A cup of coffee, binoculars and an open notebook. With that, Liesbeth van Weert was ready in her conservatory this weekend. She participates in the National Bird Count. In half an hour, Liesbeth and her partner Dick try to spot as many birds as possible in the garden. “It’s a kick when you can write something down again!”
The National Bird Count is the ‘suprême moment’ when it all has to happen, but Liesbeth prepares for it all year round. In this way she also keeps an eye on which birds come to visit her garden at other times. “Because I like it, you will see and recognize more and more. It gets more fun every year,” she explains.
The timer is set and the duo immediately focuses on the garden. Twelve sparrows, two blackbirds and a spotted woodpecker. Just a selection of the birds that Liesbeth saw passing by in her garden in Sprang-Capelle in half an hour.
“You have to count all the birds of one species at the same time and not one after the other, otherwise you run the risk of counting birds twice,” explains Liesbeth. That’s why she’s only too happy that Dick is just as enthusiastic, so they can count better with an extra pair of eyes. “It’s a kind of sport, you want to see as many as possible,” she beams.
Some years she counts more than others, but overall the number of birds in her yard is growing. She does her best for that. “I make my garden bird-friendly and throw food more often, then the birds know where to find my garden.”
The National Garden Bird Count organizes the Bird Protection together with Sovon Vogelonderzoek, an association of bird watchers. Anyone who counts can count half an hour in their own backyard sometime during the weekend. Not all counts are in yet.
More than 250,000 birds have already been counted in Brabant by more than 15,000 people. The house sparrow, great tit and blue tit were the most commonly seen.
ALSO READ: Mating peregrine falcons in Vught to be seen live: ‘Male is a cheater’