Winter 2020 - Otter - Photographed by Peter Humphrey from the Duck Marsh Hide - Photographed by Peter Humphrey from the ...
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Winter 2020 Otter - Photographed by Peter Humphrey from the Duck Marsh Hide
New Year Birding birdwatchers idea of fun but
scarce ones do turn up on
The wetlands are usually the occasions and this was the case
main focus of attention at the on 4th January when a Caspian
start of the New Year with winter Gull was picked out among the
visitors high on the list. But this Common Gulls and Herring Gulls
year it was the roadside by the there.
river bridge that attracted small
groups of birdwatchers, all
hoping for a glimpse of the
Firecrest which first appeared on
14th December and was still
present in the same area into
January. Goldcrests are very
much winter visitors to the
Reserve and haven’t been hard
to find in recent years but the
fractionally bigger Firecrest is a
much more difficult bird to spot. It Photo by John Cooper
wasn’t until December 2017 that This large gull, reminiscent of a
the first ever Firecrest was Herring Gull, was only
recorded on the Reserve. What recognised as a separate species
was probably the same bird was in 2007. With increased
seen on several further dates in awareness of ID criteria small
January and February last year. numbers are being seen regularly
in the UK. The species was
recorded for the first time on 24th
February last year when a near
adult was identified on the
flooded farmland.
As with the gulls, not everybody
has the patience to check
through a large flock of Jackdaws
on the farmland to find one that
looks a bit different. However, on
Photo by Peter Humphrey several occasions in the last
three years birds showing
The same area near the river
characteristics of the so-called
bridge also proved productive for
“Nordic Jackdaw” Corvus
both Goldcrest and Treecreeper
monedula monedula were picked
with an overwintering Chiffchaff
out. These birds have a pale
on 4th.
nape and sides of the neck, a
Searching through hundreds of dark throat and a light grey partial
gulls on the farmland to find a collar. Two were reported on the
possible rarity isn’t every farmland on 4th January.
Kingfisher Nest Bank bank. The new nest bank
certainly hasn’t put them off
Work on the new nest bank on because one was reported
the Duck Marsh is now complete. perched on it on New Year’s Day.
It looks a bit bare at the moment
but once the reeds start to grow it
will soon merge in.
Otter Sightings
The riverbank has changed
As was reported in the Autumn
considerably in recent years and
Newsletter, there were three
there are now very few, if any,
confirmed sightings of this
opportunities for Kingfishers to
elusive mammal in September.
excavate their own nest holes in
Daytime sightings here are
the bank round the Reserve
usually few and far between but
these days. The fact that they
there were three more in October
have already attempted to nest in
and on 2nd November one was
the Sand Martin nest bank on the
caught on camera on the Duck
Lagoon last year makes us think
Marsh by one of our regular
the new nest bank could well be
visitors (see front cover). There
successful. Given the choice, like
was a further sighting on the
humans, they would probably
Duck Marsh on 6th November
prefer an exclusive ready- made
and on 14th December one was
nest hole and chamber to more
watched on the Lagoon before it
than 180 pairs of very noisy
went onto the river.
neighbours on the Sand Martin
Field Harvest Festival! settled in very well. Pollinators
have been helped by early
Four years ago, starting before flowers on mirabelles, cherries,
and finishing after the ‘Great crab apples, rowans and
Boxing Day Flood’, our viburnums (Guelder Rose and
volunteers undertook a big tree Wayfaring Tree) and later in the
planting project on Poplar Field. summer there have been sweet
The aim was to improve the smelling lime tree flowers for the
biodiversity and increase wildlife bees to work on. The Gorse
interest of the area that had bushes have thrived and proved
recently been added to the the old adage that “when the
Reserve’s lease. We planted Gorse is in flower, kissing is in
about 700 trees and shrubs all season” - they never stop!
selected for their value for birds
or insects or both. It was a But flowering is only the
horrible job as the volunteers had beginning and this year the
to battle both the weather and the project has literally started to
ground conditions. The ground is bear fruit. There have been
all ‘made-up land’ with soil etc. apples, cherries and Rowan
from other work on the old berries for a couple of years and
sewage works dumped and also luscious red Guelder Rose
levelled – so there are lots of
random stones, pebbles, rocks,
concrete, clay etc. and not much
‘real’ soil. It was often difficult to
get a stake in let alone a tree.
For the next 2 summers the
volunteers hauled many
thousands of gallons of water to
keep the trees alive in the dry
weather while they got their root
systems going. They also
installed tree guards to thwart the
efforts of rutting Roe Deer to and Wayfaring Tree fruit to
mark their territory and cut back provide snacks for winter
the bindweed that sometimes thrushes. The Alder and Purging
threatens to engulf the weaker Buckthorn have also borne fruit,
plants. which is a bonus as these trees
“So how are they doing now?” were planted to provide food for
you may ask. The answer is - Brimstone butterfly caterpillars.
pretty well thanks. Yes, we have The alder trees are producing
lost a few trees and shrubs but cones, which we hope will feed
probably only about 10%, which Siskins, and the birches are
is not bad, and the rest have bearing fruit as well. Spindle and
Dogwood have also flowered and
fruited, as have the Hollies. To
cap it all this year produced our
first acorns and lime tree fruit on
the Poplar Field.
Cleaning out the holes in the
Sand Martin nesting bank and
refilling them with fresh sand is
the other important task. There
were 180 nest holes last year so
So for all the volunteers who this is a lengthy job. However, if
laboured so hard digging holes, it wasn’t done there is a very
planting trees, lugging watering good chance the birds would not
cans and generally caring for the use the bank and certainly not in
trees, we can truly say your any numbers. Sand Martins don’t
efforts are bearing fruit. Thanks usually start to arrive until mid to
for a job well done! late March so there is a bit more
Jerry Knapp time to complete this work.
Winter Work on the Lagoon
There are always two important
habitat management tasks to be
carried out on the Lagoon early in
the New Year. Both of these are
for the benefit of summer visitors.
Interested in Dragonflies and
At the time of writing work has
want to get more involved? To
just been completed on the first
spread the workload, we have
of these - clearing vegetation recently appointed new
from the three islands. Calling the recorders for both Butterflies
Oystercatcher a “summer visitor” and Moths but we still need a
is probably a bit of a misnomer Dragonfly Recorder for this
as they usually arrive here very year. For more information on
early in February and are gone what is involved please contact
by the end of July. But while they the Trust Secretary Peter
are with us the middle island on Murphy. For contact details see
the Lagoon is their preferred back page.
nesting site and they do not like
long vegetation.
Events
We decided at the start of 2019 It was lovely to see all our local
to include some new events at children come dressed in
Rodley to encourage families to ‘Spooktacular’ costumes and
visit the Reserve. A Halloween some were made to look even
Event and a Christmas Craft Fair scarier by having their faces
seemed obvious, so we set about painted.
organising our very first ones.
For those who dared to walk
through our Witches Wood, past
the scary skeletons, gruesome
Halloween “Creepy Crafts” ghouls and spooky spiders’
Sunday 27th October webs, you were met by our very
own Wicked Witch, Rilla.
After days of non-stop, heavy Children were enthralled by her
rain which drenched the terrible tales and her bubbling
volunteers setting up our cauldron and cackling black cat.
Halloween event , the day itself Many of you enjoyed walking
dawned cold and sunny. The through a part of the Reserve not
Reserve looked beautiful in the normally open to the public.
early dawn light with bright
orange pumpkins strewn across Throughout the day children
the grass. We wanted to pack the enjoyed playing Halloween
day full of Halloween themed fun, games including apple bobbing,
with all children getting a free hoopla, quoits and skittles. I
pumpkin to take home, expertly hope you all took some frightful
carved by our very creative photos with our Halloween Face
volunteers. in the Hole Board! Children also
made delightfully spooky
Halloween lanterns and spiders Our Reindeer Factory proved
with many eyes, with a little help very popular and our volunteers
from our volunteers. We were worked tirelessly throughout the
finding ‘googly eyes’ for days day helping children make their
afterwards and one even found very own wooden reindeer.
its way into the Donations Jar!
Our Craft Fair stalls were
Christmas Craft Fair beautifully set up inside and
outside the Visitor Centre and
Saturday 30th November were filled with lots of hand-made
On a very cold, frosty morning crafts which our volunteers and
last November Santa and his Elf visitors had been busy making for
cycled along the canal towpath, months.
heading for the Reserve. They Finally, a big thank you to Rodley
were met in Santa’s Lodge by Cricket Club for allowing us to
Rudolph and another elf. use their car park facilities this
Children enjoyed following year and also to all our
Santa’s Trail around the Reserve volunteers who continue to work
using their reading, writing and tirelessly to put on wonderful
problem-solving skills to find affordable events.
Santa whilst enjoying the fresh
air and learning about nature. Denese Swann
Events Co-ordinator
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
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