Wildlife Gardening - Green Gardening Guide » RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Big freeze afects garden bird numbers

Alan — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:48:27 +0000

As a result of the freeze during last winter the RSPB has reported that the amount of small birds such as goldcrests and coal tits has fallen.

According to the charity’s yearly Big Garden Birdwatch, the numbers of goldcrests fell by 75% and coal tit numbers fell by 20%.
However, the icy weather may have caused less people to see the birds which could throw off the numbers slightly as well.
The count took place over January 30th and 31st and recorded about 8.5m birds composed of 73 different species in about 280,000 UK gardens.

According to January’s court, long tailed tits fell by 27% even though they still made it into the top ten most spotted garden birds.
However there was a rise in common countryside birds such as yellowhammers, fieldfares, bullfinches, and redwings. Usually these birds are found in hedgerows, fields, and farmland trees.

Also seen in larger numbers were mistle thrushes and song thrushes.

Sarah Kelly, the Big Garden Birdwatch co-coordinator, stated that they are mostly concerned about the survival of small birds throughout winter asking that people ensure that they have access to feed and fresh water in gardens.
The RSPB also report that more blackcaps survived the cold then were expects probably because the breed has adjusted their feeding behavior to include feeder food.

The charity organization stated that while the top ten remains mostly the same this year compared to 2009, the most common species in Britain are facing a long term decline.

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RSPB garden bird survey most successful ever

Alan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:32:43 +0000

It is only a week after the RSPB sent out the largest wildlife survey and already about a quarter of a million results have been sent into the organization.

With this large response the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is looking like it will be one of the largest yet, with 5m birds already tabulated with much larger figures anticipated to be on their way.

Experts will soon start to analyze the data in order to study the trends of garden birds with an early prognosis of how the cold spell has affected the birds this year.

Those who still have their records are asked to turn them in as soon as possible.

RSPB is still looking for more records because the more that are received the higher the accuracy level of their analysis. The birds were officially counted back on the last two days of January.

Due to the large surge of interest from the public the RSPB has been able to pass its first milestone adding 100,000 signatures to their ‘Letter to the Future’ which is pleads with politicians to work towards preserving nature for future generations.

Head of sustainable development at RSPB, Martin Harper, stated that the amount of support offered is overwhelming and that it signifies that people care about the world that surrounds them. He continued to say that due to the fact this is a general election year it is important that the public send a clear notice of what they care about to the future leaders of government.

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