Potteric Carr
A great site for watching bitterns in Yorkshire is the Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts (YWT) Potteric Carr nature reserve. During the winter, visitors have seen up to five bitterns at the same time in the small reedbeds at Low Ellers and Piper Marsh.
There is great potential to do more and the EU LIFE bittern project has meant that YWT could buy farmland alongside the existing reserve. Work started in 2004 on creating a number of cells to hold water for wet reedbed.
Reed has now been planted on several of the cells and is starting to take off. Once the reedbed is established, there will be room for three breeding pairs of bitterns and two to four additional wintering birds. It is hoped that other important species, such as marsh harriers and bearded tits, will also inhabit the reedbeds.
Money is also being raised so that work can go beyond the EU LIFE bittern project to create 17 ha (42 acres) of grazing marsh alongside small pools and shallow water scrapes for waders.
Potteric Carr was a stronghold for breeding bitterns until the area was drained in the 19th century. Bitterns were not seen again until the development of the wetlands in the 1960s. Through this work, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust hopes to create conditions for bitterns to come back and boom.
A mix of open water, reedbeds, wet grassland and carr (wet woodland) makes Potteric Carr a great place for birds already. There is a huge range of species with particularly good numbers of reed warblers, sedge warblers, tufted ducks, shovelers and gadwalls. Waders use it for wintering and on migration. Water voles can also be seen.
Potteric Carr is located 2 miles (3 km) south of Doncaster, close to the M18, and is accessible by public transport.
You can support Yorkshire Wildlife Trust by becoming a member.
For more information about YWT, visit www.yorkshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk
call 01904 659570, e-mail info@yorkshirewt.cix.co.uk or write to YWT, 10 Toft Green, York YO1 6JT
