The RSPB's new Make Your Nature Count garden wildlife survey period begins tomorrow, Saturday 5th June. This is much more than just a bird watch, as it includes mammals. Birdguides.com has a lengthy article on the survey and what it hopes to determine (in fact it's much more useful than the RSPB site itself).

I've noticed a surge in public nature surveys over the last couple of years. Just a couple of days ago we reported on the very similarly named Make Butterflies Count campaign spearheaded by Marks and Spencer. I suspect it's due to a mix of generally increasing nature popularity courtesy of Springwatch and its ilk, along with the continued rise of the internet as a powerful medium for getting a message out and getting results back in.