The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said 470,000 people — including 86,000 children — watched their gardens and local parks on January 28 and 29. The Big Garden Birdwatch figures show 8.1m birds from 80 different species were spotted, ranging from the common blackbird to the more unusual blackcap. The previous record was held by the 2004 survey with 419,000 people. More than 270,000 gardens were surveyed, the equivalent of 7,000 football pitches.