Janice Broadbridge, from the Hampshire and IoW Wildlife Trust, encourages us to enjoy the wildlife that is all around us

Do you enjoy a stroll in the park? Walking through the woods? Wandering by the waterside?

If so, are you seeing all there is to see? Or are you missing out on a fascinating, colourful and intriguing world which can be found in all these places - and many others?

The world of birds is as diverse as people - what they wear, where they live, what they eat, how they raise their young. You don't need to go far to see birds and you don't need to be able to identify each and every one to enjoy watching them.

Start with the starlings on the lawn: noisy, flashy, argumentative, brave in a gang, but not so full of bluster on their own and with appalling table manners.

And the sparrows that bounce across the grass and pinch scraps of food from right under the beak of the perpetually surprised-looking woodpigeon. I watch them while I'm having breakfast and they start my day with a smile.

You can generally see ducks on the lake in the park, but have you noticed the smaller black bird moving in and out of the reeds?

The moorhen has a broken white stripe down its side and white tail feathers showing as it scuttles back into hiding. Usually, you can glimpse its incredibly large feet which enable it to walk across floating vegetation.

Even in your car (preferably as a passenger), you can spot kestrels hovering above the verges looking for a meal. They hover by flying at the same speed as a headwind. The bird's wings flap rapidly, but its head will move no more than 6mm in any direction to ensure it doesn't miss the slightest movement - an amazing demonstration of skill.

On the coast, watching birds gets even easier. Out on the mud, they are totally absorbed in feeding while the tide is out and food is plentiful. The amazing thing is that each is designed to find its food at different depths in the mud, or on different parts of the shore. That way, they don't waste time competing for the same food.

Curlews, with their very long, curved beaks, can probe the deepest. Oystercatchers, with their strong, orange bills, can open shells on the shoreline - including oysters if they can find them. And the little turnstones do exactly what it says on the label, turning over pebbles on the beach to find food underneath.

Occasionally, there's a real treat, like the spoonbills that stayed for a while at Farlington Marshes, near Portsmouth. They're large, white, long-necked birds on stork-like legs with strange spoon-shaped bills which they use to sweep the shallow water to find fish and other food. They're exotic visitors from Eastern Europe - and they'r there for anyone to see.

And as you watch birds, you'll become more aware of the amazing variety of habitats in which they live and the way each changes through the seasons. You'll also get to know what to look out for as you move around your neighbourhood and across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.