May has been a really busy month on the NNR's, with a variety of jobs undertaken across three of our sites - the Lower Derwent Valley, Skipwith Common and Forge Valley Woods. Below are a few snippets on some of the more interesting things - carried out in between all the other jobs of: maintaining all the paths to the hides, weed wiping the flood banks, repairing the Wheldrake track after the winter floods, litter picking the car parks, mending the fencing on the Common and spraying in the Duck Decoy at Escrick and Thornton Ellers.
During the spring and summer months BBS
(Breeding Bird Surveys) are carried out at a number of sites throughout the valley. The end of April/early May saw the first visits of the season at Bank Island and North Duffield Carrs, with a dawn start and perfect weather conditions - blue skies,
sunshine and no wind, we headed off around Bank Island. On arrival we were
fortunate to enjoy close views of a Barn Owl as it hunted alongside us, whilst
a Kestrel perched nearby sitting just outside the entrance to a nest box, and a Song Thrush sang its heart out
from the tree tops.
Due to the rather dry conditions, (as expected following the
almost total lack of rainfall since the turn of the year), both surveys were
poor for ducks and waders with a total of 11 Curlew, 8 Redshank, 7 Snipe, 13
Lapwing, and only a handful of Mallard, Teal and Gadwall with no Shoveler
recorded at all - very different from last year. So it was all about the passerines
with the highlight being the number of pairs (suspected) of Reed Buntings at
North Duffield (26), the survey also produced our first Yellow Wagtail of the
year along with a single Wheatear. A good and enjoyable way to spend
a morning, whilst also knowing that this data will feed into the national LTMN, and
will help us better understand the trends/impacts of climate and land
management on habitats and species.
Song Thrush - NNR Base
BBS - Bank Island
After being informed by one of the local birders that the
inspection hatch had dropped off one of our nest boxes in Melbourne we called in to fix it – with the back open and a draft blowing through we
expected to find it empty, however sitting right at the front of the box in the
corner was a female Tawny Owl on two eggs. She was a beautiful bird seeming in
very good condition, we ringed her and then quickly fixed the back so it should
be a lot less drafty in there now for her and her mate. Once the box had been
repaired we placed her back inside and made sure she had settled before
departing, hopefully the two of them will go on to raise two healthy chicks.
Tawny Owl - Melbourne
In between all the other jobs,
the team have also been working in the NNR Base Garden with plenty of weeding,
digging and planting to be done. The office garden was originally planted four
years ago with the idea of making it a demonstration bee and butterfly garden,
which includes nectar providing plants throughout the year such as Cowslips,
Purple Loosestrife, Scabious, Foxgloves, Lavender, Buddleia and Water Mint.
This proved to be a brilliant idea with the last three years producing
incredibly high counts of butterflies, in particular whites on the Lavender,
along with Small Tortoiseshells, Red Admirals, Commas and Peacocks on the
Buddelia. A number of bee species also took a liking to the Lavender whilst
hoverflies and moths also found the garden to their taste – including a
visiting Hummingbird Hawk Moth. If you fancy seeing it for yourselves then
why not come down in June and July to enjoy an evening in the garden watching
the wildlife, perhaps bring a picnic tea to enjoy on the benches! We’ve also
seen a Smooth Newt in the garden pond recently so you never know what else you
might come across!
NNR Base Garden
At the beginning of the month on Bank Holiday Monday Jean had arranged for the two Otters
from the Wildlife Park in the New Forest to be re-released here in the valley
at North Duffield Carrs. Their story goes back to December 2013 when one of
them, Mistle, was found on a drive way at Hutton Rudby near Stokesley. She was
thin, calling and had sore pads and was taken to the local vets, weighing in at
just over a kilo. The next few days were spent at Jean’s before she was taken
to the Chestnut Centre in the High Peaks, Derbyshire who then took her
down to The Wildlife Park in the New Forest. The park is run by the Heaps, who
are well known for rearing wild Otters and returning them to the wild. Mistle
was reared with another orphan female, Flick, from Lancaster.
The Otter cubs then spent the next 18 months at the centre
by which time they were ready to be released back into the wild, hence their
return to North Yorkshire. Otters need specialist care if they
unfortunately become orphaned – they usually spend the first 18 months of their
lives with their mothers before they are experienced enough to become
independent and disperse on their own. This specialist care, keeping the kits
wild and unaccustomed to humans, will hopefully stand them in good stead to
now survive on their own in the wild, and replicates the time that they would
have spent with the females.
Otter release - North Duffield Carrs
Last year several of the team worked at a SSSI Site –
Drewton Lane Pits, near South Cave, helping the owners and other local NE staff
manage the site. With the aim being to try and keep the area in favourable
condition for the nationally important Great Crested Newt population, and
outstanding assemblage of breeding amphibians. Staff and
volunteers returned to survey the pond with Dorothy Driver from ARC (Amphibian
and Reptile Conservation Trust), and counted over 100 newts and recorded plenty
of toad-poles. Newt eggs were also found which shows for the first time that
successful breeding has taken place as part of the annual condition monitoring
work. Brilliant for the team to see that all their hard work clearing willow
scrub from the side of the ponds and working to maintain some open areas of
grassland has worked. It’s important to keep the site in good condition for the
newts, as well as the frogs and toads which also breed in the small ponds on
site and use the adjacent grassland and scrub habitats as essential feeding and
hibernating areas.
'Newting' at Drewton Lane Pits SSSI
Several years ago the team built two tern rafts, one at Bank
Island and the other at Wheldrake Ings, both were frequented by Common Terns,
with the hope that some birds would stay and breed. Over recent years pairs of
Common Terns have bred around the valley on ponds and lakes, and some are known
to nest nearby at Allerthorpe Water Park. At this time of year terns pass
through the valley, with the first of the year seen on the 25th
April.
Following the autumn floods and stormy weather last winter,
both tern rafts were left upside down and all the small pebbles/gravel was
washed off which is what attracts the terns to the rafts, so the team set about
repairing the one at Bank Island. The terns have used the rafts
for fishing from, as well as resting and loafing on with recently fledged
broods, but have yet to nest on them. Along with terns the rafts have also
been used by Oystercatchers and Coots, and a range of loafing ducks.
Raft repairs - Bank Island
Since mid-March we have been running the moth trap at a
number of sites across the valley, the weather has occasionally halted things
slightly, however most weeks have been good with a number of new species
caught. One of the highlights last month was this Small Magpie, attracted to
the UV light at Bank Island. This species is common throughout the UK, flying
from early May to late September in a range of habitats – including waste
ground, hedgerows and gardens, in fact pretty much wherever plants such as
nettles, woundworts or mints grow (food plants for the larvae). This moth
readily comes to light so it may well be worth looking in your garden to see if
you can spot one.
Other species encountered in good numbers throughout April
include: Common, Small and Twin-spotted Quaker, Clouded Drab and Hebrew
Character. Several Water Carpet, Herald and Early Grey were also caught.
Small Magpie - NNR Base
The NNR team joined forces with other Natural England staff
from the ‘Vales Team’ last week in order to carry out some integrated site assessment
at Forge Valley Woods NNR. These surveys are to assess the condition of the
site to see whether they meet the UK governments Bio 2020 targets, whilst also
assessing the NNR to see if it is heading towards favourable condition and
whether our management (guided by our management plans), is working. These
surveys take into account the composition and structure of the woodland, the
amount of dead wood and the flora and fauna of the site.
Whilst on site the team came across species such as Pendulous
Sedge, Greater Horsetail, Opposite-leaved and Alternate-leaved Golden
Saxifrage, Green Hellebore, Herb Paris, Toothwort, Early Purple Orchid,
Goldilocks Buttercup, Sanicle, Lady’s Mantle, Wood Anemone, Wood Sorrell,
Spurge Laurel, Bugle - and plenty of Dog’s Mercury and Wild Garlic! Jays and
Great Spotted Woodpeckers were heard calling in the wood and a pair of Grey
Wagtails were seen on the river. Brimstone and Orange Tip butterflies brought
flashes of colour to the car park whilst the team enjoyed a picnic lunch. A
14-spot Ladybird was also found along the woodland trail, a species which we
have also been finding recently on Skipwith Common.
Wild Garlic - Forge Valley
14-spot Ladybird - Forge Valley
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