Join in and help create a snapshot of garden birds
It’s the world’s biggest wildlife survey, with about 500,000 people taking part in 2017 – and this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch (BGB) takes place from today until Monday (January 27-29). As the format stays the same, the scientific data can be compared yearon-year, creating a ‘snapshot’ of bird numbers across the UK.
The BGB has revealed we have lost more than half our house sparrows and three-quarters of starlings since the survey began. However, blue tit numbers have risen by 20 per cent and the woodpigeon population has increased by 800 per cent.
Anyone can join in, whether you have a garden or not. Download an information pack from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), visit https://www.rspb.org.uk/getinvolved/activities/birdwatch/packrequest/
Choose a good place to watch from for an hour during the three-day period of the survey and have a pen and paper to make a note of what you see (there’s also a counting tool on the RSPB website).
If you haven’t got a garden, go to your local park.
Count the maximum number of each species you see at any one time. For example, if you see a group of three house sparrows together and later another two, and after that another one, the number to submit is three – it’s less likely you’ll doublecount the same birds.
Even if you don’t see any birds, this is vital information, so the RSPB can establish whether there’s a problem in your area – or if they are just next door.
Go to the Big Garden Birdwatch website, log your results, or use a paper form, which is free to post back to the RSPB.
More than eight million birds were sighted in 2017, an increase on the previous year. In 2016, starlings were seen in 40 per cent of gardens, compared with 50 per cent last year.
Regularly feeding birds has a big positive impact, as well as putting up a nest box or gardening with nature in mind. talnewsandmore,logontowww. mandycanudigit.com(nowsmart- phonefriendly),followmeonTwitter @MandyCanUDigIt or you can like meonnyFacebookpageatMandycanudigit