THOUSANDS of people in North Yorkshire took part in this year’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.

Just under 10,000 people in North Yorkshire took part in the survey over the last weekend in January, which found an increase in sightings of waxwings - usually seen once every seven or eight years when the berry crop fails in Scandinavia.

The most common birds seen in North Yorkshire gardens were the house sparrow, blackbird, starling, blue tit and wood pigeon, with goldfinch, chaffinch, great tit, robin and long tailed tit also in the top ten.

The robin had climbed from tenth place to ninth this year, while the number of blue and great tits spotted in North Yorkshire had fallen by eight and six per cent respectively.

Dr Daniel Hayhow, RSPB conservation scientist, said: “Numbers of small bodied birds such as blue tits and great tits are susceptible to changes in weather throughout the year, and scientists believe the prolonged wet weather during the 2016 breeding season led to fewer younger birds surviving than usual, meaning there are fewer to be seen in gardens.”