Independent (UK): It’s been the hardest winter for 30 years — but how bad has it really been for wildlife, and especially for birds? The first large-scale attempt to find out will take place this weekend, when half a million people will be counting the birds on their bird tables, patios and frozen lawns, in the Big Garden Birdwatch of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The annual survey, which is now the largest “citizen science’ exercise anywhere in the world — last year more than …