Last Saturday we ran an event at Caithness Horizons in Thurso, making bird feeders and encouraging members of the public to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch. We had great fun and it was great to meet the adults and children who came along and to hear how the birds are doing in gardens around Caithness. But how are the birds doing across the UK?
Volunteers (Louise Senior, Naomi Boult & Kirsty Godsman) & Staff (Claire Foot & Paul Turner) at Caithness Horizons with Feeders & Bird Boxes (Image: Paul Turner/Forsinard)
The Big Garden Birdwatch is a national bird count that takes place once a year in January, run over a weekend, with this year being 25th/26th January; that is this weekend!
This count helps the RSPB create a ‘snapshot’ of bird numbers including declines, so even the lack of birds is still a result, of species such as starlings or house sparrow (These have been declining since the late 1970s!) Although these counts have helped highlight the declines of some species, this is also the first step to putting things right and helping us come up with conservation solutions.
This year it is even easier to take part and record your bird numbers with a live ‘bird counter’ on the RSPB website, allowing you to use your smartphone or tablet to record the birds as you see them.
Why not use your smartphone or tablet to record your sightings? Image: Rahul Thanki (rspb-images.com)
Please help us by spending just 1 hour over the weekend, counting birds in your garden, local park or other green space. Also this year, there is a new initiative which includes recording the other wildlife that visits your garden or green space, not necessarily just in the one hour of your count, but how often you see other wildlife such as badger, fox, hedgehog, squirrel or if you are lucky enough to see deer too. This gives a good indicator of the health of the countryside.
590,000 people took part in the UK bird count last year, counting over 8.2 million birds across Britain over the course of the weekend. The more people that take part, the more the RSPB can learn. You can even sit inside with a hot cuppa and carry out your count, what other bird survey allows you to do this in the comfort of your own home?
Why not visit the website and register to take part? https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/
Goldfinch at a garden feeder Image: John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
For advice on feeding garden birds click HERE and for advice on bird boxes click HERE
HAPPY COUNTING
Paul & Naomi