Ryde Social Heritage Group research the social history of the citizens of Ryde, Isle of Wight. Documenting their lives, businesses and burial transcriptions.
RYDE SOCIAL HERITAGE GROUP
Based at Ryde Cemetery Heritage & Learning Centre. Preserving, documenting and promoting the social history of Ryde on the Isle of Wight.
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RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2009 – Ryde Cemetery results

For the second year RSHG members took part in the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch on Saturday 24 January 2009 to count the number of birds in Ryde Cemetery.

The team spent an hour on a pleasant sunny but cold morning recording species and the maximum number of each seen at any one time. The survey has been a regular RSPB event since 1979 and charts the bird population nationwide year on year. The results will be available at the end of March on the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk

This year we spotted 11 species in Ryde Cemetery:
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Feral Pigeon
House Sparrow
Magpie
Robin
Seagull
Woodpigeon
Wren

The results are different to 2008, when 14 different species were spotted. Notably fewer chaffinches and no starlings were seen this year. The green woodpecker was also missing on the day but has since been spotted on sunny afternoons at the Pellhurst Road end of the cemetery.

The weather over the last few months has probably played a part in the changing bird population and we will wait to see if the same trend is shown nationwide. We hope with Spring approaching the numbers will increase again.