RESIDENTS at a dementia care home in Wellington, Somerset have been busy preparing fat-balls for the birds who visit their garden ahead of the UK’s largest annual garden-based citizen science project which is due to take place next weekend.
Manager Zillah Oakes said: “Lots of the ladies and gents who live at Camelot House and Lodge have had a life-long interest in birds and are aware of their dramatic decline over the past 50 years, so they’re very keen for us to gather and share data with the annual Great Garden Birdwatch.
“Many of them have enjoyed feeding birds in their own gardens, and there’s a lot of interest in the feathered friends who frequent the gardens at the home.
“We’ve got bird-feeders located in clear view of the lounge and we support our residents to use binoculars so they can have a good up-close look at our little visitors, which means we’re well placed to take part in the survey.
“All we have to do next weekend is just spend an hour watching and recording the birds we see in our garden and send our results to the RSPB.”
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch takes place on the last weekend of January every year and has been running since 1979, originally as a project for junior members of the charity.
Residents’ interest is also being kept engaged with various other bird-themed activities, including colouring activities and quizzes.