New survey tracks garden wildlife

The RSPB says the survey will highlight how important gardens are to wildlife

Garden wildlife is the focus of a new survey being launched by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The charity is hoping to build on the success of its annual winter Big Garden Birdwatch, which has been tracking the fortunes of birds for 30 years.

Now it hopes thousands of people will spend one hour this week noting which creatures visit their garden.

As well as birds, the Make Your Nature Count survey will look for creatures like frogs, toads and squirrels.

The charity hopes the survey will highlight the importance of gardens to our native species and summer migrants.

It wants people to count chicks such as robins, blackbirds and song thrushes - whose numbers have declined by 50% since the 1970s - to give an indication of how well the birds are breeding in the UK.

Predictions are that householders will see more goldfinches - whose numbers have been rising since 1994 - in gardens, with swifts and house martins flying over.

Chris Packham, RSPB vice-president and BBC Springwatch presenter, said the survey would give people "an excuse to discover an amazing variety of creatures".

"It will also help with the hugely important task of monitoring which species are thriving in our gardens and which might need a helping hand in the future," he added.

To take part, people should spend an hour this week counting the birds and other wildlife visiting their garden.

For more information and to fill in results go to: http://rspb.org.uk/naturecount

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version