Morecambe Bay is one of the most important places in the UK for overwintering birds. Migrating birds depend on the mud, sand and saltmarsh habitats that provide the food that gives them the energy for their long journeys. Beyond the coast, farmland, parks, woods, hedgerows and urban areas are home to a wide range of birds. It is important to monitor changes to bird populations to understand things that threaten them and things that help them to thrive.

Over recent generations the number of amateur naturalists has declined and there are fewer people with the skills to contribute to naturalist records. We aim to change this through Digital Naturalists activities that form part of the Morecambe Bay Curriculum. The first step is noticing the birds and their calls. Sometimes, it can be hard to see birds, at a distance or hidden in vegetation, even when calls let us know the birds are around. So 'Who's Calling?' involves learning to recognise birds and their calls; from the "Tea-cher, tea-cher" of the Great tit to the "Pee-wit" of the Lapwing.

We go for a walk close to school/community centre to become familiar with birds in one's local patch. We watch birds with binoculars and listen to their calls with directional microphones. Back at schools we draw birds that we have seen or expect to see in the area and turn these into prints using conductive ink. Then we make a circuit and write code to create and interactive bird print that makes a call when touched. This gives opportunities to listen to different calls and images. There are two versions of the circuit-coding activity, one which uses a capacitance sensor and Scratch on pi-top laptops and an alternative version that uses micro:bits as an input devices in Scratch.

Finally, the conductive ink prints are brought together in an interactive soundscape to be shared with the school and wider community. The project has been supported by employees/volunteers from Lancashire Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Eden Project, Natural England and National Trust, who have in particular contributed to birdwatching walks.

The kit and resources to run this project can be borrowed freely by schools and community groups. The project is aimed at Year 5s but has also been run in different forms with Year 2, 3, 4, Early Years and family groups.

www.thelostsounds.org