am.

A great day for garden birds with the first definite sighting of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which was seen in flight heading east in front of the woods at noon. Shortly afterwards, at 12:15pm, a skein of 30-40 geese were flying NNW over the Pit Top area. These were later identified as Pink-footed Goose and confirmed by a report on the Notts Birders Website, where they were seen flying west over Arnold. Four Goldfinch were on the feeder around 2pm, and a Song Thrush and a Fieldfare were in the oak tree at dusk.

Today had several flyovers from new gulls, with both Great Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull heading over the Pit Top. I spent a while looking for woodpeckers in the distant trees, but had no luck at all. A male Sparrowhawk was seen high up in the afternoon sunlight, being persistently mobbed by a Carrion Crow.

The cold weather is bringing more birds to the garden feeders with four Goldfinch together on the feeder yesterday and six this morning! Circa 150 Rook flew over heading WSW at 3pm - the first time I've positively seen Rook from the garden.

The bad weather seems to have brought greater numbers out of the woods and into the gardens. Greenfinch and Goldfinch were regular visitors and, at one point, there were 3 Greenfinch, a single Goldfinch and several Starling in the tree and on the feeder. Three House Sparrow (1 male and 2 female) were in a neighbour's garden. A Kestrel was seen in silhouette, battling with the strong winds before sunset.

This morning brought the first Grey Squirrel to the so-called squirrel-proof feeder. It hung upside-down with its face in one of the ports before realising there was a load of seed in the tray. It seemed to eat a little before moving on - I guess their supplies in the woods are starting to run low. Pairs of Greenfinch and Goldfinch also visited the feeder, with a single Blue Tit first thing in the morning.

A single Coal Tit was on the feeder first thing in the morning, and a Blue Tit later. A few House Sparrow were around, and a single female briefly visited our tree.

The good weather brought lots of birds to the garden, with a Blue Tit in the morning, a Robin in the evening and Starling, Goldfinch and Greenfinch throughout the day.

Today I fitted a new feeder tray to stop all the spillages, and refilled all of the feeders too. I had good views of Starling, Goldfinch and Greenfinch on the feeder, and managed to digi-bin a few half-decent photos of the Goldfinch too - probably the best I've taken so far.

Today I've added Robin to the garden list. It was actually on the feeder for a few seconds, and then on the fence.

Two Greenfinch were on the feeder at 9:30am, and then a single Blue Tit, shortly followed by two Goldfinch. The finches were on the feeder throughout the day, with three Greenfinch together at one point in the afternoon, allowing for some reasonable digi-bin shots.

At 9:30am, a Kestrel was heading west in the direction of the Pit Top. Two Greenfinch were on the feeder together in the morning, and shortly afterwards another was on the feeder.

In the afternoon, a female Sparrowhawk was hunting, and landed on a tree in the adjacent garden.

A good start to the year with a reasonable garden list of 12 species, including a single Coal Tit on the feeder first thing in the morning and several House Sparrow, one of which came to our feeder (garden first).