Supporters flock to Mid and East Antrim Borough's Garden Birdwatch

Bird box building with Ballymena Primary School, Ecos Nature Park, Friday 29th January. Alison Diver, Mid & East Antrim BC Growing Communities Officer, Chris Wood (The Conservation Volunteers) and Councillor Billy Ashe pictured

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has played its part in the 2016 Big Garden Birdwatch.

This RSPB initiative is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey and celebrated its 37th year on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 January.

The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor Billy Ashe, said: “The Big Garden Birdwatch was a great activity as it offered the chance for everyone to help nature.

“We backed the campaign so as to give people right across the Borough the chance to learn important bird conservation skills,” he said.

Mayor Councillor Billy Ashe with Joel Patterson and Thomas Wylie, bird box building Ecos Nature Park, Friday 29 January

Large numbers ‘flocked in’ to enjoy activities such as making their own personal bird box in Larne on Saturday and join a bird ringing workshop in Carrickfergus on Sunday, as well as participating in the Big Birdwatch survey itself.

As well as more than 100 people who attending the weekend events, many also completed the Big Garden Bird Survey at home, and as Amy Colvin from RSPB NI suggested, all the work was positive.

“The data gathered from this survey provides a vital health-check of the wildlife that share our homes,” she said.