Big turnout for RSPB’s garden birdwatch crashes website

THE annual garden birdwatching survey run by the RSPB saw a surge in interest from locked-down Britons this weekend.

The charity said online participants in the Big Garden Birdwatch on January 29 to 31, in which people spend an hour watching birds in their garden or balcony and record which species they see, were up 85% on last year’s figures.

The event – popular with many nature watchers in the Westcountry – proved such a hit some keen participants reported having trouble logging their results on the website on Sunday.

The RSPB said the website was back up and running, and people had until February 19 to submit their results, which help scientists track the fortunes of some of the UK’s best-loved birds.

Nearly half a million people took part last year, but this year’s figure looks set to be much higher if online participant numbers from the weekend are anything to go by.

Early results suggest the house sparrow is maintaining its number one spot, with well over a million of the birds counted in the reports so far.

As of 9am on Monday morning, there had also been more than 705,000 blue tits recorded in gardens and more than 652,000 starlings.

Blackbirds and woodpigeons are currently in the fourth and fifth spot for the most-seen birds.

Beccy Speight, chief executive of the RSPB, said: “The huge levels of participation in the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend are a testament to the power of nature to uplift and comfort us during these challenging times.

She said: “Everyone who has taken part is helping us revive our world by building an annual snapshot of how our most common birdlife is doing across the UK and helping us better understand how to protect and restore it.”

She said she hoped that people felt a stronger connection with wildlife.