FAMILIES in Dorset kept their eyes on the bushes and trees at the weekend as hundreds joined in the Big Garden Birdwatch.

The survey, run by the RSPB, is now in its 36th year and encourages young and old to spend one hour watching the garden and recording all the birds they spot.

The blackbird was the most frequently seen bird in British gardens last year.

As part of the weekend, the RSPB Discovery Centre at Radipole Lake organised a series of events, allowing parents and children to have a go at making their own magical miniature gardens, as well as taking special guided bird walks through the reserve.

Staff at the town centre reserve said they had even spotted some special guests on the lake.

Residential volunteer Nicole Walton said they had seen a bittern and even a rare white-fronted goose.

She said: “It’s very good and very unusual.”

She added that the survey was important for two reasons. “It’s one of the the biggest bird surveys in the world. It’s been running for over 35 years.”

The fact that it was just one hour of bird watching made the survey easy and fun for all the family to get involved in, she added.

The survey allows the RSPB to monitor changes in the numbers of birds using gardens in winter, and helps alert conservationists to those species in decline like house sparrows, greenfinches and starlings.

Information gathered from this year’s event will be shared with the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation group, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the Mammal Society, so they can build on understanding about the threats facing garden wildlife. This year also saw slow worms and grass snakes added to the ‘to spot’ list.

Dr Daniel Hayhow, from the RSPB, said: “This massive survey shows how important our gardens are for the amazing variety of wildlife living there. Adding slow worms and grass snakes to this year’s survey is a big step towards capturing more data to help us and our partners identify how the distribution of garden wildlife may have changed amongst a variety of species in coming years.

“Hopefully, the fact that more people are helping to give nature a home in their gardens and outside spaces will mean we’ll begin to see improvements rather than declines.”