If you like birds, here are two organisations you might be interested in joining:
These organisations have special sections just for young people:
- RSPB Wildlife Explorer
- RSPB Phoenix Teen club
- BTO Young Birder (read their blog here).
There’s also Next Generation Birders, which is run by and for 13-25-year-olds.
Any of these organisations may be able to help you find your local birding group. Your local birding group may put on talks, organise bird walks and keep you informed of interesting birds in your area.
If you enjoy watching birds, then you might like to keep a record of what you see. Recording the birds you see helps us all, scientists and non-scientists alike, to understand how many birds are where, and when.
If you just want to record birds once a year, then the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is for you! This takes place over one weekend every January. Find out more about it here.
If you’d like to record the birds you see more regularly, there are quite few schemes you can take part in. Here are some of them:
Some recording schemes just record sightings of one type of bird. Here are a few of them:
- Little Owl Count
- Kestrel Count
- Swift Survey (find out more about Swifts here).
If you’d like to get your school involved in birdwatching, then the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch is for you. Find out more here.
If you see a bird you don’t recognise, this online resource might help you find out what it is: RSPB Bird Identifier.
If you have a garden, you might like to put a bird bath in there. This will help your local birds keep clean and healthy. Find out what makes a good bird bath here.
Another great thing to have in your garden or school grounds is a nest box, where birds can nest. Different birds like different shaped boxes. If you’d like to put up nest boxes for Swifts, check out all these ones and the DIY instructions here. You might even like to take part in National Nest Box Week, which takes place in February. Register for a free info. pack here.
If you like getting involved in campaigning, then you might be interested in this campaign to save the Hen Harrier: Raptors Alive
And if you’d like to learn to ring birds, you can find out more:
If you find a ringed bird, then you can report it here.
And of course, if you want to learn about birds through laughter, rhythm and rhyme, then my Flying High! book is for you!
Happy birding wherever you are!
Find out more about my Flying High! book here.
Watch Flying High! videos here.
Find out what the birds in Flying High! sound like here.
Download the Teachers’ Resource Sheet here.
Fancy a Flying High! show where you are? Email me!
Buy your signed copy, with free postage, for £9.99 here
Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz – Bringing poetry to life
thebigbuzz.wordpress.com 