10/10/26 - Whooper Swan passage

The first herds of returning Whooper Swans (totalling 88 individuals) passed through the LDV on the way back from their Icelandic breeding grounds last week, and we expect others to follow over the coming days as more birds arrive and pass through the area on the way to the wintering areas in the Cambridgeshire Fens, before our resident wintering birds settle on the reserve later in the year as more birds depart Iceland. 

Around 40,000 Whooper Swans now winter in the UK with the majority being found in the northern half of the country, and large numbers are known to gather at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust centres such as Martin Mere, Caerlaverock and Welney. Numbers in the LDV usually build-up from mid-October and reach between 150-200 birds, with North Duffield Carrs and the fields by Bubwith Bridge being favoured areas. The trumpeting herds passing over the reserve are a truly welcome sight and sound of autumn, and all records are appreciated, so please do let us know if you see (or hear) any flocks passing over the area. 

Image courtesy of LDV birder Trevor Walton 📸 

02/10/26 - BTO Marsh Awards

Each year the BTO, with support from the Marsh Charitable Trust, recognise outstanding achievements in ornithology in the form of awards, with one of the categories covering ‘local ornithology’. This particular award is given to a bird club or group by the BTO Board, that either publishes a book, completes a study or conducts any other exceptional activity in the preceding calendar year that advances knowledge about birds. 

So… we are delighted to announce, that this year the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley were nominated and successful in receiving this award 🤩

The review panel were unanimous in agreeing that the Friends extensive ornithological and conservational efforts in the Lower Derwent Valley and surrounding area were nothing short of exemplary. They recognised the cutting-edge tracking of key bird species such as Spotted Crakes and the radio-tagging of Jack Snipe (amongst other species), along with the comprehensive bird ringing studies and the provision of a training site for wader and wildfowl ringing. They were also very impressed with the recent publication of the Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley, as well as the charities great achievements working with partners in safeguarding the English reintroduction of Corncrakes. 

Mike Jackson (in his role as Chair of the Friends) and Craig Ralston (as Senior Reserve Manager and author of the Birds of the LDV) travelled to London last night to attend the awards ceremony at the Mall Galleries, to collect this award on behalf of the whole group including the Friends trustees, volunteers and supporters. It was a real surprise for the group to receive this award and a great honour for two of the team to represent the Friends at the ceremony, showcasing the incredible efforts of so many people over the last 10 years. With thanks to this award and the cheque for £1,000, so much more can continue to be done to protect the Ings and its special wildlife, so watch this space for more updates... but in the meantime a huge thank you must go to everyone who makes up the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley.

20/09/26 - Pink-footed Geese arrival

Over the last few weeks we have witnessed the first arrivals of Pink-footed Geese into the UK, with several skeins also moving through the Lower Derwent Valley NNR as they began to arrive in the country from their Icelandic and Greenland breeding grounds. Flocks of these migrating geese often fly high and produce an excited medley of high-pitched honking calls, (sometimes likened to yapping dogs), and being particularly vocal in flight makes them a sight and sound so indicative of autumn. Birds will continue to arrive and increase in number as we head into October – so one to watch out and listen for.

Around 550,000 Pink-footed Geese winter in the UK each year, with large concentrations in Scotland, around the Wash and in the north-west, particularly Martin Mere WWT. Flocks passing through the reserve at this time of year are all heading south-east and are probably on passage to the Wash or Humber Estuary. Birds then return north-west again in January and February as they start to return to the north-west coasts before making the spring migration back to their breeding grounds. Small numbers sometimes remain throughout the winter and join up with the larger semi-resident Greylag flocks, although there has been a tendency in recent years for larger wintering flocks to linger, perhaps involving 1,000-5,000 birds. 

Pink-footed Geese can be separated from the similar Greylag Goose quite easily – look for a small, dainty, dark chocolate brown head and a small dark bill with a band of pink (if seen well) – also take note of the pink legs as opposed to the more orangey-pink of the larger/greyer Greylag. No doubt more flocks will follow over the next few weeks so please do let us know if you see (or hear) any.

06/09/26 - Final five

Last week saw our final five Corncrake chicks of the year released onto the reserve, in what has been a successful second year of our reintroduction project, bringing the total number of Corncrakes released onto the NNR this year to 148 (and an overall total of 222 across both years to date) – all released on a range of sites across the Ings. Recently we also enjoyed welcoming Paul Murphy from BBC Look North to the Lower Derwent Valley to film one of our releases, which you may have seen last week on the local and national BBC news, as well as featuring on BBC Radio York and Radio 4’s Farming Today programme. 

Whilst it has been a lot of hard work and long hours since early March when our team started building additional pre-release pens, followed by overnight transfers of chicks from Norfolk, twice daily feeds, numerous ringing, tagging and releasing mornings, as well as late evening and early morning survey work to try and record last year’s returning birds, it really is a fantastic project to be involved with, and we're now hoping to get another good return rate next spring, with perhaps 15-20 singing males expected around the site if all goes well. The post-release monitoring that we have carried out over the last few weeks/months suggests everything is looking good so far, with birds behaving in line with what would be expected by wild bred Scottish birds, and we were delighted to get in the region of nine singing males from last year’s cohort returning. Next spring we will be reaching out once again and asking those who live in the local villages as well as local farmers/birdwatchers to listen out for and report any singing birds.

A huge thank you must go to everyone who has supported this project – from building the pens, transporting and feeding the chicks, ringing and tracking the birds, carrying out health checks and managing/maintaining the pens, and most importantly, to those who helped to fund the project through grants and our Aviva crowdfunding campaign – this project is a true partnership effort to help bring Corncrakes back to the English countryside once again. 

15/08/26 - Ellerton Churchyard

It’s that time of year when our team have once again been working hard to help Ellerton Church Preservation Trust undertake the annual hay cut of the churchyard, with the aim of improving the diversity of wildflowers and spreading the benefits of the Ings hay meadows outside of the boundary 🌿🪻

As another growing season is over, we are pleased to say that the management of the churchyard is working as intended, with increasing amounts of Yellow Rattle and Greater Burnet, as well as many other herbs and finer grasses, along with other typical ‘Ings’ species that are now found in increasing numbers amongst the headstones. Whilst in recent years the churchyard has been looking more welcoming and awash with colour during the summer months, it is also now more resilient in the drought compared with many other areas of mown/drought-stricken grasslands, and so it's worth a mention and reminder of how our churchyards and gardens are incredibly important in providing valuable habitat for the local wildlife if managed correctly 🚜

Each year after our team have cut the meadow, it is then turned before being dried and made into bales by Rosewood Farms – helping both biodiversity of the site and the local farming community in producing feed for livestock. If you haven’t yet visited this area of the Lower Derwent Valley it’s somewhere worth calling on your next visit – set right next to the Ings the church overlooks the winter floods and is rather a special place in the local landscape – complete with its breeding Barn Owls who also feature in a specially made stained-glass window within the church, which details some of the history and wildlife of the Ings 🦉🪟

As always, it’s been yet another fantastic effort by our team, enabling the ongoing management of the churchyard and helping to make more places better for wildlife and people in our local area, and helping nature to recover and spill out from the core of the valley – huge thank you to our brilliant team for their efforts 👏