Bourton & District

Nature Group - Garden Wildlife

During the Covid lockdown many members will not be getting out and about as they wish. But it’s a good opportunity to take a more detailed look at the wildlife in your garden, and often find things you have overlooked.

You may be interested in these garden wildlife surveys. They involve sitting in your garden and watching and listening (easy enough!) and then recording. The watching and listening is fun and relaxing; the recording is what turns it into useful science. Don’t worry about getting stuff wrong – any mistakes get drowned out by the huge numbers of volunteers taking part.

GARDEN CHALLENGE - Gloucestershire Naturalists Society

Submit an account, a diary, a list, artwork or photos of any wildlife you see within your garden each month. Literally anything that appeals - see some examples on the GNS website here.

POLLINATOR WATCH - Open University, as publicised by BBC’s SpringWatch

The little crunchy things that make the world work! Insects get less attention than many other living things but are vital for pollination, recycling dead plants and animals, and keeping other insect populations under control. Sit in your garden and see what you can find and identify - the project guide with its id charts is worth looking at, whether you send in observations or not.
A recent BBC website article points out that moths are vital but unnoticed pollinators

GARDEN BIRDWATCH - British Trust for Ornithology

Enjoyed the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch back in January? Why not do it every week, and see how the birds in your garden change with the seasons? This old favourite is now in its 25th year. Have a look at the GBW website and join up – the first year is free during lockdown, and then £17 gets you their quarterly Bird Table colour magazine as well. You can also sign up for the BTO''s free weekly email with points of interest and a summary.