Children from Nursery and Reception at Awsworth Primary School stepped outside the classroom last Tuesday to take part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch.
Wrapped up warmly, the pupils spent around 30 minutes quietly observing birds on the school field, recording the highest number of each species they spotted as part of the nationwide initiative.
The Birdwatch is designed to encourage young children to connect with nature, learn about the birds around them and begin recognising common garden species. For many of the children, aged just three and four, it was their first experience of taking part in a wildlife survey – and staying quiet proved just as challenging as spotting the birds themselves!
After the count, everyone was rewarded with a well-earned hot chocolate and a biscuit.
The birds recorded during the session were:
- 4 Wood pigeons
- 2 Carrion crows
- 2 Starlings
- 1 Magpie
- 2 Robins
- 1 Great tit
- 5 Black-headed gulls
- 1 Chaffinch
- 2 Jackdaws
The results were uploaded to the RSPB website and will contribute to the national findings, which are due to be published at the beginning of March.
Launched in 2022, the Big Schools’ Birdwatch has already involved more than a million schoolchildren across the UK. The annual event provides the RSPB with valuable insight into how familiar bird species are faring, at a time when many are facing increasing pressures from habitat loss and the wider nature and climate emergency.
Photo credit: Pete Makings, the school’s resident ‘grandad helper’.
