Conducted two House Sparrow surveys at dawn, one month apart for the Essex Wildlife Trust.

House Sparrow populations have declined by 69% in England since the 1970s, so Essex Wildlife Trust recently launched a citizen science project to find out why. They recruited over 1000 volunteers to survey urban habitat, to gather data on the House Sparrow's abundance and preferred habitat.

It was fantastic to spend time with and observe the local bird population at dawn, with 22 different species counted during the second survey.

If you can, take advantage of EWT's late night openings this week to see the Nightingales at Fingringhoe Wick - wow, what an experience!