If this is a London blog, why am I telling you about an RSPB reserve up in West Yorkshire? Well I suppose it’s because I’m the new Local Groups Officer for London and I recently started in the role and I’m trying to find out as much about the RSPB as I can.
So there I was in Yorkshire, visiting family in Harrogate, not too far from Fairburn Ings. It’s situated alongside the River Aire close to Castleford. A very helpful display board entitled from ‘Coal face to wildspace’ tells me that ‘ings’ is an old Norse word meaning ‘damp or marshy land’. I love display boards, me.
The landscape round here has been shaped by more than 150 years of mining. All the areas of open water on the 286 hectare (700 acres) reserve were formed as a result of subsidence of coal workings. Many of these were up to half a kilometre underground. About a third of the site has been developed from 26 million cubic metres of colliery spoil, landscaped to create grassland, wetland and woodland. It all adds up to a great place to watch wildlife.
Before heading out on the trails I popped in to the Visitor Centre where the extremely helpful staff gave me all the information I needed to get the most from my visit. Although it’s an ideal spot to see kingfishers I wasn’t so lucky. I did, however, see plenty of wading birds like green sandpipers from the Pickup hide along with garden birds like tits, goldfinches and sparrows on the feeders.
It’s easy to stroll round the reserve stopping every so often to see what nature has to offer and if you are an inexperienced birder like me, there’s plenty of handy information scattered around the place on display boards.
After a couple of hours I headed off the reserve into the surrounding countryside following a splendid 5 mile walk I’d found in West Yorkshire Pocket Pub Walks by Keith Wadd. The walk starts at the reserve and then winds it ways up through Ledsham suggesting you might want to have a beer in The White Horse in Ledston when you finish. All in all I had a great afternoon.
A couple of Sundays later I’m in more familiar surroundings on the south bank of the Thames - right in front of the Tate Modern to be precise. It’s the last day of our Date with Nature - Peregrines at the Tate. I was lucky enough to see Misty (the female peregrine) leave and return to her perch during the afternoon. This certainly caused a stir in the visitors round the stand, quickly followed by a rush for the telescopes. The look of amazement on people’s faces is something to behold. (The look of disappointment when they find the birds aren’t there isn’t so good). They are amazed that nature is this up close and personal in a city.
Before we packed up for the night (and the season) I’m once more reminded that none of this could happen without our marvellous volunteers who give up their free time willingly to ensure these events run smoothly and help the public get to know so much about our work.
Des Garrahan