Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer
Now I am not a football fan (hopefully I haven't just lost half of you) I blame it on my folks travelling around a lot when I was a wee one. I never had a team that I could support and be proud of. My soon-to-be-father in law is always a bit disappointed with this as he can not wax lyrical about the highs and lows of Sunderland FC.
I have to admit, I was blown away the other day when I was walking home seeing the waves of yellow and green on the streets as the Norwich City FC fans walked to see their heroes. There is something rather touching about the way a simple game of 22 folk kicking a ball around can bring thousands of people together. There were people of all ages, an elderly lady sporting a fetching green and yellow floral dress and matching hair band, young families with inflatable canaries, people from all walks of life. As I was walking by it struck me that these people probably walk by each other every day of their lives, but put them in matching plumage and they will happily chat and rallying each other along.
This is when it got me thinking about what I do at work and how we are all working towards doing our green bit for conservation. If we could just bottle that passion and pride that Norwich's Yellow Army have and use it for conservation then we could do amazing things. The thing is that I know that you, yes you, already have that passion for making a difference, just look at all the great work our members, volunteers and blog fans do with the RSPB. If we could just crank it up a notch and get the same number of people who wave their yellow and green scarves for the footie to wave a banner for conservation, then we would be well on the way to helping our wildlife here in the East.
SO how do we do it? Do we need that sense of pride, bringing people together, a common goal and even a uniform and mascot? I couldn't help but have a think and see if, other than a 6 foot tall canary, there is a bird out there that could be a mascot for the plucky footballers of our fair city. So take a look at the motley crew below and see what you think - who would you choose to represent?
If you want to step up and do something to help be part of this green movement why not sign up to our Love Nature week where you can give a bit of your time to help raise money for conservation. Also I promise you don't have to dress up in any 6 foot canary (or other animal) outfit (http://www.rspb.org.uk/lovenature/).
Greenfinch. Photo Credit: Ben Hall (rspb images)
Yellowhammer. Photo Credit: Tom Marshall (rspb images)
Yellow wagtail. Photo Credit: Andy Hay (rspb images)
Canary!