We have started 2024 with a lot of water in the Aire Valley!
This has had an impact on the wildlife spotted across Fairburn Ings and St Aidan’s, more water has meant more habitat for frog catching and heron and egret numbers have been up on both reserves as well as two Glossy Ibis!
The Glossy Ibis is a common bird in southern Europe, but quite rare in the UK, often they will arrive in autumn and occasionally stay over the winter months. While Glossy Ibis have attempted to nest in the UK from 2014 onwards the first successful nest was in 2022. This makes the Glossy Ibis our star species for this month.
The Bearded Tit have been showing very well on the still days from the end of December right through January and so they also get a mention and worth looking out for as they climb up and down the reeds, looking for seeds to eat.
The top ten sightings at RSPB Fairburn Ings:
The top ten sightings at RSPB St Aidan’s:
Flooding in the Aire Valley
Flooding is an important part of life along the Aire Valley. The River Aire is coming towards the end of it's journey from the Yorkshire Dales to the Humber Estuary and so the land around it is part of the rivers floodplain. Regular flooding adds nutrients to the soils and affect the plant life that grows here, it also brings new water into the lakes and pools, helping them to remain fresh and not turn stagnant. In turn this impacts the wildlife that can be found in the area. Many of our wading birds love it when there is plenty of water on site as they have more opportunities to find food.
Holding the water back in our reserves also reduces the negative impacts of flooding on the homes in Castleford and further down the River Aire. RSPB St Aidan's alone can reduce the river levels by 40cm, often making a key difference between whether peoples homes flood or not.
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