Flaxton Environment Group Birdwatch 2025
Big Garden Birdwatch
It’s that time of year again! Big Garden Birdwatch weekend is rapidly approaching. You may have heard about it in the media or indeed taken part before. It is the largest garden wildlife survey in the world and is run each year in January by the RSPB. Last year a number of people who recorded birds in Flaxton sent their results to the Environment Group and we produced a report which is available on the Parish Council website (here: Big-Garden-Birdwatch-report-Flaxton.pdf).
We are planning to do this again in 2025 so if you are planning to take part we would be very grateful if you would let us see your results as well as posting them online to the RSPB. Please include details of where you live, what species you’ve seen and the maximum number of each species seen at any one time, and send by email to . We will put together the results we receive into a short report for Flaxton, which will summarise what was seen but will retain anonymity for those who contributed – we won’t mention any names or addresses of those who took part. This will be available on the Parish Council website and will be copied to all those who contributed. Full details on how to take part can be found at Big Garden Birdwatch
Little brown jobs (“LBJ’s”)
LBJ is a birding term for those little brown birds that all look similar and are hard to tell apart! Last year some people recorded ‘sparrows’, but there are actually two species of sparrow in Flaxton, house sparrows and tree sparrows, and it would be really helpful if you can say which you saw – you might even see both! To add to the confusion you are quite likely also to see dunnocks, (sometimes called hedge sparrows but not really sparrows) which are superficially similar but are quite easy to tell apart once you get to know them. If you’re not sure of the differences have a look at the identification guide below. It also includes reed bunting but you aren’t very likely to see these in the garden so don’t worry too much about them.
Free bird feeders
This year we have some spare bird feeders to give away to participants. There are two seed feeders, a fat ball feeder and a peanut feeder, all new, kindly donated by Sheelagh Massey. There are also some second hand feeders for sunflower or mixed seeds, peanuts, fat balls and niger seeds. Maybe there are some families out there with children who would like to start feeding birds? If you are interested in any of these, please contact Nigel Boatman by text or WhatsApp on 07805 446983 or by email:
Birdwatch Picture
Slides from Environment Group Talk – “Cows or Mowers? – Conservation management of grassland and heath”
A talk with this title was presented at an open meeting in Flaxton Village Hall on 17 September 2024 by Mark Hewitt, Conservation Lead for the Escrick Estate. A copy of the slides for the presentation can be found below. This was kindly provided by the author who requested the following caveat to be included:
“This presentation was developed to give some context to the issues of managing habitats with or without livestock. The main points and discussion are obviously not captured in these slides so please view them as starting points for discussion rather than a full exploration of the subject or representation of what was discussed”. Mark Hewitt
Flaxton Environment Group Open Meeting & Talk – ** Revised Date** Tuesday 17th September 2024 @ 7pm
Note from the Environment Group
The date for the open meeting has changed, it will now be held on the 17th September (previously advertised as 10 September). Please see attached flyer for details. If you are planning to come it would be helpful if you could let me know by email () or WhatsApp (07805 446983) to help estimate numbers.
Nigel Boatman, Flaxton Environment Group
Message From Flaxton Environment Group – No-Mow May
No Mow May
Thinking of getting the mower out? Have you considered letting some of your grass grow to benefit wildlife? Varying mowing regimes and letting some grassy areas grow can be very beneficial to bees, butterflies, other insects, frogs, toads, newts and other animals as well as benefiting the wild flowers that grow there. They can also be attractive as the wild flowers provide patches of colour within the green.
Flaxton Environment Group – Useful Environment-related Website Links
A new section has been added to the Parish Council website page for the Flaxton Environment Group, giving links to other websites dealing with environmental issues including recycling, other local environmental groups and the Local Nature Restoration Strategy.
You can find the latest section towards the bottom of this page:
https://www.flaxtonpc.org.uk/village-groups/flaxton-environment-group/
Further links will be added in due course.
If you know of any useful sites that could be included, or would like to see any particular additional issues represented, please let us know via
Great Crested Newts in Flaxton ponds
On Good Friday, at the invitation of Flaxton Environment Group, members of the Yorkshire Amphibian and Reptile Group carried out a survey of ponds in Flaxton for amphibians, looking particularly for Great Crested Newts. Find out how they got on here Pond survey for great crested newts in Flaxton.
Big Garden Birdwatch Report
The summary report of the Flaxton results for the Big Garden Birdwatch is now available and can be found on the Flaxton Environment Group page or can be downloaded here:
Big Garden Birdwatch Report Flaxton
Many thanks to all those who took part.
Nigel Boatman
New Post From the Flaxton Environment Group – Big Farmland Bird Count
Calling Flaxton farmers – Big Farmland Bird Count
Similar in concept to the Big Garden Birdwatch, the Big Farmland Bird Count is designed for farmers who want to take part in a national monitoring survey of farmland birds. It is run by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and this year it is taking place between 2 and 18 February. It only takes half an hour and can be done any time between these dates.
You can find out more about it and how to take part by following this link Big Farmland Bird Count – Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (bfbc.org.uk). As for the Garden Birdwatch, the Environment Group would be interested to see a copy of your results if you do decide to have a go. Please email them to:
Flaxton Environment Group/Big Garden Birdwatch
Flaxton Environment Group
One of the actions proposed in the Flaxton Village Plan was to set up an Environment and Conservation Group. It’s taken a while but a committee has now been established to take this forward under the name Flaxton Environment Group, with the following aims:
- To provide a source of information and expertise to help maintain and enhance the village environment and wildlife.
- To encourage active participation by villagers, including young people, in recording, learning about and conserving the natural environment.
- Work with others to improve the management of common land and other natural areas, where possible, in order to enhance wildlife and environmental value.
Initially, communications will be via the Parish Council alert system and the WhatsApp group as appropriate, but we are aiming to establish a group email in due course for those who are interested in keeping up to date and being involved with the group’s activities. If you would be interested in joining this group please send an email message to with your name as well as your email address. Please also spread the word to others who may not have seen this message. There will also be a section of the Parish Council website Flaxton Environment Group devoted to the Environment Group where we will post information, reports etc as they are produced.
Big Garden Birdwatch
We want to find out more about the habitats, fauna and flora of Flaxton and we are looking into the possibility of getting some professional surveys done. We also want to involve the villagers in collecting information where possible – further information on this in due course. As a first step, if you are planning to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, we would be very interested to see your results. In case you aren’t familiar with it, the Big Garden Birdwatch is the largest garden wildlife survey in the world and is run each year in January by the RSPB. This year, it’s happening between the 26th and 28th of January. Full details on how to take part can be found at Big Garden Birdwatch (rspb.org.uk).
If you do take part, we’d be very grateful if you would let us see your results as well as posting them online to the RSPB. Please send us details of where you live, what species you’ve seen and the maximum number of each species seen at any one time. We will put together the results we receive into a short report for Flaxton, which will summarise what was seen but will retain anonymity for those who contributed – we won’t mention any names or addresses of those who took part. This will be available on the Parish Council website and will be copied to all those who contributed.