Thank you to everyone who took part in the children’s wildlife art competition at East Keswick Art Show at the weekend. It is always difficult to pick winners, as all of the entries were lovely and showed that a lot of thought had gone into them. We have however made a decision for the two age categories and the winners are Zoe and Verity.
We will meet outside St Mary’s Church, Moor Lane, East Keswick at 10am. Please bring binoculars if you have them and the Merlin app is also very useful. We will be walking through the Marsh and then along Moor Lane towards Harewood Road. Bring along a drink and a snack and join us for as long or as short as you like.
The Trust has acquired a moth trap that can be used by Trust, and their family, members.
It comes complete with a 5volt power pack, electrical cables and a moth identification guide.
It uses a low wattage UV LED bulb which emits little visible light so is unobtrusive when used in one’s garden.
For further information, please call Paul 07999339147 or email paul@ekwt.org.uk.
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.
Full list of sightings:
| Black Headed Gull | Blue Tit |
| Blackbird | Bullfinch |
| Buzzard | Canada Goose |
| Carrion Crow | Chaffinch |
| Coal Tit | Cormorant |
| Dunnock | Eurasian Sparrowhawk |
| Goldcrest | Goosander (1 male, 2 female) |
| Greater Spotted Woodpecker | Great Tit |
| Greenfinch | Greylag Goose |
| House Sparrow | Jackdaw |
| Jay | Kestrel |
| Linnet (40) | Long Tailed Tit (20+) |
| Magpie | Mallard |
| Northern Lapwing | Pied Wagtail (6) |
| Red Kite | Robin |
| Rook | Siskin (40+) |
| Skylark | Song Thrush |
| Starling | Stock Dove |
| Treecreeper | Woodpigeon |
| Wren | Yellowhammer |
| Fieldfare | Redwing |
| Gadwall (1 male, 1 female) | Little Egret (3) |
| Goldfinch |
On a very cold and wet January day, a hardy group of EKWT volunteers visited the Lower Ure Conservation Trust (LUCT) at Nosterfield. LUCT aims to establish best practice in the provision and maintenance of wet grassland. EKWT are keen to share knowledge about the wetland plants in our fen area in Bardsey Fields and so were delighted to be invited to visit the nursery at Nosterfield. The day was very informative and we are pleased to have made links with another Trust. LUCT will be visiting Bardsey Fields reserve in the spring.
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.
We welcomed over 50 people to Bardsey Fields at the beginning of July to see the work that we have been doing, learn about the wildlife there and take part in craft activities. Permitted access is now available through the two gates at the corners of the top field next to the road. A path has been cut between these two gates and then all the way around the top field. We had guided walks around here and were able to explain that in time, our management will result in the top fields developing into wood pasture. This will be characterised by open-grown, often old trees in a grazed environment, creating a rich mosaic of habitats including grassland, fen and scrub. There will be open views across to the fen below. The fen is home to many uncommon plants and butterflies and recently fawns have been seen there and a kingfisher nesting.
Craft activities on the day included willow wishing wands, spiders and felting sheep. Emma demonstrated how to ‘slow the flow’ with guttering and tennis balls. This is because we have broken two pipes under the field into the beck and brought the water to the surface in the field. The water will then filter through a series of dams to slow the flow of water and help prevent flooding downstream in Bardsey and Collingham. Paul had set a moth trap and had a number of interesting species to observe, including elephant hawkmoths.
We have the Dexter cows on site and there will be 2 in Bardsey Fields all summer. The grass is thick and dense and the cows on site are having a real impact on removing this, which will allow wild flowers to bloom in the summer. When you visit, please remember to close the gate behind you so they don’t escape!
The Trustees of East Keswick Wildlife Trust have made the decision not to allow dogs on the site. This is for a number of reasons but primarily: there will be cows in the fields all year round; the resident wildlife such as deer, foxes, badgers and small mammals will be disturbed as well as ground nesting birds such as meadow pipit, willow warbler, chiffchaff, dunnock, blackbird and skylark.
In July a group of Cubs and Squirrels came to visit the Ellikers nature reserve. Melanie explained about the yellow fish campaign and ‘only rain down the drain’. We then had a walk all around the reserve. It was a lovely evening and so there were a number of butterflies to observe, along with the wild flowers.
This year our summer family event is at our new reserve, Bardsey Fields – opposite Bardsey Primary School. The event will run from 11- 2pm, so please bring a picnic. There will be guided walks around the reserve, crafts – including making spiders and willow wands, storytelling and more. It will be great to welcome you to hear our plans for the future of the reserve.
It was lovely to meet everyone who came to our stand at Bardsey Gala on 4th May. We were able to let people know about all the work that we have been doing in Bardsey Fields recently and our work in the Parish in general.
We had craft activities which were enjoyed by all ages. Janine kindly led the felting to make sheep and hedgehogs from fleece. Douglas led the dragonfly making so a big thank you to both of them and all the Trustees and EKWT members who helped on the day.
