The media has been bitten by the Big Garden Birdwatch bug with wide coverage for the launch of the annual event today – let’s hope all the mentions translate into lots more people taking part.
Many news outlets have gone with the angle that the survey could reveal this winter was deadly for garden birds, and the robin is singled out as being among the main casualties. But the main message is take part! It could genuinely be more important than ever before and with your help, the RSPB will get an idea of just how much impact the cold weather has had.
In the past few weeks TV and radio shows and newspapers and news websites across the UK have really taken the plight of our garden birds to heart. They've been falling over each other to tell their audiences what they can do to help, the food we can put out and the importance of water and shelter. All those people that have heeded the advice will hopefully be rewarded this weekend as they enjoy watching all sorts of wild visitors to their feeders and tables.
The main media push was today to give people advance notice that the birdwatch is happening this weekend so they can get their feeders filled and their tables stocked up, but we are hoping for lots more great coverage today and this weekend. BBC Breakfast will broadcast a package tomorrow (Friday), with a young family taking part and an RSPB expert talking through how everyone else can get involved. Radio 5 Live will do interviews with both the RSPB and birdwatching celebrities on Saturday morning and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for mentions in the weekend gardening supplements.
It promises to be another great year and the fantastic media attention will certainly add to this. Now, where did I put those binoculars…