Bird Ringing

Nature Reserve Management and Ringing

The Society nature reserve in Gosforth Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, provides a focus for the Society conservation and research activities. Half of this 60ha reserve is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the whole site is designated as a Local Wildlife Site and Wildlife Corridor in recognition of its ecological importance.

The reserve is managed by Society members working as volunteers. For the past 80 years they have been improving the habitat on the reserve to increase biodiversity and the numbers of uncommon species. The Society has dredged the ponds and is carrying out active reedbed management in order to increase the populations of species such as Reed Warbler and Water Rail and attract rare species like Bittern and Otter to breed.

Nest boxes are built, installed, cleaned and repaired to increase the breeding populations of hole nesting birds. Bat boxes are installed to provide roosting habitat and we undertake a programme of controlling Grey Squirrels in order to conserve an important population of Red Squirrels. The woodland is managed to encourage native species to thrive and to provide abundant dead wood for the population of uncommon invertebrates found on the reserve.

Work is also carried out to make the reserve accessible to researchers and Society members so that they can view and study the flora and fauna. We also have to warden the site to help prevent unfortunate incidents of poaching and vandalism.

We are always looking for Society members to help us manage and protect the nature reserve or to carry out research. On the last Saturday of the month during the autumn and winter from 10am-1pm we have work parties for people to come along, get stuck in and help improve the reseve. If you would like to get involved please contact the Society office.

For more information about the reserve click here.

 

Bird Ringing At Gosforth Park

In addition to our coastal research, the Society Ringing Group carries out a programme of  constant-effort ringing in the nature reserve. This involves using mist nets set in standard sites at intervals to catch and ring birds. The data collected contributes to a national database and helps to monitor changes in the abundance and productivity of Britain birds.

Reed Warblers are a speciality of Gosforth Park Nature reserve which holds the biggest breeding population this far north in the UK. Ringing is the only way this species can be monitored effectively, and current trends suggest that the population is increasing as the area of reedbed is expanded.

If you are a bird ringer and would like to help us with this work or if you are interested in learning to become a qualified bird ringer, please contact the society office.

 

Other Research at the Nature Reserve

The nature reserve is also the focus of research by local naturalists who have made attempts to record the botanical, invertebrate and vertebrate species present on the reserve and in doing so improve our knowledge of the distribution and habitat requirements of species in the north-east.

We keep a log book at the reserve for members to record their sightings and these records also prove valuable in building up a picture of population changes. These records are passed to the Environmental Records Information Centre (ERIC) North East to form part of our regional knowledge of the natural world and to help with conservation efforts.

We welcome research and student projects on the reserve. If you would like to carry out a research project in the reserve please contact the Society office.

Image courtesy of ncjMedia

Want to Volunteer?

We rely heavily on volunteers, who generously share their time and knowledge with us.

There are many opportunities to help, from conservation work on our nature reserve, to events, fundraising and administration support, to cataloguing our archive collection. Meet new people, learn new skills and help to conserve nature and educate others.

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