I ddarllen y blog yma yng Nghymraeg cliciwch yma os gwelwch yn dda.Just over 24,000 of you took part in Big Garden Birdwatch this year in Wales counting a fantastic 455,606 birds – witnessing some exciting and interesting changes among our most popular birds.
The house sparrow remained the most spotted garden bird in Wales seen in nearly three quarters of participants’ gardens, with the starling and blue tit completing the top three. Weather conditions leading up to the Birdwatch meant that this year gardens in Wales were treated to a range of different visitors as the sub-zero temperatures on the continent forced them to go in search of milder conditions.
The Birdwatch has provided us with valuable data to help build a better picture of how our garden birds are doing. The sight of a robin or blackbird perched on the garden fence is often one of the first experiences we have with nature, so to have so it’s brilliant to have so many people in Wales taking part again this year.
Some of the most common visitors to our gardens were blackbirds and robins who were spotted in more than 90% of gardens in Wales. Other good news is an increase in the numbers of more secretive birds like wrens (+19%) and dunnocks (+10%) in Wales this year. However, the survey highlighted a downturn in the recorded sightings of blue tits (-20.8%), great tits (-16.9%) and coal tits (-16.6%) on last year’s figures.
Numbers of small bodied birds such as blue tits and great tits are susceptible to changes in weather throughout the year, and scientists believe that the prolonged wet weather during the 2016 breeding season led to fewer younger birds surviving than usual, meaning there are fewer to be seen in gardens.
The nation’s school children noticed a similar pattern when taking part in the 2017 RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch. The UK-wide survey of birds in schools saw over 3,600 school children in Wales spend an hour counting the birds they share their school grounds with. The starling remained the most common playground visitor with the carrion crow and house sparrow rounding off the top three.
Our gardens are an invaluable resource for our birds who need food, water and a safe place to shelter throughout the year. By doing our bit to help them we hope we can play a role in reversing some declines. For more infomration on the 2017 Big Garden Birdwatch results please visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.