RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch

Residents at the Kingsley Healthcare run home enjoyed taking part in the charity’s annual event which monitors the UK bird population over a weekend in January. From a perfect vantage point in the lounge of the historic home, originally built for a 19th-century admiral, they observed the garden for an hour – in accordance with the birdwatch rules – counting the highest number of each bird species they could see at any one time.

They recorded four blue tits, three long-tailed tits, three wood pigeons, three great tits, two coal tits, three blackbirds, one robin, one collared dove, one pheasant, one partridge and one crow. Activities coordinator Mary Womack said: “We prepared for the event by making bird food out of lard, nuts and sunflowers.

It was an interactive activity where lots of the residents were keen to get involved.” As well as birds they had seen plenty of squirrels too.