Wren you're ready...get bird counting!

Snettisham Brownies take part in RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch and Ben, from Ben Dawson Gardens, gives his top tips to attract more feathered friends to our outdoor spaces

Snettisham Brownies have been painting bird feeders to mark this year's largest garden wildlife survey.  

Every year, hundreds of thousands of nature lovers take part in the RSPB event, helping to build a picture of how garden birds are faring.

Ruby Goold, one of the Brownie group leaders says, "All of the girls love nature, they love wildlife, and where we're situated at Jimmy's Field it's a perfect place.

"They're so interested in it, it's great because we can mix learning with the outdoors."

The brownies also took part in a bird quiz.  Ella says, "I know which garden bird is thriving - the wood pigeon!"  Gabby, "Robins are really small and have red on their chest, we went to RSPB Titchwell and fed a robin with gingerbread, it was magical."  And Daisy, "Woodpeckers peck into trees to make holes to live in."

"I know female blackbirds aren't actually black they are brown," adds Aty, who painted a bird feeder shaped like an apple.

The group then went outside to listen for two tawny owls, and after were given their Big Garden Birdwatch forms to complete, talking about the birds they may see.

Across the UK, almost 600 thousand people took part last year, counting a whopping 9.1 million birds.  

Ben, from Ben Dawson Gardens, says there are a few things you can do to attract more feathered friends.

"It's important for birds to have somewhere safe to live, to perch - preferably away from prevailing winds with a little bit of shelter above the bird house, which stops larger predators from seeing the birds come in and out."

"And food," Ben adds, "Supply them with a mixture of seeds, fat/lard balls, another way of doing this is to have a supply of berries in the garden - so planting certain plants like Agapanthus."

"Water is a big one, it's important at this time of the year to have a fresh water supply, that will attract birds into your garden."

The wildlife survey's taking place on the 23rd to the 25th of January.

Happy bird watching everyone!