Stuck for something to do this bank holiday Monday?

Why not give yourself a few minutes or longer to simply do a bit of wildlife-spotting from home and watch the birds out of your window.

It’s an immensely therapeutic thing to do, I think – just to sit and watch our feathered friends go about their day. 

As well as watching them, you could delve into the pages of Garden Bird or the RSPB.  Both are a fountain of knowledge so far as birds go – as you’d expect – and spending some time discovering more about birds and ways to help them is a great way to indulge in a bit of nature discovery.  You could then also consider what actions you could take (and apologies if you’re already taking them) to help our feathered friends.  

Bird watching from home…Where to start

If you’re not sure what birds to look for, you could take a leaf out of the results of the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch survey.  A whopping 420,489 results were sent in by members of the public who took part, and they spent an hour in late January simply watching the birds and other wildlife from their windows and then letting the RSPB know what they saw.

The Top Ten Birds spotted in the UK and Northern Ireland in January 2018 were (drum roll, please)…

1. House Sparrow
2. Starling
3. Blue tit
4. Blackbird
5. Woodpigeon
6. Goldfinch
7. Great tit
8. Robin
9. Long-tailed tit
10. Chaffinch

Help with bird conservation

The great thing about wildlife surveys is that they give those who organise them – in this case the RSPB – a chance to really find out which birds are doing well and thriving and which need to help to survive and then thrive as a species.   The Big Garden Birdwatch has been running since 1979 so it’s given the RSPB a very good picture over the 39 years since it started of the state of Britain’s birds.

Inevitably, some birds are doing well; some aren’t – and there will be plenty we can all do to help our feathered friends both survive and thrive.  

Make a difference to bird conservation

Garden Bird has some easy-to-follow feed the birds advice if you want to get started and feed the birds.  And of course the RSPB Online Shop also has a range of bird feed, feeders, bird baths, bird houses and nest boxes etc - everything you need to help garden birds and other widllife too survive and thrive!

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