RSPB Garden Birdwatch 2019

The RSPB birdwatch was carried out over the weekend of 26th, 27th and 28th of January.
I did mine on Saturday 26th between 08:35 and 09:35. It was another poor year with a total count of 20 birds and 7 different species.
Starling - 9
Dunnock - 2
Wood Pigeon - 2
Blue Tit - 1
Blackbird - 1
Magpie - 2
Goldfinch - 3
I started doing the watch in 2001 and the lowest counts (20 and below) since then have been as follows:
2003 - 19
2017 - 20
2019 - 20
One reason for the apparent decline can be seen from the Finch/Sparrow bar chart above. Greenfinches and Chaffinches have disappeared from my garden, and even more worringly House Sparrows seem to be going the same way.

From the above it can be seen that Starlings are just about hanging on with 9 seen this year compared to 11 and 10 in the previous two years. Again the heady days of 30 seen in 2008 are now long gone.

Several factors are probably involved in the general decline of garden birds here.
1. Most of the mature trees have been felled in the surrounding gardens.
2. The disease called Trichomonosis has probably done for Greenfinches and Chaffinches.
3. Very few nest sites remain for House Sparrows and Starlings.