The Big Garden Birdwatch and the author of The Hundred and One Dalmatians are inseparable to me. To borrow and subvert the opening line to a favourite book (and I’ve done it before), I do this sitting in the kitchen sink… “That is to say, my feet are in it, the rest of me is on the draining-board,” says Cassandra Mortmain, from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. The fact that she is talking about writing isn’t lost on me – but this is also about birdwatching (specifically, bird counting) for the 45th Big Garden Birdwatch. The birds started me writing in the first place, and we really did used to count them, sitting in the kitchen sink.
‘Through neighbourly, friendly interaction, we could save the world through this lens, watching, counting, sharing the birds through glass’
Cassandra Mortmain, a girl on the cusp of womanhood in the 1930s, created by an author exiled in wartime, is full of yearning – both author and character trying to ‘capture’ the essence of the vivid present (bright as a Blue Tit, becoming ever distant) in an elegiac light. In so many ways, that essence is the years of doing Big Garden Birdwatch to me. I want to paint it in the urgent, elegiac light, of a fading biodiversity: capture its gentle activism for the joy, wonder, connection and health of life on Earth for us all. Through neighbourly, friendly interaction, we could save the world through this lens, watching, counting, sharing the birds through glass. Was there ever a better excuse, or more important time, to stare out the window?
Last year, over half a million people named and numbered the wild birds. Extraordinary, when you think about it. And it’s important, not only because it tells us how they are faring, but because it gets people interested in their wild neighbours and connects them. Imagine if those half a million people nature-enthused to just one other person? I bet they did, anyway.
Big Garden Birdwatch 2023: The Best Bits. Video: RSPB
So much has changed in all those years we’ve been counting birds, including a serious decline in numbers and species, against the backdrop of the nature and environmental crisis. But I know too, our love, interest, knowledge and care has increased. More of our voices have been raised to include birds and other wildlife in the way we live our lives. The way I do my bird count has changed too. There are passing contributions from my husband and youngest daughter (who used to sit on the draining board, pushing her toes down the plug hole) but mostly, it is a steady pinging on my phone. My son is recording Sparrows, Jackdaws (“A Fox!”) in Bristol, and my elder daughter, Goldfinches and gulls in Falmouth. Mum sends updates, other family check in, neighbours and the village WhatsApp, friends at work, X, Instagram – the chatter is all about birds.
And this is how we capture the power of this moment – the birds of the air, window boxes and gardens; this is how we enrapt a new audience of appreciation, care and love. We wave, call them over, bring them in, these latest champions for this wonderful wild world we share. This is how we capture the castle. Who would dare attack that?
Take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch
Thousands of people join in with the Big Garden Birdwatch every year. Register today to be one of them! All you need to do is spend an hour watching birds – this could be in your garden, local park, or from your balcony – and share what you’ve seen with us. This event is a vital piece of citizen science that gives us a snapshot of how birds across the country are faring. This year, we’re encouraging you to take part with your friends, family or even your local community. Together, let’s make it count.
Join in with the Big Garden Birxdwatch. Photo: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
