Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Mid Aire Otter and River Project:  Update October 2009

Using funds secured through the SITA Enriching Nature Programme this project has now been running for just over a year on its 5 sites throughout Leeds and Bradford and has achieved a substantial amount in that short period of time. Due to the seasonality of conservation work a lot of the practical activity has been a little episodic with some delays due to communication and general access issues on some sites.

At Dowley Gap the site at Ryeloaf has seen a lot of activity with a new scrape added to the site which has been flooded on a number of occasions creating an extensive new wet area. In addition working with the Bradford Council wildlife staff we have cleared and coppiced a large area of willow and blackthorn in a effort to regenerate these wooded locations. A channel in the river has also been cleared which will be an attractor for not only terrestrial wildlife but also fish such as trout and grayling.

We have not only installed a number of regular bird boxes here but also a large barn owl box. We were helped here by volunteers from RBS who looked upon this a strategic team building exercise but managed to get the box into place with some vigour and ingenuity.  We will now be monitoring these nest boxes over the next few months to see if there has been any activity over summer.

On the 7 Arches site at Dowley we have been attempting to return an old meadow into its original condition cutting back scrub and encroaching trees, planting with native meadow species and cutting the grass in late summer to encourage spring growth. Access to this site has been helped by the use of the BMEP (Bradford Motor Education Project) Dreamachievers canal boat which has provided transport for both tools and volunteers from the Bradford Home Learners Network.

Further downstream at Buck Mill we had several months of clearing a channel that had become clogged with rubbish to the extent that we were able to fill 5 skips and still take a lorry load of tyres for recycling. Again we used the canal boat here as access by normal means was almost impossible. We were helped on site by a group from the local homeless hostel in Idle who were able to commit to a day a week on site. In addition we were also able clear a substantial amount of Himalayan Balsam over the summer months and start on the restoration of a nearby pond which had become drained over the last few years.

On the Denso Marstons Reserve we were able to use willow cut on site at Rodley Nature Reserve to help shore up the river bank and create new bankside habitat by building living willow revetments. So far this has prevented further erosion here and the willow is in full leaf. We will be continuing this process into this winter. We have seen and recorded grass snake on this site on the tow path and hope that our work here will help promote this species.

On the border between Leeds and Bradford is our site at Apperley Bridge. Although we have not done any practical work here, we have been surveying this overgrown ox bow lake on the flood plain of the Aire. Signs have been very encouraging with Fox, Badger, Deer, Sand Martin and Otter all having left their tracks and trails on site. We will starting work on dredging part of this pond this Winter and then fencing off the main sensitive part of the site including the Sand Martin nests along the river bank.

At Rodley Nature reserve we have been working alongside the reserve volunteers to improve habitats for a variety of wildlife including otter and invertebrates. In addition, with help from students at Park Lane College in Horsforth, we have had a large section of the site surveyed to help in decisions on our future work here. Further surveying is planned for this Autumn and Winter. We also ran an Otter ID training course here during the summer. Rodley turned out to be the ideal site for this with both spraint and tracks being found near the river.

Kirkstall Valley Nature reserve has benefitted greatly from being included as a project site. We also benefit from having regular volunteers from HSBC as part of the Climate Change Partnership with Earthwatch who have not only contributed towards the work on site but also some funding for materials. We have not only improved the riverside habitats but also cleared a massive amount of Balsam on the island part of the reserve. We have also engaged with other community and corporate volunteers here, especially Groundworks Leeds ‘Go for Green’ who have been involved in not only improving the education area but also installing features and sculptures designed and built by their volunteer team.

We have been installing otter holts and habitats throughout the project area in addition to training volunteer otter surveyors. Results from this have been very positive with good indicators of otter activity coming in from all along the Aire corridor.

To raise the profile of the project and the Trust further we have been involved in events and delivering talks throughout the Leeds/Bradford region. This is part of a wider process involving and informing the local community with the project and the Trust.