Category Archives: Bird survey

Winter Bird Survey February 22nd 2026

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Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s bird survey around the East Keswick Parish. There were 25 people who came, including the children, who enjoyed using the Merlin app, taking photos and making lists of their observations.

Highlights were flocks of siskin and linnet, 3 little egret, 2 gadwall and a sparrowhawk. We also had a lovely view of a hare, which has not been recorded in the parish for many years.

Enjoying using the Merlin app

Full list of sightings:

Black Headed GullBlue Tit
BlackbirdBullfinch
BuzzardCanada Goose
Carrion CrowChaffinch
Coal TitCormorant
DunnockEurasian Sparrowhawk
GoldcrestGoosander (1 male, 2 female)
Greater Spotted WoodpeckerGreat Tit
GreenfinchGreylag Goose
House SparrowJackdaw
JayKestrel
Linnet (40)Long Tailed Tit (20+)
MagpieMallard
Northern LapwingPied Wagtail (6)
Red KiteRobin
RookSiskin (40+)
SkylarkSong Thrush
StarlingStock Dove
TreecreeperWoodpigeon
WrenYellowhammer
FieldfareRedwing
Gadwall (1 male, 1 female)Little Egret (3)
Goldfinch

Birdbox Recording

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EKWT have put up over 160 bird boxes on our reserves since 2017. These have been funded by Countryside Stewardship capital grants and have been constructed and maintained by our volunteers. The volunteers visit each box through the winter months to clear out any existing nests and record the findings. We are currently collating the results for 2025. In 2024, 54% of the boxes were used, which is our best year since we began the records 8 years ago.

Leeds Swifts Visit

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Leeds Swifts is a group of volunteers working to bring this red listed species back from the brink. Having seen the impact they have made from watching Hamza Yassin’s visit to them, we asked if they could visit East Keswick Wildlife Trust and give our volunteers advice on how to encourage more swifts to nest in our village.

Winter Bird Survey

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You are most welcome to join us for our winter bird survey. Meet outside St Mary’s Church, Moor Lane, East Keswick on Sunday 22nd February at 10am.

Wear warm clothing!

If you have binoculars, please bring them with you. We’ll stop for a short coffee break but if you wish to continue into the afternoon, please also bring a drink and packed lunch. We will be walking around the village, through the Marsh and then along Moor Lane and down to the river. There’s no need to stay for the whole session, you can join us for as long as you like.

It’s a good year for berries so we should see plenty of Fieldfares and Redwings that have been coming over from Scandinavia.

Hawthorn Berries

Winter Bird Survey Results

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Yesterday 21 adults and children joined us for the annual winter bird survey and it was lovely to welcome a number of people who had not been before.

We saw a total of 39 species, which is a good count for a survey in winter, although we did not see some species that would have been expected such as Goldcrest, Lapwing, Goosander and Collared Dove.

Here is a list of the species seen:

  • Heron
  • Canada goose
  • Greylag goose
  • Mallard
  • Mandarin duck
  • Moorhen
  • Herring gull
  • Black headed gull
  • Common gull
  • Kestrel
  • Sparrowhawk
  • Red kite
  • Buzzard
  • Crow
  • Rook
  • Jackdaw
  • Magpie
  • Jay
  • Starling
  • Wood pigeon
  • Feral pigeon
  • Bullfinch
  • Chaffinch
  • Goldfinch
  • Greenfinch
  • Chiff chaff
  • House sparrow
  • Dunnock
  • Greater spotted woodpecker
  • Robin
  • Wren
  • Blue tit
  • Great tit
  • Blackbird
  • Song thrush
  • Redwing
  • Fieldfare
  • Pheasant
  • Skylark

Winter Bird Survey Saturday 1st February 2025

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You are most welcome to join us for our winter bird survey. We will be meeting outside St Mary’s Church, Moor Lane, East Keswick on Saturday 1st February at 10am. If you have binoculars, please bring them with you and also a drink and packed lunch. We will be walking around the village, through the Marsh and then along Moor Lane and down to the river. There’s no need to stay for the whole session, you can join us for as long as you like.

Winter Bird Survey

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On Sunday March 24th, a good number of the Wildlife Trust members met to observe the different bird species in the Parish. We usually carry out the survey in January, but had to postpone it until March this year. After a chilly start the sun came out and it was a lovely day.

The total number of species recorded was 48 as opposed to 36 last year. Some of the additional species seen were lapwing, snipe and goosander.

Many thanks to everyone who took part.