It's countdown time to count up the birds
The weekend: January 30/31
Length of counting time: one hour
Just put that fork down for one hour and put your feet up. If (lucky you) you have both garden and allotment, the RSPB would prefer you to count the birds in your garden or better still count first in your garden, then count in your allotment. If you have neither, go to your local public garden.
What's all this about? To quote the RSPB: "The Big Garden Birdwatch has never been more important than it is today...birds are disappearing in scary numbers. We've lost more than half our house sparrows, three-quarters of our starlings...These surveys help us spot problems and are the first step to help aid a species recovery".
Imagine gardening without the company of a robin or a blackbird, without the song of a thrush, the courage of tits mobbing a thieving jay - as I saw last year. Imagine just sitting down quietly for one hour next weekend. No guilt, you will be contributing to a vital piece of research.
Click on the link for details: www.rspb.co.uk/birdwatch/
