One of the most amazing things about the beautiful part of the world we live and work in here in Snowdonia is the huge assortment of wild and bird-life that we are surrounded by every day. From local ospreys to wild foxes and bottle-nosed dolphins to the humble robin red-breast.

So what better way to help local wildlife than to take part in the annual RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend?  The event, taking place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January 2015 gives people across Wales the chance to be part of the world’s biggest wildlife survey.  Around half a million people across the UK took part in 2014 and RSPB Cymru is urging more people of Wales to take part this year, making it bigger and better!

The Big Garden Birdwatch wildlife survey, now in its 36^th year, provides the RSPB with an important snapshot of garden bird populations in winter and has helped to highlight some dramatic declines in UK garden birds over the last three decades.  For the second year running, the RSPB is also asking participants to log the other wildlife they see in their outside spaces, to help the charity build an overall picture of how important our gardens are for giving nature a home.

Over 418,000 birds were counted in last years’ survey (January 2014) in Wales (7.2 million in total across UK) with the results showing greenfinch and starling continue to decline.  For the second year running, the great spotted woodpecker made it into the top 25 in Wales and goldfinches swooped into the number seven spot.

Here in Wales there has been an increase in number of house sparrows, which came in at number one across the UK. However, this commonly seen bird is actually declining in England. Blue tit came in at number two, found in three quarters of gardens surveyed. Starling came in at number three, and although found in third of all gardens surveyed, numbers have plummeted dramatically.

To take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, people are asked to spend just one hour at any time over the birdwatch weekend noting the highest number of each bird seen in their gardens or local outside space. They then have to submit their results to the RSPB before 13^th February, either online at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch or in the post.