Coming Soon to a Garden near You!

The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch will bring you closer to nature! 

 The robin, the UKs national bird, is a common visitor to gardens.

If you have a garden, join the other half a million people from around the UK counting the birds in their gardens over the weekend of 30-31 January. You can also record the other wildlife you see, helping to create a vital snapshot of UK nature.

If you have a window overlooking your garden, then this is an ideal activity whatever the weather! Make yourself a cup of tea and sit and watch what happens in the garden. It's nice to spend that hour just focussed on your garden and you may be surprised by what you see! Perhaps a jay (normally quite shy and elusive) will run up your garden path (this happened when I last visited my parents), maybe a sparrowhawk will dive down and catch a small bird (as happened recently in Crafty Green Boyfriend's mother's garden) or maybe a flock of fieldfares will appear unexpectedly in your street (as happened outside our flat recently).

You can request a pack for the Big Garden Birdwatch here. 

If you don't have a garden you can join in one of the many events happening across the UK. Find your nearest event here. Or you can spend an hour in a local park and record what you see there.

If you're not confident about identifying birds then the RSPB has these useful pages to help you

Bird guide - a listing of all the species of British birds with photos and sound files

How to identify birds - tips on how to indentify British birds 

Bird identifier - a tool to help you identify unknown species of British birds