Who doesn’t love the fluted, carefree song of the blackbird as it marks out its territory and tries to attract a mate in the spring?

For as long as I can remember we have had blackbirds visiting our garden. At one time, for several generations, they would have a distinctive patch of white on them.

In recent years we have discovered that they are very fond of dried fruit. My supply of raisins is very low as my husband is constantly feeding them to the blackbird family that has been nesting close by. In their desire to have this tasty treat they have become quite brazen, coming closer and closer to the house. They even stand on the windowsill trying to attract our attention and asking for more.

However, it seems that the blackbird populations are plummeting and are now under threat from a new virus which is affecting species in the south.

The British Trust for Ornithology are asking us to help monitor these birds to learn how we might best help them. If you are interested in helping, go the website page “Blackbirds in our gardens” to get details of what they would like us to observe. Thanks to Jane Lunnon for pointing this survey out to me.

EwE Environmental Action Group

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