Treecreepers, nuthatches and Britain’s smallest bird – the goldcrest – are just some of the birds you could spot at this year’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ (RSPB) Big Garden Bird Watch at York Museum Gardens.

Curators and the gardens team will be leading free garden tours on Saturday January 24 to try and count as many of the feathered residents as possible in an hour.

The sessions will take place at 11am, 12:30pm and 2pm, with each one starting outside the front of the Yorkshire Museum.

Staurt Ogilvy, assistant curator of natural sciences, said: “If you want to see a wide variety of birds right in the centre of York then the Museum Gardens are a great place to start.

“The gardens offer a wide range of habitats and feeding opportunities for many different types of bird ranging from mistle thrushes to long-tailed tits and even the odd great-spotted woodpecker. At this time of year we also see a lot of migrants taking advantage of the food supplies, such as redwings and bramblings.

“We will be on hand to help people recognise the different types of bird and tell them more about the wildlife living in their midst.”
Other birds regularly seen in the gardens include dunnocks, robins, chaffinches, blue tits, greenfinches, blackbirds and goldfinches.

The RSPB’ Big Garden Bird Watch is the biggest bird watch in the world and has been taking place for more than 30 years.

To find out more visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch