Are you ready for Big Garden Birdwatch?

As you may have read, this year sees the 30th Big Garden Birdwatch. To mark this special anniversary, I'm already putting together a cunning plan for my best Birdwatch ever...

Strictly speaking, you don't need to do any special preparation for Big Garden Birdwatch. It's fine not to put out any food, but it's likely that you'll see more birds if you do. And, while it's not a competition to see the most, I'm sure you'll agree it's always nice to see a good variety of birds.

What's on the menu?

I'll be sticking to my trusty sunflower hearts, as nearly all the birds seem to love them: starlings, tits, finches, blackbirds, robins, great spotted woodpeckers...

There are a few that are picky eaters. What can you feed smaller birds like wrens and dunnocks that creep about in the undergrowth? I reckon you can't go wrong with porridge oats and grated cheese, especially if you can scatter them around where those birds lurk. Calorific bird cake will also go down a storm with birds of all shapes and sizes.

As a bit of a gamble, I'll be throwing out a few apples. With the recent cold weather, birds like fieldfares, redwings, song and mistle thrushes will go mad for a bit of fruit. Usually, they prefer to feed on worms and creepy-crawlies in the fields, but recent ice and snow has made life difficult for them.

I'll be even more chuffed if I can attract some waxwings to my garden. They're much prettier than their name suggests: fluffy, pinky-brown birds with crests, black and yellow tails, about the size of a starling. The 'wax' part refers to bright red, waxy blobs which form on their wing feathers. Beautiful! They've come all the way from Scandinavia just to raid our berry bushes, but apples will also please them if berry supplies are running low.

Don't forget the water!

Birds need to drink but it's also important for them to bathe, even in cold weather. A quick dip helps them to keep their feathers in order, and tidy feathers mean toasty birds. If you haven't got a pond or a proper birdbath, an upturned dustbin lid will do the trick. Personally, I wouldn't recommend outdoor bathing in these temperatures, but it takes all sorts.

In 2008, almost 400,000 people counted more than six million birds across 228,000 gardens. That's pretty impressive! I hope you'll join in this year and enjoy a relaxing hour of watching garden birds doing their stuff. It's a great excuse to sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit... Good luck for 24-25 January everybody!

How are you preparing for the big day?