25/02/19 - Barmby Barrage

Last week our band of volunteers headed south to the mouth of the River Derwent, to the Environment Agency owned Barmby Barrage (where the Derwent joins the Ouse). The barrage prevents brackish water entering the Derwent, allowing the abstraction of fresh water for drinking supplies by Yorkshire Water at Loftsome Bridge. The purpose of our visit was to help the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust manage a small nature reserve established at the mouth of the Derwent. The site is being cleared of scrub to make it more open and attractive for breeding and passage waterfowl, before hopefully additional and improved scrapes are created along with other habitat improvements. The site does have a bird hide, however it’s closed at present, and in need of some TLC – but hopefully in the years to come there will be a thriving nature reserve that will benefit both wildlife and people. Many thanks to our fantastic team for a great start to the improvements, we couldn’t do it without you.

20/02/19 - Willow Tits/Habitat Management

Last week we met with our partners the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and staff from the ‘Back from the Brink’ project, discussing the plight of Willow Tits in the area. The Willow Tit is the UK’s most threatened resident bird having suffered a 94% decline since the 1970’s, and is now extinct in most of its former haunts in the south and south-east of England.

The LDV still supports a reasonable population, but we’re looking at how we can give them a helping hand in the area – this will be done by ensuring there is enough suitable habitat for them and to provide a more connected landscape helping them move between sites. Last week we made a start with our team, modifying some of our existing projects to gain extra benefits - whilst coppicing and felling some of the willows along the Wheldrake riverside track, we took the opportunity to leave high stumps, whilst also wiring up some of the felled stumps, to provide extra rotting timber that the Willow Tits can use to excavate nest holes, as well as providing new coppice regrowth of willow and blackthorn. We are looking for help in carrying out a survey of the wider area (please get in touch if you’d like to contribute), and we hope to colour-ring some of our local birds as part of the project to help us understand how they are using the wider area. 

Recently our team of staff and volunteers have also been busy repairing and reinstalling the screening by Pool and Swantail Hides. Despite the rather cold conditions and bracing wind the team managed to get the old screening back up and secured, as well as raising the height of the existing screening on the approach to Swantail Hide. This should mean that there won’t be any undue disturbance to the vast flocks of wintering waterfowl on the approach to the hides now – of benefit to both the birds and birdwatchers alike. It was also a case of great timing – with the reserve flooding the day after the work was finished! If you haven’t visited the reserve recently then why not plan a visit when the water starts to recede, to enjoy the improved facilities, new interpretation panels and wildlife spectacle for yourself. Numbers of wintering waterfowl often build up to their peaks in late February/March as our own wintering populations are joined by the first returning north and eastward bound migrants. Thanks as always to our fantastic team for doing such a great job helping us to maintain the reserve.

 

15/02/19 - Gulls, Rufforth Tip

Regular followers to our page may remember our gull ringing project on Harewood Whin landfill site, on the outskirts of York near Rufforth. During a three-year project nearly 2500 large gulls were cannon netted between March 2015 and March 2018, when the landfill site finally closed. This was in part to explore the effects of the closure of the site on the nationally important roost (of up to 40-50,000 gulls) at Wheldrake Ings, as well as establishing where ‘our’ gulls were coming and going to. 

Whilst it’s still early days, the number of Herring Gulls last month at the Wheldrake roost has been very low – with just a couple of hundred recorded compared to the 10-20,000 counted in previous winters. We’ve also had fewer re-sightings of our colour-ringed birds in Yorkshire, but a slight increase in sightings from landfill sites in Derbyshire and Leicestershire – suggesting some of the birds have been displaced. We’ve also heard of birds in Norway right down to Morocco – a 5000km radius of York, whilst one of our Lesser Black-backed Gulls has been seen again, back in Malaga Harbour for its third winter.

Many thanks to everyone who has sent in records of colour-ringed birds over the last few years - summary of the results so far to follow soon.

11/02/18 - Leven Carrs

Last week our team of staff and volunteers headed out of the valley and over to Leven Carrs (just outside Beverley), to help undertake some more work on this wetland re-creation scheme with land owners, Albanwise. This is a fantastic project covering a huge area and is a site we’ve been involved in helping to restore and enhance for a number of years – having brought over green hay and seeds harvested from the valley to help boost the grassland restoration project. This time the team were helping to fence off the water control structures on the site, to prevent cattle from trampling, blocking or damaging the structures designed to retain and raise water levels on the site. The management of the water levels certainly seems to be working, whilst there the team were treated to views of wintering ducks, herons, egrets and an impressive 150 Mute Swans. Barn Owls, Peregrines and Marsh Harriers were also seen hunting over the site whilst wintering Stonechats flitted along the fence lines. 

Following on from our first visit, we returned again on our last two Thursday volunteer tasks, with the aim of constructing amphibian ladders/ramps in the sluice chambers, to help frogs, toads and newts escape upon falling in to the chamber. Another great job by the team – many thanks to everyone for making the extra-long journey to help out. 

08/02/19 - Wintery weather

Although the relatively dry conditions of this winter seem set to continue, it’s certainly felt somewhat more wintery and colder of late. Armed with the correct footwear and clothing to keep out that winter chill, the LDV is a fantastic place to visit at this time of year. The local Barn Owls have been out in force and showing well at Bank Island, as the cold conditions have forced them to hunt throughout the day to maintain their body condition. As well as at the NNR Base, a number of individuals have also been seen throughout the wider area – Wheldrake Ings, North Duffield Carrs, Ellerton churchyard and the Pocklington Canal towpath around Melbourne are great places to look out for these birds. 

The same freezing conditions have caused a mass departure of the valley’s wintering waders, with the 8000+ strong Lapwing flocks present throughout much of January having been displaced to find easier feeding opportunities – perhaps on the Humber Estuary, whilst many of our ducks have taken refuge away from the frozen Ings to the sanctuary and open water of the river. Please respect the signs around the valley concerning access and the need to reduce disturbance, especially at this difficult time when the birds need to conserve as much energy as possible – thank you.