Merlin Bird ID – Birdwatching

Birdwatching Holiday Cottages at Broadgate Farm

Using Merlin Bird ID to Explore Local Wildlife

Broadgate Farm Cottages offers the perfect base for your nature escape, with hundreds of native bird species in the area surrounding the farm, available to you from the cottage door as well as proximity to nearby birdwatching hotspots like Tophill Low and Bempton Cliffs, ideal for a birding break in the heart of Yorkshire.

Broadgate Farm offers luxury birdwatching holiday cottages for nature lovers to relax and unwind on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, well situated to explore the diverse nature in Yorkshire. We have 7 self catering cottages from 2 to 8 bedrooms, each property boasts its own private garden. We have accessible cottages suitable for a variety of accessibility needs, we are dog friendly, and eco-conscious, for further information see our cottages.

We recommend guests use the free Merlin Bird ID app to explore the wealth of different species of birds waiting to be discovered from the cottage door.

What is Merlin Bird ID?

Merlin Bird ID is a fantastic free to access and use app developed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University with the help of birdwatching enthusiasts around the world. Merlin Bird ID helps you identify the birds around you through pictures, sound and even descriptions, developed using more than 800 million sightings globally that help identify birds in your area as well as the ones in your immediate proximity.

There are 3 ways to identify birds using the app:

1. Sound – using your phone’s microphone Merlin Bird ID will listen to bird song around you and identify different species
2. Photo – upload a photo of your mystery bird and Merlin Bird ID will suggest the likely suspects based on your location and time of day
3. Step by step – using your location, date of the sighting, size, colour and other questions Merlin Bird ID will suggest the birds in the area that best match your description

To explore the features in more details visit Cornell Lab’s website. We also recommend the RSPB’s A-Z bird guide.

What Birds Can You Encounter?

Merlin Bird ID also allows you to explore birds likely to be seen in your location, using the filter settings you can sort the birds from most to least likely to see. Here on the farm Merlin Bird ID identifies 196 birds likely to be seen in our area, ranging from the simple pigeon to more uncommon species such as the Nuthatch and a couple of species of owl.

We took a short 10 minute walk around the farm to see what birds Merlin Bird ID could detect. Eleven different species were identified: goldfinch, chaffinch, wren, long-tailed tit, song thrush, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, nuthatch, greenfinch, and a dunnock (identified at 9am on the 9th June 2025). Since then we have also identified a jackdaw, skylark, blackbird, swallows, a robin, and a collared dove.

We have a native barn owl which returns to the farm every year (see the picture of her chicks a couple years ago below), as well as a more elusive tawny owl, buzzards are regularly seen flying over as well as pheasants, ducks, geese and many more. We would love to hear what you have spotted during your stay, let us know on social media or email– we would love to know of any more to add to the list.

Birdwatching holidays in the Yorkshire nature triangle are a treat for any keen wildlife enthusiast, there are walks from the cottage door and plenty to explore in the surrounding areas, all of this combined with the rural luxury of our award winning accommodation: for nature holidays in Yorkshire choose us.

So whether you’re looking for nature holidays, relaxing getaways, or farm cottages look no further than Broadgate Farm Cottages for a blissful getaway in wildlife-friendly accommodation: just don’t forget your phone, Merlin Bird ID will do the rest.