Garden watchers capture picture of birds in numbers

TONY HENDERSON on how the North East has kept track of its feathered friends over the years

- TONY HENDERSON

HOW the bird population in the North East has changed has been revealed by 30 years of weekly observations by garden watchers in the region.

The spotters have participated in the British Trust for Ornithology’s Garden BirdWatch project, which was launched in 1995. And in that time people from the region have recorded a staggering 3,558,440 individual birds across 165 species.

Those who join the scheme submit weekly sightings on birds that visit their gardens, plus information on any mammals and butterflies that are spotted and what food they leave out for the wildlife.

As the BTO marks the 30th anniversary of the venture, figures show several bird species that appeared in the 1995 top 10 most-seen, have vanished from the latest table.

Greenfinch, chaffinch and song thrush have been replaced by woodpigeon, magpie, goldfinch, coal tit and great tit.

However, blackbird presence in North East gardens has been stable across time, topping both tables. Blackbirds appear in 100% of project gardens in 1995, and 98.6% in 2024. This is notable, given the decline of blackbirds observed in the South of England.