Upcoming Events

Community Hedge Planting at Bardsey Fields, Saturday 1st March

Posted on 24/02/2025 by committee

We will be meeting at Bardsey school car park at 10.00am on Saturday 1st March for a community hedge and tree planting session. This is an ideal activity for adults and children alike, so please do join us if you can – families are very welcome.

Please bring a spade and gloves if possible. The site is likely to be muddy and uneven, so make sure that you are wearing appropriate footwear.

This activity is subject to weather conditions, so please keep an eye on the website or Facebook page for any updates closer to the time.

Winter Bird Survey Results

Posted on 02/02/2025 by committee

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

Posted on 27/01/2025 by committee

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.

Community Hedge Planting, Bardsey Fields, 19th January 2025

Posted on 09/01/2025 by committee

We will be meeting at Bardsey School car park at 10.00am on Sunday 19th January. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear and if possible bring a spade.
All ages are welcome.
This event is subject to ground preparation and weather conditions, so please check Facebook and the website for any updates nearer the time.

Autumn Talk

Posted on 19/11/2024 by committee

Dan Carne, who has visited us before is giving the Autumn Talk at 7.00pm on ZOOM. “My trip to the wood pastures of Europe and lessons on how we can integrate good practice in a local context”.

Please use this link and passcode to join the meeting

https://zoom.us/j/5641407160?pwd=WSe8Ix7Rpb9VS2kvgOqvTSnXs4TqdZ.1&omn=91935324917

Meeting ID: 564 140 7160

Passcode: Pu47Bd

Dan is an expert ecologist and will be working with the Trust for a year on a part-time basis. He will help the Trust update its reserve management plans. Dan has a background in habitat restoration so will be a valuable addition to our work, especially in the development of Bardsey Fields.

Over the winter months, with Yorkshire Water’s support, we will be breaking out some surface water drains and installing some leaky barriers in Bardsey Fields. This will make the upper part of the field wetter. By providing a more natural pathway for the water this will reduce the flow of water into the beck, improve water quality and help to alleviate flooding downstream. Alongside this we will be planting hedges and some trees across the slope and putting three small woody leaky barriers in the Mill Tale. Together, these actions will help to increase the habitat diversity and biodiversity across the field and the health of the beck below.

If you have any concerns, please contact us at info@ekwt.org.uk

Tree Planting Party

Posted on 17/11/2024 by committee

On behalf of East Keswick Village Hall and East Keswick Wildlife Trust, we invite you to our ‘Tree planting party’ on Sunday 24th November from 10.30am – 2.30pm at East Keswick Village Hall Climate Change garden.

This coincides with National Trees Week which takes place from November 23rd to December 1st.

In the Village Hall’s drive to tackle climate change and provide homes for wildlife, we look forward to welcoming you to participate in planting our orchard, cherry blossom trees and hedgerows.

Come along with your family and friends to help develop a greener, tree-filled legacy for future generations to enjoy. It might be wet, muddy and a bit chilly, but there will be plenty of hot tea, coffee and biscuits to keep us energised and toasty warm. Please bring a spade if you have one, suitable footwear and gloves – plus food to barbeque.

Bardsey Small Mammal Survey Results

Posted on 23/10/2024 by committee

Many thanks to Ann, Robert and some of their colleagues from the Yorkshire Mammal Group who came to Bardsey Fields last weekend to carry out small mammal trapping. This work will give us a baseline for the species of small mammals living there. We laid 50 humane mammal traps on Saturday afternoon, ensuring that any mammals caught had a cosy bed and plenty of food. We then returned on Sunday morning to empty the traps, record and weigh the mammals and then release them safely.

44 people came to set the traps and 50 came to see what had been caught. This was phenomenal as the weather on Sunday morning was very cold and wet!

The children had a great time and were so excited to see whether the traps were closed and what would be inside.

The results of the survey were: 20 woodmice, 6 bank voles and 1 common shrew. This compares with 18 woodmice, 1 bank vole, 1 field vole and 1 common shrew in last years survey.

Family Event at Bardsey Fields – Small mammal trapping, October 19th & 20th

Posted on 03/10/2024 by committee

We will be joined by the Yorkshire Mammal Group to put out humane mammal traps on Saturday 19th October at 4.30pm. The following morning, Sunday 20th October we will meet at 9.30am to open the traps and record, weigh and release whatever we find. On both days we will be meeting outside Bardsey School on Woodacre Lane.

This event is suitable for all ages to attend one or both sessions – a great family event. Please bring stout footwear/wellies as the long grass will be wet. If you would like any more information, please email info@ekwt.org.uk.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Family Pizza Day Sunday 7th July – Postponed

Posted on 03/07/2024 by committee

We are very sorry to say that we have decided to postpone our Family Day planned for this coming Sunday.

It must be a busy weekend as we have had very few people booking places. As the event takes a lot of preparation and organisation it seems sensible to postpone it.

We are sorry to disappoint those that have booked and we hope to welcome you to another EKWT family event in the Autumn.

Everyone is of course most welcome to visit Ox Close Wood and our other nature reserves at any time.

Photographs from the Children’s Dragonfly Activity Morning

Posted on 25/06/2024 by committee

This event was very well attended and the children enjoyed making models of dragonflies, pond dipping, observing moths and drawing their own wildlife pictures.