The Big Birdwatch

Above: Blue Tit (Kent Life Magazine)

Above: Chaffinch (Kent Life Magazine)

Above: Goldfinch (Kent Life Magazine)

In the late 1970s, the RSPB asked its junior members to count the birds in their garden over the same weekend. This one-off idea was so successful it became a regular fixture, and three decades later, Big Garden Birdwatch is bigger than ever before.

The concept it simple; spend an hour observing the birds in your garden, local park or school, then send us the results. You get to curl up and watch the wildlife around you, and the RSPB gets an invaluable snapshot of garden birds.

Last year, more than 14,900 people in Kent joined around 400,000 others, spotting six million birds across the UK. If you fancy joining in this year, Big Garden Birdwatch is happening on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January. Equipment wise, binoculars are good but they’re not essential. A cup of tea, your favourite biscuits and a comfy chair, however, are vital.

A perfect excuse to relax
Let’s be honest, life can be hectic, and Big Garden Birdwatch provides the perfect excuse to take a break and treat yourself. There is no better way to spend an hour on a January weekend, than holed-up with some home comforts, watching the birds.

The way we do the survey has remained the same over the years. Just watch the birds for an hour and record the maximum number of each species seen at any one time. To help you identify what’s there, an RSPB picture guide is available free of charge, plus we’ve got lots of information on-line.

The RSPB has learnt so much over the past 30 years thanks to the Big Garden Birdwatch. Sadly, we know the average number of garden birds has declined by a fifth since 2004, and in particular, we’ve seen that house sparrows, starlings and song thrushes really need our help – we’re seeing fewer every year.

Although still one of the most common birds in Kent, results last year recorded an average of four sparrows per garden. The year before it was five but back in 1991, you could expect to see 15. Kent’s story mirrors the national trend, which has seen sparrow numbers decrease by almost two thirds since 1979.

Equipment wise, binoculars are good but they’re not essential. A cup of tea, your favourite biscuits and a comfy chair, however, are vital.

It’s the same tale with Kent’s most common garden bird, the starling. Back in the nineties, you’d have been likely to see an average of 12 starlings hopping about in your back garden. Now we’re down to five.
But it’s not all doom and gloom – Big Garden Birdwatch records the winners as well as the losers. Take the chaffinch for instance. In the early nineties the bird, with its distinctive blue-grey head and pinkish brown breast, was nowhere near Kent’s top ten. Since 2000, it has crept on to the radar, and is now one of Kent’s most common birds, flying into a remarkable sixth place last year.

Because we now know about population changes, we’re looking into what we can do to help. Along with Natural England and De Montfort University, the RSPB has just completed the first investigation into sparrow decline in suburbia for 20 years. Results show sparrows are still laying enough eggs, and these eggs are hatching, but too few insects means young house sparrows are starving in their nests.
Each pair of house sparrows must rear at least five chicks every year to stop their numbers falling. But increased development, the conversion of green spaces into concrete parking areas and patio decking, and the rising popularity of ornamental plants like Leylandii, means there are less insects around, and this has had a knock-on effect higher up the food chain.
A shrinking of our green spaces also means less seeds, fruit and other natural foods can grow, and space has become tight when it comes to nest building.

The long and short of it is that these days, life is tough for our garden birds.

That’s why, in October 2007, the RSPB launched Homes for Wildlife, to provide free, tailor-made advice on what you can do to help the wildlife around you.

Lazy? Do your bit!
If you’re not green-fingered, you can actually do your bit by being lazy. Super-tidy gardens are less good for birds than more relaxed ones, and creating a few piles of leaves and fallen twigs in secluded corners will help ground-feeders like dunnocks and low foragers like wrens. Leaving some areas of grass to grow long also is a sure-fire way of attracting insects and can provide much-needed shelter.

If you relish a spot of gardening, trees such as birch, rowans, holly and yew are all winners, while bushes and shrubs like pyracantha, cotoneaster, berberis and hawthorn also provide good sources of food. And don’t forget climbers like honeysuckle and ivy – they provide shelter and fruits, and attract insects, and they’re easy on the eye too. Ivy is especially good as it acts as cover for wintering insects and spiders. It also produces fruits in late winter when no others are available to birds.

The long and short of it is that these days, life is tough for our garden birds

Supplementing whatever natural bounty your garden throws up by putting out quality seeds mixes, fat balls and other tasty treats is also worth doing. To encourage as many birds as possible – and discourage unwelcome visitors – try to establish a regular feeding station, keep feeding-places clean and remember to put out water.

Just by making a few changes in your garden you’ll be able to enjoy birds and other wildlife, and who knows what you’ll spot during the Big Garden Birdwatch – it might just be the most enjoyable birthday party you attend all year.

Top tips for helping birds in your garden

• Put out hanging feeders for sunflower hearts, black sunflower seeds and unsalted peanuts.
• Introduce a bird table to put out kitchen scraps such as meat fat, grated cheese, suet, oats – even left over mince pies and Christmas puds!
• Build a pond, or provide a supply of fresh water every day. Don't let it freeze but don't use antifreeze.
• Put up nest boxes for birds to roost in winter and to nest in spring.
• Leave berry-bearing hedges uncut until after all the berries are gone, but if they need a cut do this before birds use them for nesting – February is ideal.
• Go through apples in store and any past their best make great food for blackbirds and other winter thrushes, including redwings and fieldfares.
• Poached egg plants, fennel, marigolds, goldenrod and Michaelmas daisies all support insects that eat pests, but attract birds.

Find out more about Big Garden Birdwatch, get an ID sheet, and submit your results by clicking on our links section, or tel: 0300 456 8330. For more information on Homes For Wildlife tel: 01273 775333.