Find out more about our feathered friends with these great sites. Why not set yourself a challenge of identifying one new bird a week? Listen, watch, look, observe, smell....bring your senses alive to nature - it can be a sweet, refreshing smell after sitting in your office for a week, whatever the time of year.
Give it a go!*** Take part in this year's RSPB Christmas Quiz 2009 - there's no prize, just the fun of testing your knowledge of birds!
Learn about Birds
Find out about garden birds at the RSPB’s Aren’t Birds Brilliant! And if you're new to bird feeding, Garden Bird have lots of helpful tips for you - find out how you can help garden birds in winter. They also have a bird lovers forum.
Try an experience dayThere are a number of days which will give you the chance to have closer look into the world of birds, such as anOwl experience or a Falconry Days. Many of these give you the opportunity to get up closer to birds such as owls, eagles, hawks & buzzards, and in many cases, you may be able to try to your hand at handling the birds yourself. Treat yourself, give a bird lover you know a special experience or ask for someone to treat you as a birthday or Christmas gift! You can find out more about these Birds of Prey Experience Days through companies such as Buy a Gift, Red Letter Days, IntotheBlue, Red Letter Days & Activity Superstore. Minimum age restrictions may well apply and you may also need to be fit, as these days may well involve a degree of walking - check first.
Discover bird books & DVDSIf you're looking for a gift, there are a huge number of bird books & DVDs available, including from Garden Bird;they have a number of DVDs & CDs with bird songs on them. The RSPB also has a wonderful range of books, including many to introduce children to nature and help children learn about wildlife and the natural world around them - they are its guardians of the future. There are also magazines such as Birdwatching, for which you can get a subscription through for 6 or 12 months, whether you're in the UK or elsewhere.
Make your garden wildlife friendly
You can also get info on making your garden wildlife and bird friendly. Don’t forget that as well as birds, lots of animals may visit your garden: badgers, rabbits, butterflies, toads and frogs, earthworms, snails, mice, hedgehogs – it’s a real underworld out there! You can have the most magical evening watching your own safari at home in the garden, on your balcony, from your window or in sitting quietly in a country lane.
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The RSPB has an excellent on-line shop in which you can get many wildlife accessories from hedgehog houses to house martin nests, and also treat someone special to a gift that will help with conservation efforts such as creating meadows, planting hedgerows, preserving rainforest & planting trees - all essential to the wellbeing of animals & people - just check out their virtual giftssection. Click here for more info on the RSPB shop
Go for nature walks
A great way to de-stress and relax is to enjoy a stroll around your nearest RSPB reserve (and it's the perfect antidote to a stressful week at work) - let nature work her magic and soothe your stresses away! You could consider joining the RSPB - they do a lot of conservation work, not just in the UK but around the world, and your membership will help to support this work. For you, it will give you access to around 100 nature reserves - so it's got to be better value than the gym membership or more fun than trudging up and down a swimming pool. They offer a range of family memberships, including individual adult, family & couple, and the memberships often come with a free gift. Buy one as a gift for a nature lover or bird lover!
The RSPB has a wide range of stuff you can do as a family or an individual, including days out, courses to attend, volunteering in conservation areas, so make the most of this half term break and the weekends coming into the winter.
Go on Birdwatching holidays
Finally, why not head off on a birdwatching holiday? There are a wide range to choose from, covering countries such as India, Hungary, Sri Lanka, Spain, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Ecuador, the US and Venezuela. Go on - find out more here |
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