Your pictures of birds as garden project takes off

Photographers have shared their images of birds ahead of the start of a national garden survey.

The RSPB's UK-wide project, which encourages people to record what birds they see in their garden, starts on Friday, with the charity claiming it "always gets a great turnout" from Cumbrian residents.

Nature writer and broadcaster Stephen Moss said the most common garden birds found in Cumbria include robins, wrens, tits, blackbird, song thrush, dunnock and various finches.

Hobby photographer Phil Waldron said he regularly walks around Whitehaven to spot anything "for people who have moved away", while Paul Shaw, from Frizington, saw a kestrel circling over Workington dock last week.

Retired shipbuilder Dave Thompson snapped a shot of a "beautiful jay, perhaps the most colourful of the crow family" in the grounds of Conishead Prior, Ulverston, on 10 January.

"It was the last of a sequence of it perched and all of a sudden it was spooked and flew off," he said.

"It rounded off a successful day of photography to say the least."

The Big Garden Birdwatch runs from Friday to Sunday, but Moss said "you only need to spare an hour" to record some footage.

RSPB communications officer, Kay Hyde, said: "We always get a great turnout of people taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch across Cumbria.

The charity revealed about 6,000 people from the county took part in 2025's survey.

Moss said about 9,100,000 birds were counted last year, "making it the world's leading citizen science survey".

He advised residents in Cumbria to keep an eye out for "winter visitors such as redwing and fieldfare".

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