Great to hear this week from Nic & Swen that, having overcome a whole raft of technical (and other issues), they have finally got their website up and running offering us a ‘dawn chorus of the day’ recorded every single day where they live in an ancient mixed tree woodland near Truro in Cornwall.

Helped by their ‘I’ve got an idea’ fund award, they are now well on their way of achieving their project goals:

1. Recordings of bird songs that members of the public can download from a website in order to help their well-being and mental health
2. Establish a long running citizen science project providing quality data to researchers for future reference and work on bird studies
3. Creation of a record over time of changes in bird population in certain localities in Cornwall to track the impact of climate change and the deepening ecological emergency

Having worked on many technology trials myself, I know well that there are always endless unanticipated problems but the Idea Fund is about people finding imaginative DIY approaches to overcoming the hurdles to achieve their idea – and having fun in the process. Well done Nic and Swen and the birds! At least they will no longer have to get up at unearthly hours in the summer to do the recordings manually.

The ‘I’ve got an idea’ fund is currently open for applications