06/11/26 - Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to Christmas presents, so if you know someone who is a keen birder or has an interest in the wildlife of the area, then look no further! The ‘Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley – a Historical, Conservation and Migration Review’ will fit the bill (excuse the pun 😁). This book (recently published by the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley) contains within its 550 pages everything we know about the 294 bird species that have occurred on the reserve and surrounding area historically, along with more detailed trends from the 1960s up to the end of 2024 📖

As well as the status, counts and trends, this book also summarises the results from the ringing of over 100,000 birds since the late 1980s, with species maps, selected recoveries, and longevity records. Perhaps more significantly, it also identifies where we know we have gaps in the knowledge for certain species, as well as predicting what species might be the next to occur. With 294 individual species accounts, 40 maps, 344 colour-photographs and 35 line-drawings and sketches, it’s a must-have book for serious local birders, nature conservationists, land managers, or indeed anyone with a passing interest in the area, the Ings, its birds, it wildlife and history 🦆

100% of the proceeds from each sale goes to the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley charity to help with conservation projects across the reserve, be that more land purchases to make the reserve bigger, better and buffered, or providing more viewing opportunities for local and visiting birders and naturalists, or helping with our Corncrake reintroduction project or farmland bird wild seed mixes 🐦

The price has been set at just £25, and payment can be cash or bank transfer – please note for those that require their copy to be posted, there will be an additional charge of £5 which also goes direct to the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley. If you’d like to order a copy please contact Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk 📧

Many thanks to everyone who has already purchased a copy, and to those who left kind comments 📝

- I picked my book up this morning and from what I have read so far it is absolutely beautiful. 

- What an impressive volume!

- A fantastic achievement and a wonderful record of the fabulous birds of the LDV. 

- What a wonderfully researched and well written edition of the Lower Derwent Valley.

- I imagine this book would become an absolute bible if you lived/worked/regularly birded the area. Keep up the good work.

- So good it was worth buying twice. I really recommend this book if you have an interest in the birds of the LDV NNR.

- This is a fabulous book, superbly written and illustrated and without a doubt a labour of love.

- This book is testimony to what can be achieved by hard work, dedication, being proactive and having a vision.

- A fantastic piece of work which will be a constant reference and source of inspiration for me for decades to come. If you haven't got a copy, I'd recommend you get one.

02/11/26 - BTO ringing totals

Bird ringing is an incredibly useful tool in the conservation world, aimed at understanding the drivers of population changes and providing evidence on which to base conservation efforts, and regular readers of our page will be aware of the work undertaken by the ringers working on our NNRs and in the wider area. 

In the Lower Derwent Valley we are fortunate to have the opportunity to study so many key species that are under-represented elsewhere, as well as having the sites which allow us to be able to monitor these species, not forgetting also having so many dedicated volunteers that give up their time in order to do so, despite the early mornings and late nights, and the cold and wet conditions. 

An incredible amount of effort goes into data collection by the team here, and so it is pleasing to see in the recently published (2025) BTO national ringing totals, just how valuable everyone’s efforts have been. The report shows that 57% of all Shelduck and 50% of all Pintail ringed in Britain have come from the LDV, with other notable contributions including 30% of the UK’s Ruff, 24% of both Wigeon and Teal, 22% of Quail and 18% of Black-tailed Godwits. However, it’s never about the numbers ringed – it’s about the valuable information and data that the ringing produces. The report also lists three species, Greylag Goose, Shelduck and Black-necked Grebe, for which the LDV holds the UK longevity records for (more information can be found on the BTO website). 

Huge thanks as always to our fantastic team for contributing to such an important data set.

30/10/26 - Humberhead Peatlands return visit

Earlier in the year in spring, some of our LDV NNR volunteers travelled away from the Lower Derwent Valley towards Doncaster, where they joined up with staff from the ‘Life’ project at Humberhead Peatlands NNR at Thorne Moors. 

Over the course of just one day, the team planted over 7,000 Cotton Grass plugs on areas of bare peat as part of the first stage of peatland restoration, where Cotton Grass is used to plug bare, wet, or previously drained peatlands. The plugs were planted in a diamond-shaped pattern, with the plan being for Sphagnum plugs to be planted in the centre of the area later in the year, and for the Cotton Grass to then shelter the Sphagnum. 

Since the initial task back in April the months have flown by, and at the beginning of October it was time for our team to return to help plant the Sphagnum plugs amongst the Cotton Grass. Over 400 plus were planted, which will help the peatlands to recover – encouraging the return of bog-forming vegetation, and in doing so turning carbon-emitting bare peat back into a carbon-capturing sink and in storing more water, and generally in helping in the second phase of peatland restoration, after water tables have been raised by blocking drainage ditches and grips. 

Many thanks to our fantastic team of volunteers for making such a difference, to not only our own NNRs, but also those in the wider area.

26/10/26 - Jay dispersal

Now is the time of year when it’s a bit easier to see one of the most colourful members of the Corvid family – the Jay, as individuals move between woodlands in search of feeding opportunities, particularly acorns. 

It’s always a delight to see one of these beautiful birds, and we’re pleased to say it’s been a particularly good autumn so far for records, with many individuals reported throughout the reserve over the last few weeks, including up to 20 in the Bank Island/Wheldrake Ings area with smaller numbers elsewhere. At Bank Island and around the pool at Wheldrake Ings birds have been noted flying in from the car park lane and the woodlands around Thicket Priory, where they are busy collecting acorns, before looking for sites to cache them for the winter (hopefully not in areas which will be underwater in a few month’s time!).

Although Jays are present across the site throughout the year and breed in low densities in the area, Skipwith Common NNR represents something of a local stronghold, and now is a good time to look for them whilst they are easier to see as the leaves are falling. Winter flocks of tits and redpoll can also be seen roaming around Skipwith at this time of year, although often staying high in the treetops – listen out for the high pitched and rather nasally calls of these flocks, which may also have something else with them. Wintering warblers, such as Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps sometimes follow the flocks searching for food, with both species having been seen recently – as always please let us know of any records when visiting the NNRs, thank you. 

22/10/26 - Recent work on the NNR

It’s been another incredibly busy autumn managing the reserve (helped in part by the ongoing drier than normal conditions), which have allowed us to complete our ditching programme as well as improve some of the scrapes and breeding wader habitat for next spring. We’ve also been working with the local farmers to ensure suitable sward heights for our wintering birds when they return, and ensuring good meadow condition through second cuts and grazing. 

Our fantastic team of volunteers have also been hard at work managing scrub and tree works around the site, to maintain the open landscape and view lines from the hides and platforms, as well as removing the last of the fencing and scrub at North Duffield Carrs. Elsewhere on the reserve we have been managing scrub at Wheldrake Ings and Thornton Ellers, and continuing to improve our wildlife garden and ponds at Bank Island – with time also found to extract timber to log up and sell to raise vital funds to do even more conservation work around the site next year.

We simply couldn’t have got through so much of our work programme without our incredible volunteer group – the Grafters, who turn up each week (whatever the weather or task), and always with so much enthusiasm and good humour, so a huge thank you to our brilliant team for their efforts and for helping to make the reserve as good as it is. If you’re interested in nature conservation and would like to work alongside like-minded people, why not get in touch and join us on the reserve on one of our task days – contact Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk for more details.