Students at Linkage’s Grimsby campus took part in the RSPB’s 2026 Garden Birdwatch. On the morning of January 23, five students, three staff from the Small Animal Care department, and one volunteer dedicated an hour to surveying birdlife in the grounds of Weelsby Hall.
The team’s initial ‘observatory’ was the newly-refurbished volunteer building, where feeders with mixed seed, fatballs, and sunflower hearts were hung from trees and outside the windows. However, apart from two woodpigeons, no birds appeared in the first 20 minutes, so the group relocated to the established bird-feeding station outside The Orangery.
Here, birds quickly appeared: blue tits, great tits, coal tits, dunnocks, magpies, and one each of a robin, blackbird, and chaffinch. There was also a brief glimpse of a long-tailed tit, with black-headed and herring gulls wheeling overhead. Four grey squirrels made a surprise appearance, scaring off some of the smaller birds and reminding the team that nature can be unpredictable!
The RSPB notes that the Garden Birdwatch is also important for identifying absent species. In previous years, starlings and house sparrows would likely have been common at Weelsby Hall, but none were seen during the survey between 10:20 and 11:20 am.
Following the survey, the team submitted their results to the RSPB, which will be included in the nationwide data to be published this spring. The society thanked the group, saying: “Your count will help us paint a picture of how UK garden birds are faring.”
Hats off to the Linkage team for their patience and diligence – especially as part of the survey took place outdoors in cold conditions!
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