For visitor centres and reserves

When the birds are hard to see

Picture a family arriving on a wet Tuesday afternoon. There's not much to see from the hide, but birds are still calling from nearby trees and hedges.

The children find the iPad by the door and explore the birds heard that day, including some nobody in the family has seen. They play a wren's song, try an identification game, and when the rain eases they head outside to listen for themselves.

Each day's detections also give your rangers, volunteers and education staff something new to talk about.

Two ways to discover your birds

On an iPad, our Bird Spotter app lets visitors choose a bird, hear the actual recordings from your site and see what's been heard today. They can watch new detections arrive, look up birds in the library, and try games that help them recognise birds by sound and sight.

On a big screen, our Bird Watcher app runs by itself, cycling through recent detections, seasonal highlights and what to listen out for that month. Visitors can follow along while having a coffee or passing through the centre, without touching the screen.

You can have either app, or both.

Let people keep listening after their visit

A live page on your website lets visitors check what's been heard before they arrive or catch up after they go home.

Explore the live bird call detection page we built for the Lake District National Park to see an example.

Already in use across the Lake District

At Sizergh, staff and volunteers check the iPads every day to see what's been heard. It's a simple way to keep up with the birds around the site and share discoveries with visitors.

Five grant-funded stations were installed during 2026, with acoustic monitors and iPads supplied for Bird Spotter, plus Bird Watcher at some sites:

• Low Beckside Farm, with the Ernest Cook Trust
• Sizergh, with the National Trust
• Foulshaw Moss, with Cumbria Wildlife Trust
• Gowbarrow Hall Farm
• Basecamp North Lakes

Making it work at your centre

Equipment and positioning

The continuous monitor needs power and Wi-Fi at its listening location. It picks up birds calling within earshot, and records which species were calling rather than how many birds there are. We'll discuss where to place it and how to connect it, alongside the best position for your visitor display. If you already have an iPad or screen, tell us what you have so we can check whether it's suitable.

For listening spots further out on the reserve, battery-powered recorders can collect audio without power or Wi-Fi for later analysis. These don't provide the same live feed. We're also developing an off-grid monitor with its own solar power and mobile connection.

Use in a shared space

Visitor iPads can be restricted to the app. We'll talk through mounting, charging, supervision and sound playback for your setting, whether that's a quiet hide, a busy café or a space used by school groups.

Tell us about any access requirements so we can discuss the screen position, controls and ways visitors will use the display.

Privacy and day-to-day running

A privacy filter is enabled on every continuous monitor, discarding recordings where it detects human speech.

Before installation, we'll agree what your team needs to do day to day and what support is included.

Pricing

Pricing depends on the monitoring setup, the displays you need and installation requirements. Get in touch for a quote setting out the equipment, setup and any ongoing costs.