Winter Issue 2016 (2)

HOBBIES & ACTIVITIES
RSPB
Image: Pixabay.com
Count the wildlife that’s counting on you this winter
Time to get gardens ready as countdown begins to 2017 Big Garden Birdwatch
Numbers of familiar birds
like starlings and song
thrushes fell again in the Big
Garden Birdwatch last year.
Despite being ranked
number two in the Big
Garden Birdwatch table, the
number of starlings visiting
people’s gardens has fallen
by more than 80 per cent
since the first Birdwatch in
1979, and less than half of
us saw them in our gardens
in East Anglia during the
2016 Birdwatch.
It wasn’t all bad news though. The
tiny long-tailed tit flew into the Big
Garden Birdwatch top 10 – for
the first time in eight years – after
the average number seen visiting
gardens across the UK increased
by 44 per cent, and the house
sparrow remained top of the Big
Garden Birdwatch rankings in
Eastern England, as it was in the
UK as a whole.
Rupert Masefield said: “All of the
data people send in from their Big
Garden Birdwatch hours - even if
they see nothing at all – is really
important for building a picture
of wildlife in gardens throughout
the UK, including here in Eastern
England.
“Even in the smallest gardens
though, you’d be surprised
just how much wildlife there is
when you stop and look.”
NOT JUST ABOUT BIRDS
As well as counting our feathered friends, the
RSPB is once again asking us to log some
of the other animals we see in our gardens.
Grass snakes, hedgehogs, stag beetles,
stoats and moles are all on the list of other
wildlife the RSPB is keen to know about.
Gardens and other green spaces are
invaluable for many species – providing a
safe habitat and enough food and water to
survive – which are likely to have a significant
effect on their populations.
Having lost more than half of our hedgehogs
in the last 50 years, we know that some
of our favourite wildlife is in real trouble.
Keeping track of changes in their numbers
will be important if we want to help them.
HOW TO TAKE PART
To take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch 2017, watch
the birds in your garden (or local park, or at the office!)
for one hour over the weekend. Only count the birds
that land in your garden, not those flying over. Tell us
the highest number of each bird species you see at
any one time – not the total you see in the hour.
For your FREE Big Garden Birdwatch pack,
text BIRD to 70030 or visit rspb.org.uk/birdwatch
NOT TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL!
The Big Garden Birdwatch’s sister event, Big
Schools’ Birdwatch takes place during the first half of
spring term next year, 4 January-17 February 2017.
Find out how your school or class can take part at
rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch
www.mollysguide.co.uk
37