If you have a garden, and a spare hour this weekend, you could take part in the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch. It’s a citizen science project that allows the RSPB insights into which birds are most common in British gardens, and identify trends over time.
The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch normally takes place on the last weekend of every January. Anyone with a garden can take part – you don’t need to be an RSPB member. In fact, even if you don’t have a garden, you could go to a public park, or monitor a shared space from a balcony. The aim is that you record the birds that land in the space during a one hour period.
If you’re really keen, you can count the birds in more than one place. For example, if you have both a front and a back garden, you could spend an hour counting birds in one, and then a second hour counting the birds in another. The key aim of the Big Garden Birdwatch is that as many open spaces as possible are monitored, for an hour each, over the course of three days.
How to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch
You don’t need to be a knowledgable birdwatcher to take part. We signed up some time ago, and so the RSPB sent us a pack in the post (pictured above). It’s a bit late for posting things now, so there’s a downloadable PDF which includes the most common species of bird that you’re likely to see. You can tick them off – but remember to count how many of each species you see too.
After the hour is over, you can submit your results online. The form will be open until the 22nd February, so there’s no rush. You can also post your results to the RSPB, but the form is quicker and will accept a wider list of birds. So if you’ve been really lucky and spotted (for example) a jay or a sparrowhawk, then you’re probably better submitting online. We’ve previously had both in our garden, but not during a Big Garden Birdwatch session.