One in ten participants in new RSPB survey see badgers

16/06/2009 15:33:22 Frog and toad counts higher than expected
June 2009. The RSPB's new summer wildlife survey, Make Your Nature Count, has revealed some surprising results in its first few days. 10% of participants so far have reported regular sightings of the elusive badger in their gardens, a higher figure than experts predicted.

And numbers of some amphibians are also high, with 40% of participants so far reporting frogs in their gardens and 19% recording toads.

Make Your Nature Count is a massive summer wildlife stock-take and will give the RSPB information for the first time about the creatures that visit gardens in summer. It will also prove how important gardens are for some of our breeding birds and summer migrants at this time of year and help the RSPB focus its conservation work.

First summer count - Includes mammals & amphibians
It is the first time the RSPB has asked people about wildlife other than birds. Participants are also asked to record garden visitors such as squirrels and foxes.

Although it has already shed some light on the large numbers of mammals and amphibians in our gardens, the RSPB is still particularly interested in numbers of common garden birds at this time of year.

The popular Big Garden Birdwatch in January gave a picture of winter bird number but information on garden birds in summer will complete the picture. RSPB is also interested in numbers of baby birds that are in gardens at this time with the breeding season in full swing.

110,000 birds
So far in the survey, over 110,000 individual birds have been counted of 77 different species, including many young blackbirds, robins and song thrushes.

Richard Bashford, Make Your Nature Count Manager said: "We have a good idea of the sort of wildlife people might see in their gardens at this time but what we don't know is the numbers. Of course we expected some badger sightings, but these are creatures that are more common in the wider countryside than gardens. It's astounding that one in ten of the households taking part so far have seen them.

Importance of ponds
"Numbers of amphibians are also high, with 40% of people seeing frogs. I suspect this is because there is a growing appetite for people wanting to make their gardens more wildlife friendly and creating ponds. Already, after just the first few days we are getting information we simply didn't expect. The results are fascinating."