Children at Nine Acres Primary School have been helping protect local wildlife by taking part in the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch.
Pupils took part in the nationwide initiative by watching and counting birds visiting their school grounds before submitting their findings as part of a UK-wide citizen science project run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
The Big Schools’ Birdwatch runs during the first half of the Spring term, from 6th January to 13th February, and encourages children to engage with nature while contributing valuable data on the health of bird populations.
At Nine Acres Primary School, children explored different habitats around the school site, learning how to spot and identify a range of bird species found locally. Pupils even tried out bird calls of their own as part of the hands-on learning experience.
Since its launch in 2002, the Big Schools’ Birdwatch has involved more than a million schoolchildren and has become a much-loved annual event. The project provides the RSPB with an important snapshot of how birds in school grounds across the UK are faring.
With birds facing increasing pressures from habitat loss, climate change and environmental challenges, every count plays a role. Over the past two decades, more than 70 different species have been recorded in school grounds through the Birdwatch, offering the RSPB a remarkable level of insight into the state of the nation’s wildlife.
For more information about the Big Schools’ Birdwatch, visit the RSPB website.
