I thought it was about time I wrote a post about the Big Garden Birdwatch (#biggardenbirdwatch) and my Big Garden Birdwatch Sketchalong (#BGBWsketchalong). If you remember from my last post about it, I appeared in the Big Garden Birdwatch advert , and promotion material, encouraging others to join in this important project. This Citizen Science project takes place every year at the end of January here in the UK, run by the RSPB, people are asked to sit for an hour and count what type and how many bird they see within that hour.
I ran a sketchalong on Twitter and Instagram on the Birdwatch weekend as a way to encourage more people to take part, and to encourage those already taking part to sketch the birds they saw as a way of recognising the type of bird, and noticing their shape, colour, and mannerisms better. Sketching is a wonderful, relaxing way of noticing more, and looking more closely.
I had a few people mention that they couldn’t draw, but would have a go. In the couple of weeks before, I posted a series of sketching tips on how to draw 10 different garden birds, hoping it would inspire those that were a bit nervous to pick up their pencils.
I was overwhelmed by the number of people who took part, and had a go at capturing the birds in their garden. Quite a few who hadn’t drawn in a long time, or were nervous of not just putting pen to paper, but sharing it on social media too. The sketches are a wonderful record of the Big Garden Birdwatch weekend, a community of like minded people taking a snapshot of that moment in time, and sharing with others. I’ve posted the sketches and linked to each artist below, you can click on them to find out more about their experiences and what they spotted on their ‘Big Garden Birdwatch’. I’d like to thank everyone who took part, it was wonderful seeing the sketches appear as the weekend progressed.
George also appeared in the Big Garden Birdwatch advert and promotional material. He led a Birdwatch at a local RSPB site and with the help of his Aunty led a sketch along with a group of young people.
