PUPILS from the county have taken part in a decorate a bird box competition to tie in with National Nest Box Week and learn about different British birds.

Thirteen local primary schools took part in the competition at Spetchley Park Gardens. It was an initiative to teach children about the variety of birds and their nesting habitats.

Kate Rank, operations and development manager from Spetchley gardens, said: “We had such a lovely morning with the children, parents, teachers, headteachers, Severn Waste plus our gardeners and volunteers. An extra bonus was that the sun shone throughout.

“The children were great. They had the opportunity to tour around the garden and find their bird boxes they created. The children were fantastic, they came out during half term and took part. They were enthusiastic and went above and beyond for the competition.

“We received positive feedback from all the local primary schools regarding the competition. All the students were passionate in designing their bird box and enjoyed taking part.

“We are thrilled with the response we received. It was amazing to incorporate the local community and introduce them to Spetchley Gardens. The experience became something exciting and colourful.”

Severn Waste Services donated bird boxes with different shapes and sizes for pupils to create their colourful bird boxes.

The owner of Spetchley Gardens, Henry Berkeley judged and selected three winners; Redhill Primary School, Hollymount School and Nunnery Wood Primary School, plus an ‘Innovation Award’ which was given to Perry Wood Primary School.

Representatives from those schools were invited to come along to Spetchley Park Gardens for a prizegiving ceremony in the Learning Centre on Thursday, February 21.

Everyone had a chance to see all of the entries and receive their prizes to go back to school with. The gifts included bird identification books and specials seeds to attract birds to gardens. Part of the prize was to meet the gardeners and see where exactly the bird boxes had been placed.

The gardens will have a trail and map available for when the gardens open on April 3, so all school children involved in the competition can come and see their boxes in situ.