During January 2020, Mike Coker chose to visit Langton House for a winter break, Mike, who also volunteers for the RSPB, very kindly guided our Big Garden Birdwatch during his stay – guiding an impressive crowd of 15 during a 2-hour birdwatching session…
Mike Coker commented: "Thank you to all the nature-loving holidaymakers who joined us, and thank you to the site staff for putting out bird food, advertising the event, and taking photographs.”
“During the two hours we saw 16 different species of birds in the grounds of Langton House. I have logged the 12 species that we saw during the first hour with the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch and am now warming up with a coffee and fruit cake!”
“Our highlights were seeing a flock of long-tailed tits and watching a buzzard being chased out of the hedgerow by a pair of crows.”
“By my rough count 15 people joined me at some point during the 2 hours and we spoke to another half-dozen or so about what we were doing. It was lovely to meet all these people and to hear about their own bird-watching adventures.”
The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest wildlife survey, with over half a million people now taking part every year. The event has been run for over 40 years, with people joining in with individual events across the county – from larger groups such as the one at Langton House, to individuals in their own gardens!
The scale and history of the birdwatch means that the RSPB can monitor trends and compare data from across the decades, allowing them to spot problems and protect the many beautiful bird species found here in the UK. It was this event which revealed the decline of song thrushes, house sparrows and starlings, as well as an increase in great tits and goldfinches, among others. In fact, without the valuable resource of the Big Garden Birdwatch, many recent trends may have gone unnoticed for years.
We’d like to send an enormous thank you to Mike Coker for offering his time whilst on holiday with us here at Langton House – it was a very enjoyable and valuable few hours for everyone involved!
