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• Support Big Garden Birdwatch 2006

• Date:

  10th January 2006

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

The Civic Trust is calling on the nation to support this year’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch – and for those without a garden, people are urged to take to their quality Green Flag Award parks and spaces and join in the country’s largest annual twitching event.

Last January, nearly 400,000 people spent an hour watching their local birds, collectively recording more than 6 million birds. The house sparrow was the commonest bird, beating starlings into second place.

To take part all you need to do is watch your garden or local park for an hour on either Saturday 28 or Sunday 29 January and record the highest number of each species seen at any one time in the hour (this avoids counting the same birds twice.)

Peter Bembridge, Director of the Green Flag Award scheme which is managed by the Civic Trust said: “A quality green space, whether park, nature reserve or group of allotments, provides the perfect place to discover wildlife and take part in this important national event. Visit our website at http://www.greenflagaward.org.uk to find an award winning space near you and turn it into a day out.”

Dr William Bird, green gym pioneer and clinical director of health forecasting at the Met Office, added: “Research has shown that spending time in a garden or park can reduce stress levels, drop blood pressure and reduce muscle tension within minutes. The great bird watch could benefit your health, particularly if you continue to visit your local park every week.”

Results can be submitted online via the RSPB website on 28 January. Taking part online means the RSPB receives the records immediately and there is no cost to process the results, meaning more money is spent on helping birds. The RSPB will analyse the results and use participant’s postcodes to look at the data by geographical area. 

Wild birds are a fantastic indicator of the health of the countryside, so the results can help the RSPB to understand more than simply garden bird numbers. The Birdwatch, which began 27 years ago, was one of the first surveys to notice the decline in song thrushes. Recognising early that the numbers of bird species have fallen can help us to act for them before it is too late
So, if you have an hour to spare over the weekend of 28-29 January, help to make Big Garden Birdwatch 2006 the biggest and best yet.

For further information and to fill in the online form on January 28 visit: http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch The form will be available until February 20. For those without internet access, you can obtain a form on this special hotline no: 0870 600 7108.