This year’s Great Coastal Birdwatch kicks off on Saturday 19 October. We want anyone who’s going to be on the coast at any time from 19 October to 3 November to take part.
Now in its sixth year, the fortnight-long birdwatch celebrates the autumn arrival of thousands of birds that spend the colder months on our shoreline.
If you’re on the coast, to take part you just have to tell how many different types of birds you see in up to an hour. A special website has been developed to keep track of birds the birds you’ve seen: GreatCoastalBirdwatch.org.
Here’s Ranger Eloise to tell you all about it:
We’re hosting dozens of free events to mark this year’s birdwatch including birdwatching walks, guided by our friendly rangers in Lymington, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight; and pop-up events all along the coastline.
Many coastal birds travel extraordinary distances to get to the Solent’s mudflats and saltmarshes along the coastline every year. Dark-bellied brent geese fly all the way from Arctic Siberia while turnstones arrive from Greenland, Canada and Lapland.
The annual birdwatch helps raise awareness of the wealth of wildlife on the south coast and gives us valuable data on birds that spend the winter here.
As Ranger Eloise says: ‘The autumn migration of coastal birds to the Solent shoreline is an incredible phenomenon to witness and a very important legacy to protect’.
By increasing people’s awareness of the awe-inspiring journeys undertaken by coastal birds, we want to encourage people to give them the space they need to feed and rest without being disturbed.
Last year more than 100 species were spotted including ospreys and many other species on the red-list for conservation concern, including dunlins, black-tailed godwits, and lapwings.
How many birds will you see?
