Please excuse my copying a press release here, but this new survey should make a significant contribution to the national Bird Atlas project and the planned Greater Manchester Breeding Birds Atlas. What Steve Atkins has found from his analysis of our data is that breeding records of common birds are not being submitted in anything like the numbers that we would expect.

Ever wondered what birds are nesting in your garden? This year the BTO's Garden Ecology Team want you to get better acquainted with your "nesting neighbours" so that you can help them with an important new survey. The BTO Garden Nesting Survey will find out which birds nest in gardens and, importantly, why. A free wallchart is included in the survey pack to give you the tools you
need to discover your "nesting neighbours".

Urbanised habitats support important breeding populations of some bird species, including Swift, Blackbird, Starling, House Sparrow and Greenfinch. This means that we need to understand how these breeding populations are doing. The Garden Nesting Survey will provide information on the abundance of nesting birds in gardens and when they breed. A more advanced scheme, Nest Box Challenge (also run by the BTO) will encourage householders to look inside nests to chart their success over the course of the season.

You can enter data online using the site www.bto.org/gns

or phone 01842 750050 and ask for your free wallchart and survey pack.

Cheers

Steve

More information on the BTO's range of nesting surveys can be found at: www.nestingneighbours.net