HOW many times have you watched a nature programme on TV, and seen the colour and grace of many of the world's bird species and thought: "I wish we had some of those in my back garden"?

On a recent visit to Hurcott Pool I noticed the return of two seemingly annual visitors to the pool. These were a pair of great crested grebes, which are magnificent birds that return to the pool to begin their new year.

The first thing which strikes you when you spot these birds is their long slender black and white neck with feathers sweeping back from their faces ending in a black bar. A feathered crest runs across the top of their head to form two pronounced tufts. In addition to this display of markings, during the summer they develop an orange colouring across their cheeks.

I began the week with a morning stroll across Burlish Top nature reserve where a colourful display was being given which was truly amazing. As I emerged from the woodland area of the reserve I witnessed two different woodpecker species.

The first was the highly coloured green woodpecker, which danced through the air looking for patches of ground where it could forage for ants and other insects. The bright green, yellow and red coloured feathers make this one of the most distinctive birds in the county.

Shortly after leaving the green woodpecker I spotted one of its smaller relatives, a greater spotted woodpecker swooping upwards into the trees at my approach.

Another stunning bird, the greater spotted woodpecker is primarily black and white with spotted wings, as its name would suggest, and a brilliant red cap on its head suggesting it was a male.

I then went further into the areas of lowland heath to find myself close enough to witness a feeding frenzy of birds as they descended upon one of the areas which had recently been mowed as part of the heathland restoration management plan.

In this group of birds was what I first thought to be a song thrush. But as I watched it take flight again and flash me its red underwing, this gave it away as a redwing.

I then looked towards another flash of colour to see a small group of bullfinches fluttering about in a small tree. Yet another undervalued bird, it has a beautiful mix of black and white across its wings, while having a black cap and chin and a blue-grey back with a white area on the underside of its tail. The males also have bright red underparts while the females are a more pinkish-brown.

Now looking back on the past few days and what I have witnessed I ask myself, do we really need these birds we see on TV or is our resident bird population just as colourful?