News: December 2003

The new year will soon be upon us and both the RSPB and BTO are asking members of the public to contribute to their garden bird surveys during 2004.

The RSPB's annual 'Big Garden Birdwatch' takes place over a weekend in January every year. This year it runs over the weekend of 24-25th January. All you need to do is spend one hour over that weekend watching the birds in your garden (or local park or school) and count the highest number of each species seen.

In contrast, the BTO's 'Garden BirdWatch' survey runs all the year round and participants are contribute their records of garden bird sightings throughout the year. This survey is also unique in that it is funded through a small contribution from those taking part. In return, participants receive a quarterly colour magazine and a 128 page garden bird booklet. Participants from urban and suburban areas are particularly welcome and the BTO would particularly like to see more people from the West Midlands taking part.

BTO. 2003. Do you remember when starlings were common? Viewed on the web at http://www.bto.org/news/news2003/nov-dec/starling_common.htm on December 24th 2003.

RSPB. 2003. 2004 - The 25th anniversary of Big Garden Birdwatch. Viewed on the web at http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/index.asp on December 27th 2003.