Our News
Don't miss the Big Garden Birdwatch 24th-26th January
A male house sparrow - last year's most frequently recorded bird, but numbers are down by 60%
The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey. Every year, many thousands of nature lovers like you take part, helping to build a picture of how garden birds are coping with all the challenges of the present day. Click here to go to the Garden Birdwatch website where there is lots of information and you can register for this year's event.
Across the UK, over 600,000 people took part in Big Garden Birdwatch 2024, counting a whopping 9.7 million birds! House Sparrows took the top spot, but counts of these are down by 60% compared to the first Birdwatch in 1979. In fact, we’ve lost 38 million birds from UK skies in the last 60 years. With birds facing so many challenges, it’s more important than ever to get involved in the Birdwatch. It's run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and every bird you do – or don’t – count will give them a valuable insight into how garden birds are faring.
Join in the 2025 New Year Plant Hunt, 29th December to 1st January
Not long now until the 2025 New Year Plant Hunt starts!
Now in its 14th year, the hunt is organised by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI). Thousands of people all over the UK will go on a flower-spotting walk to help understand how our wild plants are responding to a changing climate. It's fun and adds interest to your New Year ramble!
You can click here to find out more, and for spotter sheets, plant hunting/photographing tips and ID help. All you need to do is choose a nice day between 29th Dec and 1st January, go on a local flower hunt, and add your valuable data to this great citizen science project.
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See our New Year 2023 Wildflower Diary for results from 2 years ago when SGEG found 13 different plants in flower in and around Shamley Green. Unfortunately we couldn't join the last Plant Hunt, but are hoping to get out plant-spotting for this one.
UPDATE: on a cold and gloomy New Year's Day we found 6 species in flower on Blackheath: gorse (of course), annual meadow grass and daisy were not surprising, but there were also 3 species quite unusual for the New Year Plant Hunt: thyme-leaved speedwell, thyme-leaved sandwort and slender rush.
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The next day's hunting around the canal, the railway track and Lords Hill yielded 10 species: herb robert, daisy, wood avens, dandelion, dog's mercury, red campion, annual meadow grass, creeping buttercup, wavy bitter-cress and white deadnettle.
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Click here for an interactive map and list of this year's results over the whole of the UK and Ireland