2019 celebrates the 40th year of The Big Garden Birdwatch and the survey weekend is nearly upon us! During this weekend everyone in the UK gets the chance to take part in the world’s largest wildlife survey.
There were nearly half a million results submitted last year and over 6.76 million birds were spotted in gardens and green spaces across the UK. This year’s event is likely to attract even more people to count even more birds, providing a valuable snapshot of the national population of garden birds.
The survey is simple but ever to critical. All you need to do is register to take part in the survey with RSPB and set aside an hour over the weekend to count the birds that you see.
The best approach is to make yourself comfortable in a spot with good views of the feeders, and make sure you have a bird identification guide, a warm drink and perhaps some snacks on hand, just in case you need them!
If you plan to count the birds that visit your garden, make the area welcoming for them and keep feeders topped up starting at least a few days prior to your count. If you saw less birds that you’d hoped for in previous years or just not sure what to expect, then having a wider variety of food has the potential to attract more species of birds. It won’t impact the results in any great way but will make your survey time more enjoyable.
Try adding peanut cakes or another high energy supplement such as Peanut Butter for Birds. We have some great offers currently on organic fat balls, organic bird blend, protein-rich suet pellets with insects and even a super Mealworm Munchies pack. For the count hour and immediately before minimise disturbance in the garden by keeping pets indoors.
If you haven’t got a garden you could choose a local green space such as a park, riverside footpath or nature reserve to count instead.
Results from 2018 showed both winners and losers in the garden bird population and changes could be attributed to weather conditions and how successful the breeding seasons were for those species.
House Sparrows and Starlings kept their number 1 and 2 positions respectively with their characteristically noisy and gregarious natures. There was an overall increase in smaller birds seen in gardens this year, such as Goldfinches, Long-tailed Tits and Coal Tits, with the Blue Tit just creeping up a place into 3rd.
Goldfinch and Greenfinch were on the rise 11% and 5% respectively and our winter visitors such as Siskin and Brambling were also up possibly due to favourable winter conditions here in the UK. Unfortunately, there were 18% less Blackbirds and 12% less Robins spotted last year which may have meant more natural resources so less time at the garden feeders.
For those who can’t get out and about to take part in the survey, we can share our garden bird activity with you via our 24/7 live webcams. In collaboration with WildlifeKate based in Staffordshire you can enjoy the antics of all sorts of visitors to our feeders. You can follow our feathered friends from the comfort of your own home and still take part in some bird spotting fun.
CJ Wildlife is running a webcam prize draw competition on social media during the survey weekend giving you the chance to win a CJ Wildlife Bird Bundle worth £50.
Watch out for the competition launching on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for you to simply watch our webcams and capture as many birds as you can in one screen shot #BigGardenBirdwatch.
