News – Page 6

Medical experts agree that spending some time in green space or bringing nature in to your life can benefit your mental health and wellbeing. It can improve your mood, reduce feelings of stress and anxiety and can help you to feel more relaxed. During lockdown many people have really suffered because their normal lives have been turned upside down.  People have felt imprisoned in their own homes.

I feel fortunate that I have been connected to nature for as long as I can remember. My grandfather, a farmer and market gardener, taught me a lot about the natural environment and my favourite teacher inspired me to become more involved. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered this teacher was Austin Dobbs who was incidentally the county recorder for birds. So with that background, I have found the last year relatively easy. For those of you who haven’t found life easy, there is a way you can get involved with nature from the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is look out of your window and watch the birds which visit your garden.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) holds its Big Garden BirdWatch during the last weekend of January and has been doing so since 1979 and each year more and more adults and children participate. Even schools now become involved. Over the years it has become an enormous success with around half a million people participating. However, the event is for one weekend of the year only, hence my recommendation to also join the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Garden BirdWatch scheme. The main difference between the two is that the RSPB’s event is for one weekend only, whereas the BTO’s is all year round.        

With the BTO scheme, all you have to do each week is spend a minimum of 20 minutes watching the birds visit your garden and write a list of them. At the beginning of the next week, you send your list (online) to the BTO GBW team at their head office in Thetford. From here researchers analyse and interpret the recordings of birds from participants all over the country. This helps to give us a better understanding of birds and helps to explain why some bird populations are dwindling and some are increasing. It also helps you to learn more about your garden and how local wildlife uses it. Since the scheme began in 1995 it has expanded in nature and membership. Originally, it was only birds which were recorded but over the years, it has developed to include mammals, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, and other insects. The most recent addition is a wildlife health section. You don’t have to be an expert on birds; you just need to be interested. 

Over the last year, it has been even more important to connect with nature. As our life has become very restricted, what better way to get to know your garden? If you would like more information or wish to join, it is free, just visit www.bto.org/join-gbw

Jean Powley