Its that time again, the time lots of you have been waiting for, its the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch. 

A chance for every single one of us to get out (or even stay inside) and do some citizen science, to help us understand our wild bird populations across the country. 

You can find out everything you need to know about the big garden bird watch by visiting the RSPB website. You can download resources to help you with your watch and see live updates as people record their sightings, what will be the most seen bird this year? 

Its really easy to get involved. you just need access to some outdoor space, but its ok if you can't actually get out, you can do the count just the same by looking out of a window, so its something that almost everyone can get involved with. 

You need to spend an hour watching your chosen green space, then during that hour you keep a track of the birds that visit, you don't need to record every single one, instead you record the highest number seen at any one time during the hour. So if you have one little Blue Tit pop in for a few minutes and then later on 2 come at the same time, you would record it as 2 Blue Tits being present during your hour. It can be really fascinating to see which species you have in your local area. But also remember that negative results are just as important to science as positive ones, so if during your hour absolutely no birds come along to check out your green space please do put that record in to the RSPB. Seeing where animals aren't is just as important as seeing where they are. 

Its also super important to remember that its not a competition, theres no number that you need to reach to make it worth while, every record is important. And don't forget you can take part as many times as you like, you can do lots in your garden, or maybe go to a few different sites and see if you see different birds at each one. Its really all about getting involved, having fun and making that connection with nature, often just taking that little bit of time out to really look at whats around you can make you feel so much more connected with the natural world and thats always a good thing. 

As we love the Big Garden Birdwatch, I have created a fun colouring sheet that you can also use to record what you see, which you can download here. 

And if you are looking to learn more about the amazing birds we have all around us you can check out some of my Amazing Animals range. 

Amazing Birds of the British Isles Fact cards contains 35 bird cards and 1 key card. Each card shows my illustration with the birds common name on one side, then on the back it has their scientiific name, some key info about them and then three fun facts, then you can use the colour of the card along with the key card to see what area of the British Isles they are found in. A fun and interactive way to learn about some of the amazing birds that call the UK home. My packs of amazing animals cards are printed in the UK, using sustainable materials in a solar powered factory.

Amazing Birds of the British Isles Colouring Book has been designed to match the fact cards and features all of the same birds, this time ready for you to colour in. If you use the book alongside the cards you can use my illustrations to guide your colouring. All of my colouring books are printed on recycled paper using vegetable based inks, right here in the UK. 

Amazing British Garden Birds Fact and Activity Book focuses on 12 species of birds that you may see visiting your garden. I actually created this book during lockdown as a way of helping kids connect with the nature they could see outside their window at a time when they couldnt venture very far to explore. There are 12 fact pages along with colouring pages for each species and then a selection of fun activities, like making a bird feeder from a toilet roll tube and a bird spotting list. As with the colouring books, my activity books are printed on recycled paper using vegetable based inks, right here in the UK.

I hope you will all enjoy joining in with the Big Garden Birdwatch, learning about birds and connecting with nature.