Couldn’t take part in the BTO early bird survey because it was on a working day, but the idea was to get up before dawn (not difficult in January!) and count the time taken for the first 10 species to appear either before or after daybreak. Nationally the winners were blackbird, robin and blue tit with an average appearance 11 min, 16 min and 21 min after daybreak respectively. Tawny owls on average were around 11 min before daybreak. See here for the BTO results.

Our daily experience is a bit different. We regularly leave the house before daybreak but the owls have gone to bed and the blackbird, great tit and robin are singing away. Nationally the great tit was the ninth to appear, having lay in for a good 28 minutes after dawn.