About the course

Join BTO staff and passionate birder, David White, to hone your skills of waterbird ID. During this small group event, we’ll enjoy spending time together looking at wildfowl, waders if they are present, and any other species associated with wetland habitats.

As a team, we'll practise a range of skills, including key ID features for particular species, and broader transferable skills that will help with your development as a birdwatcher. This is a fantastic opportunity to increase your confidence in a supportive environment, plus meet some like-minded souls and enjoy some birds!

We will also provide an introduction to how to take part in the important Wetland Bird Survey (WeBs) scheme, and also record the waterbirds that you see via BirdTrack.

We are likely to see species such as Coot, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan and Canada Goose, with a chance of Pochard, Gadwall and Lapwing. We'll talk through the ID of these species and use them to discuss and practise broader transferable skills which will help your ID of other species too. We'll then talk in more detail about the Wetland Bird Survey, including the nuances of counting /estimating numbers for different species, and we'll practise using BirdTrack for recording what you see.

• Bring your own food and drink and please wear appropriate clothing for the forecast weather conditions.
• Please bring your own binoculars and your favoured bird guide. We will bring a few telescopes to share, but please bring your own if you have one.

Cost and concessions

• This session will cost £10 per person*.
• Booking is required and places are limited to 12 participants.
• If you would like to book multiple places, please log out of your MyBTO account and book each place as a separate transaction. We aren't able to process multiple bookings through a single transaction at the moment.

*If you are on a lower income and the full cost of this session would be a barrier for you then please get in touch and we’d be happy to offer you a reduced rate. Email david.white@bto.org.

Please note

The above charge DOES NOT include the car parking charge at the reserve, which is £4 per car. Please ensure that you pay this during your visit.