Every year there is a buzz of excitement around this time of the year at the RSPB. Summer migrants are starting to return to our shores, nature is starting to awaken from a long winter and there are signs of spring around every corner.
Also, it’s that time of the year that the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch results are released. We get to see which birds were more regular visitors to our garden over the Birdwatch weekend in January, those birds that only made a flying visit and the few that didn’t visit at all.
Once again it was another great turn out. This year we had over 585,000 people taking part, spotting a staggering 8-and-a-half million birds. It was fantastic that so many people took up the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch challenge of watching their garden through the eyes of a bird, which helped them understand how they can give nature a home.
This year saw many more wrens, robins and blackbirds visiting our gardens, which is brilliant. Interestingly the blackbird is now the most widespread garden bird in the UK after being clocked in more than 90 per cent of gardens.
Worryingly the number of finches that visited our garden declined across the board. Greenfinch, chaffinch and goldfinch dropped in the Birdwatch rankings after less numbers were spotted stopping by our outdoor spaces.
This just goes to show that nature needs our help, probably now more than ever. A number of garden birds are in long-term decline and we need to do something to reverse this. By just doing simple things such as leaving food out or putting up a nest box can go a long way in populations recover and to give nature a home.
Find out more about this years results here.
Harry Bellew
Assistant Media Officer - RSPB