Connect with wildlife from the comfort of your home

This week sees the return of the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. You can take part and help to build a picture of how our garden birds are doing in North East Lincolnshire from the comfort of your own home!

The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey and has been running every January since the 1970s.

We know that our coastal areas in North East Lincolnshire are vitally important for birdlife. As part of the Humber Estuary, it is legally protected and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The Cleethorpes DUNE project aims to promote and protect our coast to ensure it remains safeguarded and accessible for years to come.

Our garden birds are also important and you can help to monitor them from your homes, your gardens or even one of the many local parks and open spaces: Parks and open spaces.

Taking part is simple:

• Choose an hour between Friday 23 and Sunday 25 January

• Only record birds that land in your patch (your garden, your balcony or a park)

• Record the highest number of each species you see at any one time

• Submit your results at rspb.org.uk/birdwatch 

Remember: even surveys with no results are useful. This all helps to build up a picture of how our birds are doing.

Even schools can join in! Between 6 January and 13 February, the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch encourages teachers to help their pupils count which species are visiting their school grounds. To register and download free resources, visit here: Big Schools’ Birdwatch 2026

590,000 people across the UK took part in Big Garden Birdwatch 2025, counting a whopping 9.1 million birds!

House Sparrows took the top spot, but counts of these popular birds are also down by 60% compared to the first Birdwatch in 1979. With our nation’s birds facing so many challenges, it’s more important than ever to get involved in the Birdwatch. Every bird you do – or don’t – count will give the RSPB a valuable insight into how garden birds are faring.