The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds wants to know what sings, chirps, snuffles and barks in your garden with its summer wildlife survey, Make Your Nature Count. It will run from June 5 to 13 and asks people to record the wildlife which appears in their garden.

Not only is the RSPB asking people to record birds, it also wants to know about some of the other wildlife visiting gardens, like badgers, deer and moles.

Launched for the first time last year, 62,000 people took part in the RSPB’s new summer wildlife survey. Results revealed a quarter of UK gardens are home to foxes and hedgehogs. One in ten participants also reported seeing badgers in their gardens.

Richard Bashford, the RSPB’s Make Your Nature Count manager, said: “Gardens are teeming with wildlife at this time of year, so it is the perfect time to take a moment and enjoy it. It will also help to build an important snapshot of summer wildlife in our gardens so we can see which species are thriving and which might need our help.”

Last year’s survey also revealed that UK gardens have on average ten different species of birds present at that time of year. The blackbird was the most frequent visitor recorded in 94 per cent of all gardens, followed by the wood pigeon in 80 per cent of gardens.

Similar to how the annual Big Garden Birdwatch has identified trends among wintering bird populations, the RSPB hopes, in time, Make Your Nature Count will build a picture about the wildlife that visits gardens and how important they are for some of our breeding birds and summer migrants.

At this time of year, gardens are alive with young birds and the RSPB is asking people to look out for blackbird, robin and song thrush chicks. Counting young birds will help give an indication of how successfully they are breeding across the UK.

Richard added: “We hope thousands of people will make their nature count and let us know what sings, chirps, snuffles and barks in their garden this summer.”

To take part, simply spend one hour during the week of June 5-13, counting the birds and any other wildlife that visit your garden, and record the highest number of each species seen at any one time.

For further information about Make Your Nature Count, visit the RSPB website at www.rspb.org.uk/naturecount where an online survey form will be available from June 5.

Alternatively, call 0300 456 8340 for a Make Your Nature Count survey form. The hotline is open until June 10.