Earlier this year almost half a million people spent an hour looking out of their windows with one aim – to record the birds they saw as part of the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch.
This annual survey, which has been running since 1979,
provides a snap shot into the fortunes of the UK’s garden visitors and provides
an easy and fun introduction to the world of bird surveys. Not to mention of
course an excellent excuse to watch birds for an hour with a bacon sandwich and
a cup of tea!
At the UK
level it was all change in the top ten and you can find the results here.
However, we are really interested in blackbirds here, and our species of choice
has dropped from second to fourth position across the UK. Within Wales, despite holding onto 5th
position, the average number of birds seen in Welsh gardens
fell from 3 in 2013, to 2.1 in 2014.
Within Cardiff
the Blackbird faired even worse! Although it was the fourth most counted
species, the average Cardiff
Garden held a meagre
average of 1.8 Blackbirds in 2014!
This drop in fortunes could be explained by low productivity
the species experienced in the hot dry summer of 2013, which was down 12% compared to the five year average according to the BTO's figures.
Big Garden Birdwatch takes places on the last January of
each year, so put the date in your diary for 2015!