The Roost Survey tool is a structured counting tool for cormorant roost sites — where birds gather at night. Access is invite-only and PIN-gated, because roost counts need training and consistent methodology to be useful. If you haven't been invited, you can't use it. If you think you should have access, email us.
A cormorant sighting on the Biodiversity or Cormorant tool is a one-off observation. A roost count is a survey — it's supposed to follow a defined methodology so that counts are comparable over time and across sites.
If we let anyone submit roost counts, the data would be inconsistent and unusable. So access is granted only to people who:
- Have been trained on the counting methodology (peak count, arrival count, departure count)
- Are working with a specific roost site on an ongoing basis
- Have agreed to follow the survey protocol consistently
That's usually fishery managers, rivers trust volunteers, ecological consultants, and specific researchers working with Hydroscape on regional cormorant studies.
On the Cormorant Report page, there's a "Roost Survey" option. When you tap it:
- You're shown a PIN entry modal: "Invite only — if you have been invited to submit a roost report, click here"
- Enter the PIN you were given
- If it's correct, you're taken to the roost survey form
- If it's wrong, the PIN field rejects it and you stay on the cormorant page
Your PIN is specific to your invite — it's not a generic access code.
If you're doing structured roost monitoring and want to contribute the data to the national dataset, email info@hydroscape-group.co.uk with:
- Who you are (organisation, role)
- Which roost site(s) you're monitoring
- Your experience with roost counts (training, years, methodology)
- How often you'll be submitting
We respond within a few working days. If you're approved, we'll send you a PIN and a brief on what data we want captured.
If you have access, roost surveys log:
- Peak count — the highest instantaneous count of birds at the roost
- Arrival and departure counts — birds coming in at dusk, leaving at dawn
- GPS coordinates — the exact roost location
- Date and time
- Tree species and roost structure — willows, pylons, island, etc.
- Disturbance notes — any external factors affecting the count
- Weather — conditions during the count
Counts feed directly into HydroLicence evidence packs and the regional cormorant dataset. Consistent long-term roost data is one of the strongest categories of evidence for A06 applications at catchment scale.