It’s that time of year again. I have chopped up the rind off a couple of rolled gammon I cooked last week, ready to sprinkle on the wall outside my desk window. The birdfeeder is replenished with a more meticulous regime than is usual. Yes, it’s the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, where the members of the UK’s biggest subscription organisation set time aside to do a proper, and invaluable, biogeographical survey of their own backyard. From this, experts will map and plot the ebb and flow of species, indicating the health or otherwise of our natural and man made habitats.

I love it. Every year, I wonder how I am going to tame my usual tendencies for constant activity and busy schedules, and sit for a whole hour. At first, I find it hard. My eyes haven’t adjusted to pick up on every camouflaged movement, or to differentiate between all the ‘little brown jobs’. I’m much better at identifying birds by their song than by sight. But then, unmoving but thoroughly moved, I detect so much more that is going on around me, presumably all the time. It’s a great piece of downtime. I am forced to sit and observe » Continue Reading.