How to take part and why it is important.

Big Garden Birdwatch Buxton
27-29 January 2023

700,000 people took part in RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2022, counting over 11 million birds, and adding to four decades of data that give a unique insight into changes in our garden bird species.

Whilst this data is an invaluable record of national and regional trends, we hope to build a picture of Buxton's birds by gathering your local counts.

Enjoy watching and counting garden birds for just one hour this weekend and become part of the world's biggest wildlife survey.

Help us build a better picture of Buxton's birds by adding results to a simple online form:

tinyurl.com/garden-birdwatch-buxton (see link below)

It's really important to also send your results to the RSPB by signing up via their website:

rspb.org.uk/birdwatch (see link below)

How to take part

The count takes place during an hour of your choosing from 27 to 29 January 2022. Note down the maximum of each species seen at any one time in your garden during the hour.

Increase your chances of seeing birds by hanging feeders in your garden, and offering favoured food such as sunflower hearts, suet and peanuts.

Why take part?

Many birds have severely declined in recent years, including common species such as House Sparrow and Starling. By keeping local records of bird numbers over time, we can target action to help struggling species by creating better habitats and providing nest sites.

Record your observations by clicking on this link

Sign up and send your results to the RPSB website

Letter to Robert Largan MP from BCA Trustees

Dear BCA Members

I am sending you a copy of an urgent letter that I have sent to our MP Robert Largan on behalf of BCA Trustees.

With all that has happened as a result of the mini budget last week, you might not be aware that the UK Government announced a number of measures that, if implemented, will have an extremely detrimental impact on our ability to protect and enhance wildlife in England. The measures include:
The creation of large "Investment Zones" in which planning and conservation regulations will be largely pushed aside to favour development (Derbyshire County Council has been named as one of 38 local authorities around the country where an Investment Zone could be established).
Using the Retained EU Law Bill to abolish the Habitats Regulations 1994 - the strongest wildlife legislation in the UK that protects the very best wildlife sites and habitats and the most threatened species
Putting on hold of the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) and potentially replacing it with old style area-based payments which have been proved to be highly ineffective - the government had been working on this new agri-envorionment incentive scheme with farmers, landowners and conservation bodies for many months and it was being held up as a world leading scheme.

These proposals have prompted an unprecedented level of objection from almost all of the national charities involved in nature conservation including The National Trust, The Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, World Wide Fund for Nature, The Rivers Trust, Plantlife and The Woodland Trust, all of whom are urgently campaigning against these changes.

These proposed changes would make it much harder for BCA to object to or influence proposed developments that might threaten important wildlife sites or species in our area.

As a non-political organisation, we are not seeking to make any party political point here; rather we are standing up for the interests of the natural environment and its wildlife, which otherwise do not have a voice in these matters.

You may already have written to Robert Largan about this issue, but if you have not, Trustees would encourage you to consider doing so.
Please feel free to draw on our letter if that would be helpful.

You might like to see the press release from the CEO of the National Trust - see link below

Further detailed information can be obtained from the RSPB and WILDLIFE TRUSTS - see link below

Yours sincerely


Peter

National Trust Statement

RSPB

WILDLIFE TRUSTS

BCA Letter to Robert Largan

Come along and take part in the annual bird survey.

We are taking part in the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch this year. Come along to the Cafe at Poole's Cavern and pick up a form and see how many different woodland and garden birds you can spot from the warmth and comfort of the cafe.