Big Garden Birdwatch

The 2008 Big Garden Birdwatch takes place next weekend. All you need to do is watch your garden or local park on either Saturday 26 or Sunday 27 January, and spend an hour counting the birds, recording the highest number of each species seen in your garden (not flying over) at any one time. You can download a counting sheet to help you keep track of how many birds you've seen; the sheet has pictures of the commonest birds seen in gardens and space to cross off how many of each species you have seen in total.

The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world's biggest bird survey. Thanks to its simplicity and the small time it takes to do, the Big Garden Birdwatch has always had great support, providing the RSPB with a vital snapshot of the UK's birds each winter.In 2007, over 400,000 people took part by counting the birds in their garden for an hour. Together they spotted 6 million birds across 236,000 gardens, helping reveal the winners and losers in the garden bird world.

If you need an additional reason to take part, a report commissioned by the RSPB reveals that nature improves your fitness and reduces stress.