The weekend after next, around half a million people, maybe more maybe fewer, will take part in Big Garden Birdwatch.
It's become a tradition in many homes for everyone, young and old to settle down together for an hour and note the birds coming to their garden. And these observations, over a period of over 30 years, have helped to chart the ups and downs of our garden birds. They have shown the fall of the house sparrow and starling numbers and the rise of collared dove and wood pigeon.
Why not give it a go? It's fun and you will be contributing to a long-running mass-participation survey.
And I wonder how many politicians will be showing their green credentials by participating? Are we all in it together Mr Cameron? Will it be a labour of love Mr Miliband? Will you be proportionately represented Mr Clegg?
The question is - half a million plus or minus 800 or so Westminster MPs, Scottish MSPs, Welsh AMs and Northern Ireland MLAs?
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
curiousPan - I don't know the answer to your question off-hand. It feels to me as though there is a mix of the bright young things and the older more experienced hands in our workforce. It is certainly becoming clearer to me that there are lots of people working for the RSPB who can't remember the days before emails - and that makes me feel old.
Thanks Sooty, that's encouraging to hearing and I hope employers of the future will be flexible and actively seek more mature staff who are able to offer a diverse skill set.
Hi curiousPan,think lots of us enjoy part time work after retiring,it gives us a chance to do more or less exactly what we want when we want to and with a good employer it is brilliant and I think gives the change from working full time to retiring a gradual change.One good thing is that lots of us get different skills to what we had.
Dear Mark,
Firstly, I’m sorry to hear that you are leaving the RSPB, a great loss but I do hope you will continue to blog about your future endeavours in the conservation arena. I have found your comments and insights thoughtful and inspiring. I’d be disappointed if you disappeared altogether!
Glad to see the Big Garden Bird Watch is still a cornerstone of the RSPB’s public participation programme. I hope a few BUPA residents are encouraged and get a chance to participate; I see from your news page you are now working with them to promote more wildlife friendly gardens at their care homes. It’s never too late to connect people with nature.
This got me thinking, recently I have been contemplating the fact that I may well need to continue working as I near 70 (I still have a few years to go yet, just turned 40) but how and will our ‘Big Society’ support and accept people working well into their 60s, if not longer. I note that some follow commenter’s are still very active volunteers post 60 and some of the most helpful and informative volunteers at RSPB reserves are retired members. My question is how many RSPB paid staff, either part-time or full-time, are in their 60s+? This may not be a question you can answer but does the RSPB have view on an aging working force?