RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
'At last year's RSPB Garden Birdwatch my family did seeeee-eeee
5 Go-oooo-ldfinches,
4 Collared Doves,
3 Coal Tits,
2 Herring Gulls
and a Ro-bin in our Cherry Tree ...'
Oops sorry, you caught me then... I was just reminiscing about last year's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.
Yes, there we were, on a wet weekend in January last year, sitting in our cosy conservatory, drinking a cuppa and counting the birds in our garden (not the herring gulls though, they only flew overhead so didn't count! Drat!). I can hardly believe that it's 30 years since the RSPB held their very first Garden Birdwatch! How time flies (I know, that joke is just old).
So what's it all about? Well, way back when Mrs Thatcher was just getting to grips with being Prime Minister, the RSPB decided that it would ask its YOC (junior) members to record the types and numbers of birds which were visiting their gardens. All they had to do was count, over a one-hour period (any one hour), the highest number of each species they saw at any one time. So if they saw 4 blue tits which then flew away, then saw 3, then 5, the number that went down was 5. This way they got a ‘snapshot' of the birds that were in our gardens during that winter.
It was intended to be a ‘one-off' event but the members found it so much fun and it was so successful that they have repeated it every year since and had to extend it to the adult members, because they wanted to play too. Also, a few years ago, the survey was extended to schools too and now many children, all over the UK, take part. It's a fantastic way to get them to interact with wildlife and to develop a sense of caring and understanding about their environment.
Since then, the survey has provided much invaluable information about the rises and falls in population numbers of our most common garden birds. Some of the data makes quite sobering reading. Believe it or not starlings are now considered a ‘conservation concern' along with song thrushes and house sparrows. There is good news too though: blue, great, coal and long tailed tits are a great success with lots of them visiting our gardens every day.
Sadly, last year the survey recorded the lowest numbers of birds in our gardens for 5 years. Hmmm, doesn't that make you wonder what's happening to cause this dip in numbers? Well, it certainly makes the RSPB think, and act. It's having information like this that gives them more power to make changes and gives them the proof they need to lobby relevant organisations on issues like farming techniques and property development. In short, it's vital!
So ... please ... if you have the time and fancy a bit of a laugh for an hour (you try counting my house sparrows!) then go to the website, download the ID sheet and checklist and start counting. You can submit your results online.
A word of warning however: once you start paying attention to our feathered friends, it might just become a bit of an obsession!
Fiona Sharp
photos (c) Sabrina Willekens 2009
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8 Jan 09
