The biggest bird survey ever to take place in Britain started on Thursday.
The four-year project, being organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), will involve more than 50,000 volunteers, who will record every bird they see.
The resulting map will provide a comprehensive picture of the nation's bird life, and will be used in research.
On my visit to eastern England, you could see why the British autumn has inspired so many poets and artists.
A clear, cobalt-blue sky was suffused with gentle golden sunshine. The trees surrounding the BTO's headquarters in Thetford in Norfolk seemed almost luminous, with colours ranging from pale lemon, through vibrant oranges and reds, to russet brown.
But it was not the trees, beautiful as they were, which we had come to see.
The BTO's Graham Appleton handed me a pair of binoculars, and pointed out the robins, crows and a jackdaw making a nest in one of the organisation's chimneys (somebody's going to have a cold winter in the office this year).
We want to hear from anyone, anywhere, anytime, who's seen a bird so the map will be as comprehensive as possible
Andy Clements, BTOWe were forming a small part of the biggest ornithological survey ever to take place in Britain.
Every square mile of the country, from fashionable inner city canal-side parks to wild, open Scottish mountainsides, from suburban back gardens to Cornish coastal coves, will - it's hoped - be mapped for the birds they contain over the next four years. Suddenly, 50,000 volunteers doesn't sound like a lot.
The four-year project, being organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), will involve more than 50,000 volunteers, who will record every bird they see.
The resulting map will provide a comprehensive picture of the nation's bird life, and will be used in research.
On my visit to eastern England, you could see why the British autumn has inspired so many poets and artists.
A clear, cobalt-blue sky was suffused with gentle golden sunshine. The trees surrounding the BTO's headquarters in Thetford in Norfolk seemed almost luminous, with colours ranging from pale lemon, through vibrant oranges and reds, to russet brown.
But it was not the trees, beautiful as they were, which we had come to see.
The BTO's Graham Appleton handed me a pair of binoculars, and pointed out the robins, crows and a jackdaw making a nest in one of the organisation's chimneys (somebody's going to have a cold winter in the office this year).
We want to hear from anyone, anywhere, anytime, who's seen a bird so the map will be as comprehensive as possible
Andy Clements, BTOWe were forming a small part of the biggest ornithological survey ever to take place in Britain.
Every square mile of the country, from fashionable inner city canal-side parks to wild, open Scottish mountainsides, from suburban back gardens to Cornish coastal coves, will - it's hoped - be mapped for the birds they contain over the next four years. Suddenly, 50,000 volunteers doesn't sound like a lot.
