28/12/25 - New book!

After five years in the making, the first two copies of the new ‘Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley – a Historical, Conservation and Migration Review’ have finally arrived 😃 This book has been published by the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley, and contained within its 550 pages is 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-drawing and artworks, 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 and wildlife. 

The rest of the copies will be arriving in mid-January, and will be available to buy from then on, with all funds going directly back into supporting more conservation and research projects on the reserve, as well as land acquisition in the area – more details on how to buy one to follow, but if you’d like to place an order in the meantime to secure yourself a copy, please send an email to Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk

16/12/25 - December WeBS

Recently our team carried out the monthly WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) which monitors the UK's internationally important non-breeding waterbird population, and following a tradition which started in 1947, volunteers and surveyors count wetland sites once a month on set dates, providing data for population and trends in abundance and distribution.

The Lower Derwent Valley has been counted since the early 1960s, and as such we have a fantastic data set on the changing fortunes of the ducks, geese, swans, wading birds and gulls over that period of time. Due to the recent return of the flood water, accompanied by the return of the wintering birds, the team spent last Saturday working their way around the whole site counting the wintering birds. Despite the challenges of getting around the reserve during such conditions, the team logged an impressive 44,497 wetland birds, including 22,328 wildfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and 8,239 waders. The most numerous species, as is often the case, was Wigeon with 9,870 recorded, followed by good counts of 7,624 Lapwing and 7,418 Teal. A total of 2,240 Greylag Geese was also notable (including a gathering of over 1,400 at Melbourne Ings), whilst 160 Whooper Swans were also recorded across the site (mainly concentrated around Ellerton). The churchyards at both Ellerton and Aughton provided good viewing of large numbers of birds, so it's definitely worth visiting at the moment if you’re in the area. Many thanks to our team for their efforts in helping to build up this valuable data set.