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.
In 2022 we found an Oak Bush Cricket; our first Orthoptera species that wasn’t a grasshopper. This week, David found two further species in his field… a Long-winged Conehead and a Roesel’s Bush Cricket. Both of these species are not normally seen north of the Humber…. so a good find. It’s likely that one or both of these species could be present in Bardsey Field as “scurryings” have been seen!
Update…. Roesel’s Bush Cricket was seen by a member at Bardsey Fields, 11th July!
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.
We will be meeting at St Mary’s Church, Moor Lane, East Keswick at 10.00am. Please bring binoculars if you have them and a drink and snack. The Merlin App is very useful to have on your phone as it can identify birds from their song.
On the 14th May the Trust held its annual AGM in the Village Hall.
It was nice to see some new faces. Please find attached the minutes, a financial statement and the Chairman’s AGM report. These can be downloaded by clicking on the following links.
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.
The AGM will be held in East Keswick Village Hall. Following the AGM Jeff Davitt from Yorkshire Rewilding will give a short talk on how the vision for Bardsey Fields compares to other projects. All welcome.
