Big Garden Birdwatch 2023

It's that time of year again when the teddy bears take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, along with 700,000 or so other people in the country. Their information pack and counting sheet arrived earlier in the week from the RSPB (that's the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and the bears have spent a long time looking through it all so that they understood exactly what they had to do.

It said they had to write the highest number of each bird they saw at any one time in the boxes below each bird's picture. So, if they saw 8 starlings together and then they flew away and a bit later 6 more starlings arrived, they 8 would be the final count.

Also that they only needed to spend 1 hour counting, and only include those birds that landed, not those that flew over. Then all they needed to do was to send their results to the RSPB, either by mail using their counting sheet in the provided addressed envelope, or by filling in the screen on the RSPB website.

Before they started their hour of counting, the bears checked that all the bird feeders in their garden were full of the food that birds love - sunflower hearts, nyger seeds, peanuts, suet pellets and balls, etc.

They also scattered some on the ground along with mealworms and some old bits of bread and cheese from their kitchen, which they cut up into beak-sized pieces.

They also checked that there was no ice in the birdbath (as there had been earlier in the week) and that it was filled to the brim with fresh water.

They spread their counting sheet out on the floor near to their biggest window so that they all had a good view of the garden. They also had their bird-spotting books to paw in case they saw any unusual birds. Bubbles made sure he had his binoculars nearby so he would be able to see them really close up.

As well as all that preparation, the bears made sure that they had lots of drinks and snacks and biscuits available because looking out of a window is very thirsty work! And would make them very hungry too!

After all this frenzied activity, it was a relief to sit down quietly for an hour in the morning and spot all the birds visiting their garden. They were a little disappointed that they didn't see more birds but 2 pigeons, 4 goldfinches, 2 blackbirds, a robin and a sparrow was quite a good number to see, and was also quite a variety.

Just as their hour was finishing, a tiny wren flew down to visit so they were very pleased to add that one in. They had to add it in separately because it didn't have its own place on the counting sheet.

They stayed quietly watching after their hour was up - but only until it was dinnertime of course!!