The Bailiwick Big Garden Birdwatch 2020

Your Participation in the Bailiwick Big Garden Birdwatch Begins Here

During this difficult period of lockdown many people are enjoying the birds in their garden, some discovering the delights of observing our feathered friends for the first time. Before us is an opportunity to deliver the most comprehensive census of garden birds in the history of the Bailiwick islands! Birdwatching has no boundaries and the opportunity for you to enjoy the birds that have chosen your garden for feeding, nesting, or just stopping off for a rest awaits you young or old. So, expert or novice, if you want to help ensure something positive comes from being stuck indoors please join us.

During the last week of April starting Friday 24th and ending Thursday 30th, we would like you to record as many birds as possible that visit your garden. A 7-day checklist of bird species likely to visit you is available on this web page for you to fill in each day or for as many as you are able. Once completed, clicking a simple ‘send’ button will enable us to collate the information you provide.

As a thank-you from us and the birds, every ‘Bailiwick Big Garden Birdwatch‘ entry will enter a free draw of 2 free night’s accommodation at Alderney bird observatory (once things are back to normal) situated at The Nunnery overlooking Longis Bay from within its Roman Fort walls.

You can also download and print a copy of this form, either using it as a 'tally sheet ' during the birdwatch, or sending a postal entry, to the address at the bottom of the document.

Taking part is easy, simply populate our online daily checklist, or post/email your completed document to us at the end of the week.

Taking Part

Record species that you are confident you can identify correctly; if you can’t identify the less common birds in your garden, it’s ok to leave them off. If you see something that you would like conformation of, or help with identification, email your photo to our warden John Horton on abo.warden@outlook.com.

You should only record birds actually visiting your garden. For example:

• Birds on your bird feeders, perching in shrubs/trees or nesting on your house
• Birds feeding on insects in your garden, e.g. Swallows flying low

Do not include birds that are flying past overhead and not using your garden.

If you were not able to count all the birds of a species that were in your garden, just record '1'. If you choose to include a count, remember that it should be the maximum number of the species that you saw together at any one time (e.g. three Blackbirds seen at the same time). You should not add counts from different times together. For example if you see two Blue Tits on your bird feeder 6 times in one day, unless you are confident there are different individuals using your feeder then it just counts as 2 Blue Tits. Start each daily checklist as a separate day, do not add on birds from the day before.

We are interested in records from all gardens, even if you don’t see many birds! Records from small, town gardens are just as valuable as those from a large rural garden.

You can spend as much or little time as you like recording for BBGB, but ideally please try to spend a consistent amount of time making your observations each day so that they are comparable with each other.

It is certainly the case that an early start watching your garden birds will result in you seeing more birds. If you have feeders in your garden make sure you have them topped up at least a week before 24th April so that the birds get used to the regular food source and add your garden to their rounds!

See the chart below containing some 46 different species that may be seen in your garden. Simply select the correct day and add below the species photograph the number of birds of that species you have spotted in your garden on that day. If you manage to see a bird not included on our list then make a record of it and email the details to abo.warden@outlook.com.

When submitting your completed garden bird records at the end of the week please select from the dropdown boxes which Bailiwick island you are from and your postcode. Please provide your name (a first name of made up name for the purposes of this exercise is fine) And finally if you want to be entered into the free draw of two free nights for two people at the recently refurbished bird observatory overlooking Longis Bay then add your email address.

Lastly and most of all enjoy your garden birds and thank you for taking part in this research dedicated to the Bailiwicks garden birds.

John Horton
Warden, Alderney Bird Observatory