Opening an email from John Preshaw - a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust volunteer who has led the Volunteer Supporter Group at Low Wood for many years. I was pleased to see a date that I could join. John’s invitation explained that each survey takes about two hours, is great fun, and offers a perfect opportunity to sharpen bird identification skills. It ended with a cheerful reminder: “don’t forget your binoculars!”

According to the British Trust for Ornithology’s website, the BBS is the main scheme for monitoring population changes of common and widespread breeding birds in the UK. It is run jointly by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the RSPB. The surveys are carried out by volunteers like those at Low Wood, who monitor their designated areas each spring.

My husband Pete joined me for the visit, and we arrived just before the 8am start on a lovely sunny day in May. Soon after, we were joined by Derrick, who has been volunteering for 12-years with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. We chatted for ten minutes… before realising we were at the wrong meeting point! The joining instructions had placed it a few hundred metres away, where the survey team had already gathered, having walked from home.

We soon caught up with our leader John as well as two other volunteers Ian, and Tom. They were deep in a patch of large butterbur plants, on the far side of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal from Low Wood. 

Then we were off—into the undergrowth, where many of the birds being surveyed could be found. Although the instructions mentioned binoculars, it quickly became clear that bird identification relied just as much—if not more—on listening. Pete fired-up the Merlin Bird ID app on his phone and joined the effort to detect birds we could hear but not see.

John explained that the survey is very much a team effort by the volunteers. While he plotted the birds on a map, Ian listened carefully, and Tom scanned the trees and undergrowth for visual sightings.

Their map used codes to show details like whether a bird is nesting, carrying food, or flying. By the end of the six BBS surveys each year, the Low Wood team typically identifies around 40 different bird species. John then submits more than 50 detailed maps showing bird locations to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust - Data and Evidence Team based at the head office. His returns are added to those from other volunteer Breeding Bird Surveyors, who monitor bird populations at reserves right across Yorkshire.

At one point, we paused to examine broken eggshells scattered on the path. We weren’t sure what had emerged from them, but we had spotted ducklings and goslings on the canal earlier in the day.

As we walked back along the canal towpath, we could see the fruits of the volunteers' efforts: not a trace of Himalayan balsam in sight. The rhododendrons were in full bloom—beautiful, but also a concern, as they can quickly overwhelm woodland. The volunteers will continue to control them. 

After crossing the canal bridge, we entered Low Wood Nature Reserve itself, ears alert for birdsong. The dappled sunlight filtering through the trees and the chorus of birds made for a magical atmosphere. Volunteers had cleaned out the nest boxes over winter, and I was amused to see chalk ticks on them—like a TripAdvisor rating system! Derrick explained that with so many boxes, it’s their way of marking which ones they’ve done. 

We spotted: tree creepers, nuthatches, song thrushes, wrens, wood pigeons, chaffinches, carrion crows, blackbirds, mallard ducks, graylag geese, robins, blue tits, great tits, dunnocks, pied flycatchers and many more. Derrick even pointed out a mock owl nestled in a tree hollow—it looked convincingly real, but it was just the way the wood in the tree was shaped!

As part of their woodland management, the volunteers remove invasive bracken, taking care to leave native ferns undisturbed. The reserve’s flag irises were in glorious bloom, as were the bluebells.

We climbed the zigzag path to the top of the woods, where a magnificent 150-year-old oak tree stands. It offered a fantastic viewpoint across the woodland. At last, I got to use my binoculars to watch a roe deer, almost hidden in the dappled shade. The survey really was great fun, and an opportunity to hone bird identification skills. 

If you'd like to take part in our Volunteer Task Days you can find a full list of Volunteer Task Days happening near you  in our Summer Practical Conservation Calendar here 

Or, why not put on your walking boots and take a stroll around Low Woods Nature Reserve and discover for yourself what birds you can identify through sight or song.