02/06/25 - Britcon reedbed

A fantastic effort was made in the #LDV recently by the Britcon families & staff, who are not only building our new NNR Base, but working alongside our team helped to plant over 2,000 reeds in our new reedbed areas at Bank Island. Thanks to our friends at Tophill Low LNR we were also able to plant Greater Water Parsnip, Marsh Pea, Water Dock and other local wetland plants into the reedbeds, to increase diversity and act as reservoir sites for other areas. When visiting the site, you will see that this reedbed has been planted in memory of one of the much-loved members of the Britcon team, Ashley Kent, with the aim of the project being to create a real legacy in Ash’s memory.

 

We’re very grateful to the Britcon team and all of the other volunteers who joined in on the day, including our own team who remained into the evening to ensure a good watering of the plants due to the drought conditions we were experiencing at the time – the rain this week might not have been welcome to holidaymakers but it has certainly helped the reeds! This time last year we would have needed to pump water out of the site to even try and plant the reeds in there – what a difference a year makes!

 

 

Whilst the focus of a task day is always the task itself, we always try to provide a memorable day for those involved, either by checking the contents of the moth trap or ringing a few birds, all helping to showcase the work that we do, as well as the Friends of the #LDV and Natural England. If you might be interested in organising a task day on the reserve for yourself or your team, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

06/05/25 - Tern arrival

Following the report of a pair of Common Terns back in the Lower Derwent Valley recently, our team relaunched the tern rafts last week for another season, and we’re now pleased to say that the pair have already taken up residency on one of the rafts on the pool at Wheldrake.

Common Terns used to be a regular spring passage migrant to the reserve, with occasional, but unsuccessful breeding attempts, however, thanks to a generous private donation to the Friends in 2017, two tern rafts were provided which resulted in the first successful breeding attempt for the site, with a single pair raising two young. Since then, and with an additional two tern rafts being provided, a total of 28 young have been reared and ringed on the reserve. From these colour-ringed birds we have had six subsequent resightings; a bird returning in its first summer to Lancashire, another seen during its first winter off the coast of The Gambia, Western Africa, and others subsequently breeding on the Farne Islands and in the RSPB Aire Valley. It’s amazing to think these birds cover such huge distances during the year and return each spring to the rafts in the Lower Derwent - fingers crossed for another successful year.

15/03/25 - Shelduck milestone

On the 12th February 2000 we caught and ringed the first Shelduck for the Lower Derwent Valley on the top pond at North Duffield Carrs, and now, 25 years later, we've just ringed the 1000th individual at Bank Island. Whilst that represents something of a milestone itself, the numbers are not the important thing, but rather the amount of data that those birds (as part of our long running colour-ringing project) have produced over the years, to help our understanding of Shelduck both on the reserve and in the wider area. 

‘Our’ birds include: the longevity record for the species from the BTO ringing scheme (over 20 years old), regularly returning breeding birds to the LDV year after year, and birds visiting moulting sites on the Dutch/German Wadden Sea, the Humber and other estuaries around the UK.

The map below shows a strong association with the northwest, and it is suspected that the Dee Estuary could now be a new moulting site, with young birds beginning to recruit into it over the last decade or so. Indeed, stable isotope work carried out by Ros Green (as part of a PhD study into the species) has provided very different data from the Dee compared to all of the other northwest European moult sites, and it will be interesting to see how that moulting site develops and with it, the links to the Lower Derwent Valley. A total of 100 birds had small feather samples taken by our team over the 2024/25 winter to allow such analysis, and help us understand how Shelduck use the site here. Many thanks to all involved for helping to collect this valuable data.

03/03/25 - Black-tailed Godwit increase

A species which is now a highlight in the Lower Derwent Valley each spring is the Black-tailed Godwit, which has increased dramatically in recent years and now occurs earlier than previously. During the early 1990s spring passage flocks increased from 20–30 birds to flocks of up to 100, often appearing for just a day in late April and early May. However, since then, as the Icelandic breeding population has grown, numbers here have also increased, with peak counts now usually occurring in March. This year up to 200 have been present from early February with 543 recorded over the weekend at Wheldrake Ings, with further birds expected to arrive and build up over the coming weeks. These birds are usually best looked for at either Wheldrake Ings or North Duffield Carrs, with the spring passage flocks of summer plumaged birds a real spectacle – last year numbers peaked at 1,120 on the 20th March at Wheldrake Ings – certainly one to look out for on your next visit.

24/02/25 - Spring arrival

With temperatures rising over the weekend, it’s a time of change in the Lower Derwent Valley once again. Curlew numbers have jumped from 50 to 160+ over the last week with several pairs back on territory throughout the site - it's always a highlight of the year when the first singing and displaying birds are heard across the Ings.

Breeding Oystercatchers have also returned to the reserve, their arrival having moved forward over the last 40 years from mid-March to mid-January, although most arrive from early to mid-February. The now annual build up of Black-tailed Godwits has also started, with just over 200 at Wheldrake Ings during the last couple of weeks. Other signs of spring include breeding activity in the local heronry, the sudden return of Little Egrets, nest-building Mute Swans, singing Woodlarks on Skipwith Common NNR and the appearance of the first frogs. Whilst there is likely to be some cold and wintry weather still to come, it’s a great time of year to get out and about on the reserve and enjoy the changing seasons.

Thanks to local wildlife photographer Terry Weston for the use of his image.