Learning

Start of the Summer?

2013-05-10T15:27:00Z

It looks like the weather might finally be improving, there are leaves on the trees, flowers are in bloom and birds are singing. Nature is thriving all around us!

Our latest Wildsquare survey 'Start of the Summer' is open for your results now and is a perfect opportunity to get outside and get exploring! You can register for your free survey kit and tell us your results at www.rspb.org.uk/wildsquare.

Some of the things we ask you to look for are:

insects in the air and on the ground
ladybird spotting
visitors on plants
insect eating birds

If you're a school and you've been working on your school wildlife garden, then there's still time to let Clarence House know by creating your own blog - you could win a trip around Highgrove Gardens! They're deciding on this year's winner at the end of May, so you need to be quick!

(Dead) Birdwatching with Fraserburgh & District Wildlife Explorers

2013-04-03T13:00:00Z

Many aspects of wildlife recording are nothing like most people imagine. It’s not all listening for delicate birdsong or identifying otter and water vole tracks on the riverbanks... sometimes it's combing the sand for bodies lost at sea!

February 23^rd saw the intrepid Fraserburgh & District Wildlife Explorers searching the beach between St Combs and Cairnbulg, scanning the shore for the bodies of birds washed to land. Every year the RSPB undertakes the National Beached Bird Survey in order to record visible mortality rates of marine wildlife and to monitor our marine environment. With this information, our scientific and policy teams work together with partners to demonstrate how and why our seabirds and marine environment need protecting. It isn't necessary to be a Wildlife Explorer to take part with a youth group - this year a local Scout troop also searched north-east Scotland's sands and were contributors to the Beached Bird Survey.

Says Fraserburgh & District group leader, Jim Lister: “We were unlucky as it was a very cold day (as only Buchan can be), so only 13 of 'our toughest' turned out to do this section of this national survey.”

Wildlife Explorer Eilidh had this to say about the day, “I thought the beach was very messy because we found lots of helmets and sponges lying around. We had lots of tricky rivers to cross and we had to step on a tyre to cross to the other side. I found some very interesting shells which I hadn't seen before."

Eilidh’s cousin Leah added, "It was a nice long beach but I found it very messy, there were lots of rubber gloves lying on the beach, it could do with a clean up! We found 3 shags, 1 guillemot, 1 great black backed gull and 1 red shank."

Jim noted the group’s surprising history contributing to the scientific monitoring of their local beaches. “Along with group leader Kenny Buchan, we have annually done the survey for this part of the coast, for at least the last ten years, and it may even have been fifteen years. (No one has been counting – this is our group’s nineteenth year.) On past surveys the group have found: porpoise, fox, puffin, and 32 shags one year, among many other dead things. If the weather is a wee bit better we usually have a much bigger turn out. It is amazing what all those keen eyes can find on the beach. The kids do seem fascinated by dead things and they (the dead things) don't fly or run away – and you never know what might turn up! Beachcombing, even in winter is fun. At the end of 2013’s survey, great hot soup was provided by leader Helen Stables.”

A well-earned end to a big effort! Here’s to many more years of Fraserburgh & District Wildlife Explorers exploring their local beaches, and discovering the wildlife – alive or not – which makes them special.

Yours as always,

Nicole

SPECIAL NOTE: You will have noticed that these Wildlife Explorers were very sensitive to the pollution they saw on the beach, highlighting another important part of spending time in this environment. Other RSPB youth groups in north and eastern Scotland share this concern, and on May 25^th the Kemnay, Ellon and Aberdeen Wildlife Explorer groups will be meeting to conduct a joint beach cleanup at Donmouth Local Nature Reserve.

A natural curriculum?

2013-03-20T09:49:05Z

The Department for Education is currently consulting on a new national curriculum for England – you can find lots more information here, including how to respond to the proposals (by 16 April).

The RSPB is preparing a written response to the review, as well as coordinating a partnership response from organisations like ourselves who provide outdoor learning experiences in nature.

We believe that ecology, environmental conservation, and sustainable development are crucial components of any national curriculum that intends to educate society to address and adapt to the significant challenges of escalating climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss.

Looking in detail at all 200-plus pages of the proposal, there are some key areas of concern. For instance, focusing on the ‘use of natural resources’ in Geography KS3 without talking about their conservation, clearly indicates a view of the world in which the economy usurps the environment.

At the same time, there are some encouraging opportunities. In fact, we think that the profiles of fieldwork and learning about habitats and classification in Science are better than they have been previously.

The Department for Education has aimed to slim down the curriculum and strictly reduce the level of ‘guidance’ it provides to schools, meaning much less content and fewer specific examples in the curriculum documents.

This is pretty good news, as teachers have often told us that an over-crowded curriculum is a barrier to them having the freedom to teach what they would like, and how they would like – such as learning outside the classroom.

On the other hand, it also means that not everything that we would love to see in the national curriculum is included (significantly, climate change). The Department for Education response to this previously has been that schools are still free to teach these areas – or any other issue – as part of the wider ‘school curriculum’ that they see sitting around – and reinforcing – the national curriculum.

This new relationship between the State and schools presents us with a new challenge – in terms of how we work with individual schools to promote learning about the environment; but also much more broadly in all aspects of children’s relationship with nature.

The RSPB is committed to continue to find innovative ways to tackle this. As we announced last October, one way has been to develop a new indicator that for the first time will establish a national baseline of children’s connection to nature.

We will be releasing the first data from this measure in June. Alongside using this in our policy advocacy, we shall continue to raise the profile of the environment with children on our reserves, working with schools and youth organisations, and with families and communities.

Calling all school gardening bloggers!

2013-03-08T09:45:00Z

Mygrove is The Prince of Wales’s online gardening competition for children. Based upon the principles of The Prince’s own gardens at Highgrove, school children are being encouraged to start their own Mygrove blog reporting about their own gardening efforts. Whether it’s a window box of flowers or herbs, a vegetable patch, or a chicken run, let them know about it on the Mygrove blog!

And for the winning blog, a chance to win a trip to The Prince’s garden at Highgrove is in store!

While schools are blogging about how they are getting on with their own Mygroves, the Mygrove team will also be updating their own blog too, providing lots of tips for the garden!

To get gardening today and share your experiences of your own Mygrove, sign up at www.princeofwales.gov.uk/for-children/mygrove

Extraordinary Ordinary - Lochwinnoch's Young Volunteers Group

2013-03-06T12:55:22Z

On Saturday Feb 9th Lochwinnoch's Phoenix group, the Lochwinnoch Young Volunteers, met for one of their regular sessions. This time, though, Youth Officer Nicole Brandon was visiting and discovered that a regular meeting for this fantastic group is anything but average. What they do is, in fact, pretty extraordinary!

Needed: Volunteers Who Care About Homes For Nature

February on Lochwinnoch meant it was time to sort out nature’s homes on and off the reserve. There were nest box kits to be prepared for an upcoming family day, invasive species to be ousted from the reserve, and a special request from a neighbour regarding a family home for ducks. Fortunately there’s a group who’ll offer their Saturday and brave a Scottish winter to give nature a home: Lochwinnoch’s Young Volunteers.

This group of 20 teens split into task groups and got to work right away, only pausing for a lunchtime viewing of the beautiful birds visiting the feeders, and to watch some of their number being awarded John Muir Award certificates for their work discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing on the reserve. Two of their erstwhile volunteer leaders were also specially singled out and awarded their 5 year service badges – and thank you to them, and all our volunteers for such dedication and support. Without our volunteers, of all ages, none of the great events below could have happened on that chilly February day...

Creating Nest Box Kits

The group had dozens of planks of untreated timber to cut to size for nest box kits, and they wasted no time identifying the best tools and techniques for the job. They paid careful attention to what they were doing and even spotted and repaired a problem with the original template for the kits. Measuring and sawing planks in the rain isn't most people's idea of fun - but the group's dedication and good nature made it exactly that. One week later, those same kits were being assembled, painted and taken home to be cherished by families and their garden birds all over Renfrewshire and beyond.

Rhododendron Removal

Or "Rhododendron Bashing!" as it's much more popularly known. The group were well-experienced with this, and particularly with what had to be done to remove a whole plant and to dispose of it safely. They’d done such a good job scouring the reserve for this invasive species previously, that it took a wee while to find any rhododendrons at all... but once they did, the invaders were done for! These non-native invasive species have many dangerous impacts upon native environments and grow to create a monoculture, which excludes other plant species by taking resources such as water, nutrients and light. To keep Lochwinnoch a haven for native and visiting animals, there has to be a healthy natural environment for them to call home – this work helps to make sure this can happen.

Duck Raft S.O.S.

The most creative challenge of the day came from a neighbouring land-owner’s plea for help. Every year the duck nests by his pond were completely predated by various animals, and he asked if RSPB Lochwinnoch could design a way to protect them, at least until the eggs hatched. The group spent a few hours researching and designing a duck raft to be tethered in the pond, with protection from terrestrial and aerial predation; then they began production out of spare parts and resources at the reserve. Hopefully this year Lochwinnoch’s neighbour will be able to see some ducklings, and watch them grow up with a safe haven to call home.

From helping out one breeding pair of ducks to protecting the biodiversity of a whole reserve to sharing the joy of birds nesting near humans, Lochwinnoch’s Young Volunteers spent the day making a huge difference for the wildlife and people in their home area. It was really exciting to spend a day seeing all that they achieve on a regular basis, and the way in which being an RSPB youth group with the support of their local reserve helps them gain skills and then use them to take action for nature. Great job, Lochwinnoch Young Volunteers!

Until next time,

Nicole

If you’ve been inspired to take action for nature, or to help others do so, please do investigate RSPB volunteering opportunities near you. Next week we’ll be featuring opportunities to volunteer with young people, so do check in and see what’s available.

If you like the sound of the John Muir Award, visit their website and see how accessible and exciting undertaking an Award can be.

And if you think RSPB Lochwinnoch Reserve sounds like an interesting place, follow them on Facebook and see what else is on the go!

Big Schools' Birdwatch update from St Mary's #2

2013-02-22T15:45:00Z

Well, what a great Big Schools' Birdwatch it's been! Our deadline for results has now passed, thanks to everyone who has submitted them, we can't wait to see how birds are doing in schools across the UK this year, and the results will be announced before the Easter Holidays!

I need to pass many thanks to all our guest Big Schools' Birdwatch bloggers, especially Colette Cotton from St Mary's who brings us this second update, including some blogs from her students!

Here are a few photos from our Y1 creating Bird Feeders and also their visit from the Owl man, who brought in a European Eagle and a Barn Owl.

The pupils loved the owls and were surprised at how soft they both felt and were quite frightened by the size of their wings!

We had great fun outside in the wind and wet making the bird feeders...very messy...but no peanut butter used as one child in Y1 has a peanut allergy.

Bird Watch Blogs from Year 3 pupils at St Mary’s CEP Folkestone

Hi, I’m Hannah and on the 22^nd January both of our Year 3 classes went on a bird watch.

We were divided into 3 groups so we could hopefully, gather different data from around the vicinity of our school. This was because we were starting Data Handling in Numeracy and were going to compare the different results.

Group 1, went to the Fishing Harbour
Group 2, went to the Warren (on the cliffs)
Group 3, my group, went in the school grounds and we had the longest to do the Bird Watch as we didn’t have to walk to the Harbour or the Warren.

When I found out we were going to watch the birds I was thrilled. I learnt that we had to be very quiet and not move, so that the birds would come out.

Hi, I’m Stella and my group went to the Warren, where it was very cold with some snow still lying on the grass.

It was a lovely sunny day and we could see the White Cliffs where there are loads of seagulls. We also saw the blue English Channel, it was all great fun and something very different to do.

I learnt that we had to be very quiet so the birds didn’t fly away. Here are some of the birds that I saw…Herring Gulls, Blackbirds, Starlings, Robins, Pigeons, Sparrows and Magpies.

Hi, I’m Sky and my group went to the Warren as we were doing a survey about birds for the RSPB’s Great School Bird Watch.

I had so much fun, it was sunny and very icy and I nearly slipped and it was cold!

We saw loads of Sea Gulls (spelt by Sky, Sea Goals) , I saw 29, but my friend Stella saw 30 and Lucy saw 32! Stella loved looking at all the cool, awesome birds and liked the Blue Tit.

Finally, here is the completed graph showing St Mary's Birdwatch data!

BON APPETIT BIRDS: The perfect half term activity

2013-02-20T09:35:00Z

Guest blog: Hattie's a woman on a mission. Her new year's resolution is to kick kiddie consumerism to the curb and raise her little boy without flashing mountains of cash - that's means plenty of imagination, DIY, recycling and fresh air. Check out her story at Free Our Kids. When we suggested she could have a go at making her own bird feeders and nest boxes as some family fun, she was definitely up for the challenge. Here's how she got on.

“Birds” said my two year old son, pointing out of the bus window. I didn't pay a great deal of notice, local birdlife in our area largely being split between pigeons with two feet, pecking in littered pizza boxes, and pigeons with one foot, hopping gloomily along the gutter.

But “birds,” he went on insisting, jamming a finger forcefully against the smeared glass. “birds! Birds! BIIIIIIRDS!” And that’s when I realised that they weren’t birds. Not in the real sense anyway. He was pointing at passing women.

I have NO idea where he picked this up. I swear, with hand on heart, that his father and I only ever refer to women in the most respectful of terms. But look, this is a boy growing up in the grimy East End of London where birds walk along the pavements carrying shopping or pushing prams, wildlife is on the telly and grass is a luxury, measured and marketed in feet by estate agents.

What’s in a name? And does it matter? My son is aware, after all, that there are real birds out there. And he knows that birds with wings and birds with bingo-wings are, for all the linguistic confusion, different species.

Besides, I, his mother, spent half of my childhood in the countryside. I love nature and I understand its value. But I couldn’t match a blue-tit to its name. I’ve never known the satisfaction of seeing a beautiful creature shoot past and saying, “Wow! There goes was a….”

On the other hand, I’m a firm believer that the world gives us toddlers for a reason. To test the limits of our patience and the depths of our drinks cabinet, sure, but also to give us a second chance to explore the world with curiosity.

There has to be an upside to the endless streams of “why?” after all. “Why is the sky blue?” Well… I’m not sure. A chance to go to the Science Museum and marvel at the space probes. “Why do chickens lay eggs?” An opportunity to visit the local city farm and speak to the experts.

And so to birds. I may not have learnt the different names during my own childhood, but maybe I could do it this time, through Johnny’s. So, in the spirit of discovery, and my wider New Year’s resolution to detox from kiddie consumerism for a whole year, I thought we’d spend the weekend in the countryside at the boy's grandparents and make some bird feeders. And then we’d camp out with a book on birds, binoculars and biscuits and see what we could spot. Just like Bear Grylls.

In the end, we got a little over-enthusiastic. ‘Some bird feeders’ turned into a bit of a bird-boarding house. Because it was SO. MUCH. FUN.

Do you know what was truly brilliant about this project? And what, actually, would make it an ideal half-term project? It’s truly multi-generational.

Our team consisted of me (in possession clueless enthusiasm, some Pinterest guides and the RSPB recipe for bird-feed-cakes) Grandpa (in possession of real ornithological awareness and a fantastic hoard of empty crates, egg cartons and twine) and Johnny (in possession of short-bursts of enthusiasm and a passion for binoculars).

It involves lots of different activities (cooking the feed-cakes, building, painting...) each taking only a short amount of time so able to hold even a truculent two-year-old’s attention. They could easily be broken up and spread up over a few days, too. And it would, actually, have been even better with some school age kids on board to help with the more complicated bits of painting, baking and assembly. On the other hand, it could be scaled up or down to suit any gang.

It’s free (if you’re the collecting sort who tends to have old boxes and things lying around ‘just in case’), fun and full of fresh air.

With breaks for naps, lunches, diversions etc etc, it took us all day. Then we strung up our creation in a tree, sat by the back-door, armed with our bird guide and Grandpa and ate some digestives while gripping our binoculars. We may only have identified, so far, some blue-tits and a robin. But it’s amazing what a thrill it was to see them, eating the seed cakes we made and sitting in our orange-crate palace.

As for the naming of things, the boy may only have got as far as “blue birdies”. But I’m pretty sure he knows, now, that the winged ones in flight are just as exciting as their pavement-bound namesakes.

What's Your Favourite Natural Childhood Memory?

2013-02-18T12:39:00Z

RSPB Scotland's Youth & Education Team reflect on their favourite childhood moments in nature, and remind us of an exciting new initiative to reward children and young people today who are protecting Scotland's natural environment for future generations to enjoy.

“Snail farming”, “camping trips standing under a towel in the rain”, “stickleback fishing in the glen”, “spying a glimpse of nesting seabirds on the Isle of Arran”, “creating a woodlice haven in my garden”. When RSPB Scotland staff were asked to reveal their favourite nature-inspired moment from their childhood, these were just a few of the wonderful stories that were shared through artwork. The chances are that most of us of a certain age will share similar memories, and these early experiences will have helped to shape and grow a connection to nature throughout our lives.

Fewer children are now enjoying these early experiences in wild places than their peers from 30 years ago, resulting in young people today becoming increasingly disconnected from nature. Without a connection to nature, today’s young people can’t enjoy the physical, educational and mental health benefits that access to the outdoors are known to bring. Not only that, but without such connections, they are also unlikely to develop feelings of responsibility to the natural world, and are therefore less likely to take action to protect and conserve our environment.

The good news is that experiencing the outdoors is still a natural part of many children and young people’s development, and when these like-minded future conservationists get together in schools or groups, their enthusiasm for wildlife and nature can help them achieve some amazing things! There are 23 RSPB Wildlife Explorer and Phoenix Groups in Scotland, filled to the brim with children and young people from 5 to 19 years of age, taking on conservation projects such as community wildlife gardening, building nesting rafts for ducks, and promoting the local wild places in their own communities.

This work is being replicated in schools and youth groups across the country, and RSPB Scotland wants to recognise these achievements in this years Nature of Scotland Awards, which celebrates excellence, innovation and outstanding achievement in Scottish nature conservation. The Youth and Education Award is open to any school or youth group who can demonstrate that they have been involved in making a real difference to protecting and conserving Scotland’s habitats and wildlife. All the details you need to enter can be found in my previous blog posting here and on the Nature of Scotland website. Please be quick – the deadline is Friday 15^th March.

Good luck to all the entrants - RSPB Scotland’s Education & Youth team can’t wait to see what Scotland’s schools and youth groups have to offer to this exciting new award!

Oh – and my favourite nature-inspired memory involves a sunshine-filled early morning walk, crossing the River Druie just outside of Aviemore, and seeing my first-ever osprey fly right in front of me and come to land in a pebbly island in the river to devour its fishy breakfast! We’d love to hear yours, so please share it below!

Peer Education through the Big Schools Birdwatch at Duddingston Primary, Edinburgh

2013-02-11T15:45:40Z

One Primary 5 class at Duddingston Primary in Edinburgh took part in the Big Schools Birdwatch this year, after being encouraged by one of their own pupils, nine year old Johnny Blairford. Julia Horton, from the Times Educational Supplement Scotland, joined in the fun, and you can read her full report here.

Johnny’s enthusiasm for birds began a few years ago he says, when he saw a documentary on TV about birds and how they fly. He was so keen for his school to receive a visit from the RSPB, that he took it upon himself to call and request a visit in the run-up to the Big Schools Birdwatch. Judy Paul, our Lifelong Learning Manager, who is based at Loch Leven reserve, headed over to Duddingston Primary to meet Johnny and his classmates.

After a morning of discussion and activities, the class decamped outside to see what birds were around. Using their newly found, and in a few of Johnny's classmates' cases, thier existing bird ID knowledge and birdwatching skills, the class were lucky enough to spot a flock of redwings, and a song thrush. This was a particularly special experience for them, as they had only just learnt from Judy that this lovely songbird has decreasing in numbers over the past thirty years.

Back indoors, and the class were super keen to be involved in preparing an impressive presentation, which was delivered this to the rest of the school at their assembly. This mini peer education session was extremely well received, proving that peers can be great advocates for imparting knowledge, particularly around conservation issues. Watching them in action, P5 teacher Kelly Inch said: "They have really listened and taken everything on board. To see them passing on what they have learned so quickly is incredible.”

If your class or youth group is involved in similar peer education initiatives to spread the word about conservation and encourage children and young people to grow a connection to nature, we’d love to hear your stories! If you're looking for ways to get started, why not try out some of our bird quiz videos made with the help of RSPB Wildlife Explorer Groups? You can find these here, in an earlier blog in the Learning Community.

Big Schools' Birdwatch guest school blog: Boughton and Dunkirk Primary School

2013-02-07T11:56:00Z

The children at Boughton and Dunkirk primary school found the RSPB bird watching day fun, educational and exciting, with lots of new birds being spotted around the grounds. As a school, the bird that was spotted the most was the blackbird. All the children involved saw a variety of birds and recorded their findings.

“We saw fourteen birds altogether. Fieldfare birds need lots of berries. We also saw five collared doves” – Harrison & Kaitlen (yr R)

“We saw a blackbird and a robin. I saw a sparrow, it was a colourful bird” – Skye (yr 1)

“The ones we saw the most were 4 blackbirds and 4 carrion crows. We got to see a song thrush. They are really rare so we enjoyed it!” – Toby, Jacob, Harry & Gabriel (yr 5)

“We saw six black birds, two blue tits, one robin, one collared dove and a redwing.” – Thomas (yr 3)

Not only did the children spot the birds, but some also came up with fascinating facts about them!

“We saw a redwing. It comes to England when it’s really cold. It lives in Norway and Sweden.” – Lily, Maisie & Grace (yr 3)

All children had a great day and with this new found knowledge, will continue to bird watch to see what kinds of birds they spot.

Big Schools' Birdwatch update from St Mary's #1

2013-02-06T12:10:00Z

Many thanks to our guest blogger Colette Cotton from St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Folkestone. Colette has been doing the Big Schools' Birdwatch as part of a larger 'World Birdwatch' scheme that she runs in school, enabling links with schools across the globe. You can read more about her planned timetable of events for the scheme here. Here's how her school got on during the Big Schools' Birdwatch 2013:

Week 1

Our two year 3 classes have had a fantastic week 'Bird Watching'. They decided to gather some real relevant data to the support the 'Data Handling' aspect of numeracy and what better subject than 'Bird Watch'

The 50+ pupils were divided into 3 groups on Tuesday 22nd January, with one group going to visit Folkestone Fishing Harbour, another to the 'Warren' at Folkestone and a 3rd group to our large school field which has a small wooded area, with a bird table, a webcam, a polytunnel and plenty of several large trees.

The pupils were well wrapped up as it was only 1c outside & snowy. Armed with clipboards and recording sheets they set off. The photos attached are from the 'Fishing harbour" where some of the boats had recently come in with their catch...so Herring Gulls were everywhere.

Week 2

This is some of the bird work that we did in Computer club this week...the group had been asked to look out for birds during the weekend and then on the computer they had to :

Draw a bird Picture and save
Make a Speech bubble and insert their text...
Most of them used the paint program of 2Simple Paint and then used Comic Life for the speech bubble etc

Our after school club of 'Funkey Monkeys' pupils (age 4 to 11) spent several evenings on bird art with pastels, lego, pulses and rice.

We then made string bird feeders with lard, apricots, cheese, muesli, raisins and peanuts. They really didn't like the smell & the texture of the lard but thought the peanut butter was scrummy! Then they hung up their feeders and learned to be really quiet when near the bird's habitat, which is near our polytunnel and our chickens.

Guest Wildlife Explorer Group Blog: The SkyeLarks Birdwatch Experience

2013-02-05T09:00:00Z

Jenny Grant, Main Leader for the RSPB’s SkyeLarks Wildlife Explorer Group on the Isle of Skye, tells us about the groups’ experience doing their Big Garden Birdwatch in partnership with a local care home.

After making sure all the feeders were topped up for the birds at Home Farm Care Home in Portree, we played some games to help us get to know our birds. The SkyeLarks took up this challenge well, like they always do, and were soon ready to do the Big Garden Birdwatch for real.

Our six young SkyeLarks, parents and leaders all used their binoculars to see what birds were in the Care Home grounds. We saw 3 brilliant blackbirds, 6 noisy house sparrows, 2 grumpy robins, 3 mimicking starlings, 3 cheery chaffinches, 1 little coal tit and a bright flash as a goldfinch landed on a tree in the garden. We learnt all about survey techniques and how to avoid double counting.

Our results were submitted to the RSPB via their website. They said to us ' We hope you enjoyed Big Garden Birdwatch 2013 - the world's biggest wildlife survey! Your results will help us learn more about garden birds. Thank you. Your count will be combined with those from thousands of other gardens around the UK, and after our scientists have done some serious number-crunching, we'll be publishing the results on our website at the end of March.' Well done SkyeLarks :-)

After patiently recording the birds, the SkyeLarks needed their toes warmed up. Luckily for us, the care home put on a spread of hot chocolate, crisps, cake, juice and more for us. It was really fantastic. Thanks again to Home Farm for allowing us to use their grounds and for this brilliant feast afterwards.

Thanks for taking part - here's what happens next!

2013-02-04T15:28:00Z

Thank you to everyone who has done their Big Schools' Birdwatch over the last two weeks! Don't worry if you've been delayed doing yours because of the snow, that's OK as you have until the 17 Feb to submit your results.

If you haven't submitted your results yet, then you can do so here, and don't forget that even if you saw nothing at all we need to know about it. We need to know where birds are, and where they aren't!

Once the deadline has closed we'll count all the data and select the winning schools at random for our prize draw, the results will be announced on this blog, so make sure you keep checking back!

Every school that has submitted their results will then receive a letter outlining our findings, with a certificate for taking part, at the end of March.

Submit your results

Species in the spotlight: Magpie

2013-02-01T11:56:00Z

Guest blog written by Dr Mark Boyd, RSPB Interim Head of Youth and Education, explaining some lesser known facts about the magpie.

The magpie could be the most misunderstood bird in the UK. Look closely and you’ll see that magpies aren’t even simply black and white! Many of their feathers have an iridescent sheen, so in good light you will see greens, blues and purples shining from a magpie’s magnificent tail.

People notice magpies. They are loud, easy to identify and see, are bold and they have increased in numbers across the UK. This increase has been for three main reasons: far fewer of them are killed by people trying to protect their commercial interests, such as pheasant rearing; there is much more food around thanks to road kill; and the way we look after garden habitats such as hedgerows really favours the way magpies search for food.

For much of the year, magpies are vegetarian, eating fruits and seeds, but they will also take road kill and sometimes visit bird tables. Like many other birds, in spring, they switch to a higher-protein diet, such as eggs and chicks of other wild birds. This can be distressing to witness, but a magpie seen during the day often gets the blame for deeds carried out by a domestic cat at night!

Magpies have long been seen as unlucky in folklore (hence all the variations on “One for sorrow, two for joy”), and have been assumed to have all sorts of evil motives for some of their behaviour, especially where it relates to eating eggs and chicks of garden birds. In truth, magpies are just resourceful survivors that taking advantage of habitats and foods that we have unwittingly provided.

You are most likely to see a lone magpie in April or May. This may signify bad luck to some people, but it usually means good luck for the magpie. The other magpie of the pair will be sitting on its eggs or brooding its chicks in a big dome-shaped nest high in a tree. If you see a group of magpies in the spring, they are almost certainly non-breeders – probably young birds who didn’t manage to oust a sitting pair. Sometimes in winter as many as 200 magpies gather to spend the night together. These gatherings, called conventicles, tidings, murders or even titterings, can be full of chatter, and may help them sort out who pairs with whom for the spring.

Magpies are intelligent birds that have a reputation for stealing things. They do seem to like shiny trinkets and often decorate their nests with sweet wrappers, bits of foil, old spoons or even jewellery if they can find it. No one is entirely sure why they do it, but it may be an indication of status: the more time for bling, the fitter the bird!

Berries and waxwings

2013-01-30T16:45:00Z

Guest blog written by Barrie Cooper, International Education Manager

Are there any berries on the trees and bushes in your school grounds? If so, then they are going to be very welcome food in these cold conditions for blackbirds and thrushes. But a really special bird to look out for is the waxwing. This charismatic bird breeds in the taiga forests of Scandinavia and Russia. Small numbers of waxwings migrate to the UK every Autumn, but when there is a shortage of rowan berries in their breeding grounds unusually high numbers will head south for the winter – this is called an irruption. These only happen every few years and this winter has been an irruption year as there has been several thousand across the UK. Waxwings love berries and can eat between 600 and 1000 in a day; this is twice their body weight. They also eat other fruit such as apples, but its berries, particularly rowan and rose hips that they like to gorge on. Although they also eat insects and flowers, over 80% of their diet is fruit. No other bird in Europe is such a dedicated fruit eater. One of the great things about waxwings is that you are more likely to see them in your school grounds, garden or supermarket car park than out in the countryside. The ornamental planting of berry bearing trees in urban and suburban areas definitely helps to bring this bird close to people – that’s why schools can be great places to see them. They can be easy birds to see when they are eating their favourite berries.

Two years ago, my local school in Sandy recorded them on their Big Schools Birdwatch and, with so many in the country now, there will be several schools that will record them this year. I took these photos outside my house on January 15, so it’s likely that my local school will record them again if they are lucky. Keep a look out for this beautiful creamy brown bird with a crest around your local area and during Big Schools Birdwatch. They are a similar size to starlings and can easily be mistaken for them – just look out for the crests! Just in case you are wondering why they are called waxwings, it’s because they have some feathers on their wings that are tipped with a red substance that looks like the red wax that is sometimes used for sealing official documents.