Guest blog by Robin Brown, Portmore Lough volunteerIt’s just over a year since our volunteer Robin Brown received the President's Award at the RSPB AGM in London. At that stage, Robin had dedicated 5,000 hours as a volunteer co-ordinator at our Portmore Lough reserve in County Antrim, so it was a fitting recognition for his outstanding contribution to our work. Robin received the award from RSPB President Miranda Krestovnikoff. It would be fair to say that Robin gets great pleasure and satisfaction from his volunteering with the Portmore team and RSPB NI Director Joanne Sherwood has even called him “a volunteer extraordinaire”!Here he opens up about his fitting first name and of how he’s looking forward to the 40th RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch in January:Robin and robinsPeople frequently make the connection between my name being ‘Robin’ and me being an RSPB volunteer and they find it amusing! Myself and my family get quite a number of Christmas cards which feature robins, possibly 40% of the cards we receive!A couple of years ago at Portmore we had a very tame robin that would happily take mealworms from my hand. It all started with a former volunteer who patiently coaxed and eventually gained its confidence. It became a great source of joy to children to watch and even more so when he would feed from their hands. Most people commented on how cold the robin’s little feet were! Sadly, it is no more but we do have another one which seems happy to come very close to humans, so maybe we can coax it too.I definitely have a soft spot for robins but I also love tree sparrows, kestrels, marsh harriers, goldfinches, bullfinches and goldcrests.Portmore at Christmas We have the gates of Portmore open each Christmas Day and people do like to visit over the festive season. I know that because I’ve done it myself and seen them. A couple of years ago, I actually came across a party of six French visitors at the reserve on Christmas Eve!Big Garden BirdwatchI faithfully participate in the Big Garden Birdwatch (BGBW) every year and I always make sure that there is a selection of food to attract the birds. I find that peanuts and sunflower hearts are always popular.Myself and my wife do the survey in our garden, but I will be encouraging my two daughters and their families to do likewise at their own homes now that some of their children are old enough to enjoy taking part. The most spectacular bird observation in my garden occurred this summer, when I spotted and managed to photograph a great spotted woodpecker. I would always encourage people to take part in the Birdwatch. As so many species are under threat, it is crucial that as much information as possible is gathered about the state of our bird populations so that the RSPB can take effective action to remedy the causes where possible.At Portmore, we will be placing BGBW posters to help spread the word as we encourage people to take part in what is the 40th year. And any members of the public who maybe don’t have gardens will of course be most welcome to come and observe at the reserve.Registration for Big Garden Birdwatch 2019 is open now – just visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch for all details. The Birdwatch takes place on Saturday 26, Sunday 27 and Monday 28 January, so please set aside one hour that weekend to take part!In January we’ll be asking you “How will you #BigGardenBirdWatch?” and want you to share your stories, so please get involved via social media and let us know how you’re taking part!