Make your garden count! Next few slides are to let the audience know how Garden BirdWatch works. 1

7.3 million submissions 94.7 million observations John Harding 2 Background to BTO Garden BirdWatch BTO Garden BirdWatch started in 1995. The survey had c.3,000 participants at the end of its first year and has c.13,000 now. To date there have been c.7.3 million submissions of data by householders, within which there have been c.94.7 million observations of birds (and other animals) in gardens! Methods: We ask each householder to record the maximum number of individuals of each species of bird observed simultaneously within their garden on a weekly basis. Therefore, if two Blackbirds were seen simultaneously on Monday, three simultaneously on Tuesday, two simultaneously on Wednesday, and none for the rest of the week, then the count for Blackbird for that week would be THREE. There is not a set amount of time over which a householder is asked to observe birds in their garden each week; all that we ask is that each householder is consistent in their own method from week to week – i.e. five minutes per week every week would be better than five minutes one week, 30 minutes the next week, an hour the week after etc. Although BTO Garden BirdWatch runs on a weekly basis throughout the year, you can still go on holiday etc.! If you are away for a week we ask that you leave your records blank for that week. John Harding 2

Mike Toms 3 Background to BTO Garden BirdWatch Despite the enormous number of records, the BTO Garden BirdWatch team is small – three permanent members of staff and one job-share role at HQ in Thetford. There is so much information that volunteers are asked to help staff at HQ to open post and to assist with other jobs as and when. Mike Toms 3

Mike Toms 4 Background to BTO Garden BirdWatch People can submit GBW records on paper forms that are sent quarterly (i.e. at 13 week intervals) to BTO HQ. These forms are machine-readable (i.e. see slide). Mike Toms 4

5 Background to BTO Garden BirdWatch Around half of participants now complete the survey on-line rather than using paper records. This has advantages: Provides more flexibility in the counts of species. For example, because of limited space on the paper form you can only record if you observed one, two, three, or four or more, Blackbirds in your garden in a given week. Online you have the flexibility to record the exact number (e.g. six Blackbirds). All of the submissions of data that you make are saved onto your own personal pages, the access to which is made by using your personal log-on. Your saved records form a personal diary of the birds that you have seen in your garden. For example, this means that you can compare birds that you observed in your garden this week with those that you observed in your garden exactly a year ago with ease. Online submissions are uploaded automatically, 365 days per year, onto the BTO computer system. This means that graphs derived from GBW data submitted online are plotted and appear rapidly on the BTO website. There is no scanning of paper forms, so the results are available immediately! HOWEVER, BOTH ONLINE AND PAPER RECORDS ARE VERY VALUABLE AND THEY BOTH GET USED IN THE FINAL BTO GARDEN BIRDWATCH RESULTS 5

Bird Table magazine BTO Garden BirdWatch 6 Background to BTO Garden BirdWatch As can be seen, BTO Garden BirdWatch is a large-scale survey and it operates on fairly small resources. Unlike all other BTO surveys, GBW receives no money from government – it is entirely self-financing. To cover the survey’s running costs, we ask that participants contribute £15 per year. For this contribution participants receive a quarterly magazine Bird Table. Bird Table is written to be enjoyable and informative, an is centred on the observations of BTO Garden BirdWatchers. (point audience to the free copies on their chairs). BTO Garden BirdWatch 6

FREE book! BTO Garden BirdWatch 7 Background to BTO Garden BirdWatch New joiners to BTO Garden BirdWatch receive one of these books for free – Gardening for Birdwatchers which retails at £9.99, or Garden Birds and Wildlife which retails at £14.99. People can also join Garden BirdWatch as a non-recording participant. So, anyone who would like one of these books and the quarterly magazine Bird Table, but do not feel that can take part in the actual survey, can do this too! BTO Garden BirdWatch 7

There is also a free monthly Garden BirdWatch e-newsletter, for all the latest news and views from gardens. Anyone in the audience can sign up for this – please pass on email address to speaker at the end of the talk (special forms have been made for this – see ‘useful downloads’ on restricted Ambassadors pages). Taster form Anyone who is interested in getting involved but would like to try GBW for free for a few weeks – please point them towards the three-week taster forms inserted in copies of Bird Table which were put on audience seats prior to the talk. BTO Garden BirdWatch 8