Leader: Colin Howes
Members attending: Mrs Hillary Hilton
Arrived 2pm departed site 4pm

Hot weather & related WARNINGS:

The MET Office Amber warning of intense sunlight and very high temperatures was accurate, so the shelter provided by the path-side hedgerows and woodland was welcome.

• Warning signs to keep out of the water due to toxic blue-green algae in the reservoir were reminiscent of similar situation at lake-side sites around Doncaster in 2018 (see The Doncaster Naturalist (2020) 3 (2): 56-57). Despite this, earlier in the week the country park had hosted a wild swimming championship and other swimming events were to follow!

Route:

• After a count-up of Mute Swans, Canada Geese and Street Pigeons at the wildfowl feeding/boat launching area, we set off on an a full anticlockwise circuit of the reservoir.
• According to an NHS sponsored sculpture exhorting people to walk and keep fit, the round trip was claimed to be about 1¾ miles, with distance markers to enable you to check how far you’d gone … or calculate how far you had to go to get back!

 Records (Comments):

• Mute Swans: Large summer moulting flock of non-breeding Mute Swans (ca. 45), most of which had been ringed on the right leg with a BTO metal ring and on the left leg with a large DARVIC plastic ring applied by a Yorkshire-based ringing scheme.
• The Leg rings we managed to record were as follows:

0Y13; 0Y17; 0Y58; 0Y59; 0Y61; 1Y81; 251Y; 252Y; 2Y54; 3Y02; 3Y07; 3Y14; 061Y; 436Y;

736Y; 736Y; 796Y; Y284; Y311; Y329; Y342; Y569; Y628; Y630; Y636; Y638; Y644; Y653;

Y674; Y681; Y717; Y764; Y764; Y765; Y765; Y766; Y767; Y775; Y816; Y817; Y824; Y835;

Y843; Y903; Y908.

• A database of sightings is maintained for each of the ringed swans and it is fascinating to find out where these birds have travelled and what they’ve been up to in their long lives.

 Wildfowl (Swans, Geese & Ducks) feeding area: The vegetation around the feeding area was highly modified, being dominated by plants capable of withstanding intense wildfowl grazing pressure, down to about 2mm, yet were still able to flower. These included Silverweed (Potentilla anserine), Annual Meadow-grass (Poa annua), Pineappleweed (Matricaria matricarioides), Lanceolate Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and Bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

• Other plants present included edible but inaccessible plants (plants wedged between limestone blocks) including Wall Barley (Hordeum murinum), Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum), the latter two having germinated from bird-seed, and possibly unpalatable species such as Small Stinging Nettle (Urtica urens) and Woody Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).
• Experiment: It would be interesting to protect sample areas with wire netting and to monitor the response of the plants to the effect of removing wildfowl grazing pressure.
• Street Pigeons: The large flock (ca. 100) of feral street pigeons (Rock Doves) focussed around the cafés and the wildfowl feeding area include a high proportion of melanic and ‘fancy’ birds, indicating their origins in local city populations and from AWOL racing pigeons.
• Dittander: One of the most unusual plants encountered was the large and robust Dittander Lepidium latifolium, a native of coastal areas from Kent to Norfolk which has recently and mysteriously appeared on waste ground in South Yorkshire. Wilmore et al (2011) gives nine sites, with only one in the Doncaster district. Here at Thrybergh Reservoir we located two populations on the path side, one of 15m and a second of about 10m, both possibly introduced on machinery during engineering works on the paths or waterside jetties. Though some plants were still in flower, most had gone to seed, though the large, rubbery, dull grey/green leaves were very noticeable. 
• Some of you may remember John Scott finding a large colony at the Mother Drain/River Torne confluence washland near Toad Holes Lane, Rossington in 2021.

 

Thrybergh Reservoir
Country Park. SK4795 

Latin Name	Vernacular Name
Achillia millefollium	Yarrow (in flower)
Alnus glutinosa	Common Alder
Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat-grass
Betula pendula	Silver Birch
Centaurea nigra	Knapweed (In flower)
Chamerion angustifolium	Rosebay
Cirsium arvensis	Creeping Thistle
Cirsium vulgare	Spear Thistle
Convolvulus arvensis	Field Bindweed (in flower)
Cornus sanguinea	Dogwood
Corylus avellana	Hazel (in fruit)
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn (in fruit)
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot grass
Elodea nuttallii	Nuttall’s Waterweed
Epilobium hirsutum	Great Willowherb (in flower)
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet
Geum urbanum	Wood Avens
Glyceria maxima	Reed Sweet-grass
Hedera helix	Ivy
Helianthus annuus	Sunflower
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed (in fruit)
Hordeum murinum	Wall Barley
Hyacinthoides hispanica	Bluebell (empty seed head)
Iris pseudacorus	Yellow Flag Iris (in fruit)
Lepidium latifolium	Dittander
Lotus corniculatus	Bird’s-foot trefoil
Lycopus europaeus	Gipsywort
Matricaria matricarioides	Pineappleweed
Phalaris arundinacea	Reed Canary-grass
Phragmites australis	Common Reed
Plantago lanceolata	Lanceolate Plantain
Poa annua	Annual Meadow-grass
Polygonum amphibium	Amphibious Bistort
Potentilla anserine	Silverweed
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn (in fruit)
Quercus petraea	Sessile Oak (in fruit)
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak (in fruit)
Rubus fruticosus agg.	Bramble (in fruit)
Salix cinerea	Grey Willow
Salix viminalis	Osier
Senecio jacobaea	Common Ragwort (in flower)
Senecio vulgaris	Groundsel
Solanum dulcamara	Woody Nightshade
Sorbus aucuparia	Rowan (in fruit)
Stachys arvensis	Hedge Woundwort (in flower)
Tammus communis	Black Bryony (in fruit)
Teucrium scorodonia	Wood Sage
Triticum aestivum	Wheat
Tussilago farfara	Colt’s-foot
Typha latifolia	Reedmace (Bulrush)
Ulex europaeus	Gorse
Urtica dioica	Stinging Nettle
Urtica urens	Small Stinging Nettle
Viburnum opulus	Guelder Rose (in fruit)
INVERTEBRATES
(Galls)
(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Dasineura ulmaria	Galls on Meadowsweet
(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Dasineura fraxini	Galls on Ash
(Acari: Eriophyoidea) Aceria macrochelus	Galls on Field Maple
LEPIDOPTERA
(Butterflies)
Artogeia rapae	Small White
Pararge aegeria	Speckled Wood
ODONATA (Dragonflies & Damselflies)
Aeshna juncea	Common Hawker
Ischnura elegans	Blue-tailed Damselfly
FUNGI
	Sulphur/yellow ‘Blight’ on undersides of  Bramble leaves
VERTEBRATES
(Birds)
	Canada Geese: 105
	Greylag Goose: 1
	Mallard: 37+
	Coot: 17+
	Blackheaded Gulls: 17+
	Street Pigeons: ca 100
	Pied Wagtails: 3
	Lapwings: 21 present on 8th, indicating young birds gathering to migrate. Just 1 immature bird present today (12th Aug.)
	Great Tits (2) at stream-side feeding station on 8th Aug.
	Blue Tits (2) at stream-side feeding station on 8th Aug.
	Robin (1) at stream-side feeding station on 8th Aug.
	Wren (1) at stream-side feeding station on 8th Aug.
(Mammals)
	Bank voles (2) gleaning the crumbs dropped by the birds at the stream-side feeding station on 8th Aug.

10:30am to 1:30pm
Section organisers: Tony Sellars (Friends) and Nora Boyle (Nats.)
Present 3 members from the Nats and and 10 members from the Crags Friends.

Introduction:

As with our first meeting on Good Friday, the group met at the Crags Road entrance, split into two groups, one (of 7) walking east to the Lady’s Valley quarry then west along the crags to the allotments, the other group (also of 7) walking west along the wooded paths to Denaby Thicks Historic Woodland,  then back to the allotments where both groups met for a very generous and enjoyable picnic lunch provided by the friends.

Although the Crags extend into at least three Ordnance Survey 1km squares, during this visit we mainly recorded in the 1km square SK5099.

Field Notes:

• Although the recent heatwave had desiccated much of the Lady’s Valley grassland and many of the flowers were prematurely over, the selection of species we identified here demonstrated why the area had been designated a Local Wildlife Site by the DMBC. This fragment of limestone grassland, nowadays a very uncommon habitat, included species such as:

Tor Grass (Brachypodium pinnatum), Quaking Grass (Briza media), Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Fairy Flax (Linum catharticum), Field Garlic (Allium oleraceum), Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis), Knapweed (Centaurea nigra), Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa), Lady’s Bedstraw (Gallium verum) and Restharrow (Ononis repens).

Since we were only here for a few minutes and the precipitous path prevented most of us ‘oldies’ from really getting onto the site, the area would certainly repay further examination by a younger generation of ecologists.

• Areas of the path-side grassland in the Lady’s Valley area had recently been burned, revealing large numbers of dead snails in the charred debris. To gain an impression of the population density of these molluscs a 1meter square was marked out which contained the shells of 12 Brown-lipped Snails (Cepaea nemoralis) and 1 Garden Snail (Helix aspersa).
• The fires also revealed numerous discarded drinks cans and bottles. These were speedily collected up by the Crags friends (conveniently equipped with carrier bags for the purpose) and deposited in the nearby litterbins.
• Topography: From the elevated position at the Lady’s Valley Quarry (about 250ft) it was possible to look north-west across to the Pennine hills, picking out features like the TV/Radio transmitter tower at Emley Moor (at 1,084 feet (330m) it is the tallest freestanding structure in the UK and a Grade II Listed Building !). Looking north we could see the continuation of the Magnesian Limestone ridge with villages such as High Melton (286ft), Barnburgh (158ft), Hickleton (362ft) and Hooton Pagnell (309ft). Looking north-east we could see into the heavily wooded Don Gorge with landmarks like the 21 arches of the Cadeby Viaduct opened in 1909 (another Grade II Listed Building) and the Butterbusk Water Tower built in 1951.

The following plant list combines the records from our two visits (totalling 120 species). Species seen during our August visit are in bold type.

Area 1 = Lady’s Valley & Limestone Crags
Area 2 = Denaby Thicks Wood & Woodland Paths

Flowering Plants

Botanical Name	Vernacular Name	Area 1	Area 2
Acer platanoides	Norway Maple		*
Acer campestre	Field Maple		*
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	*	*
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow (in flower)	*	*
Aesculus hippocastanum	Horse Chestnut	*	*
Ajuga reptans	Bugle
Alliaria petiolata	Garlic Mustard	*
Allium ursinum	Wild Garlic (Ramsons)
Allium oleraceum	Field Garlic In fruit. Abundant beside path edges & in grassland	*
Alnus cordata	Italian Alder		*
Alnus incana	Grey Alder		*
Alnus glutinosa	Alder		*
Anemone nemorosa	Wood Anemone
Angelica sylvestris	Wild Angelica		*
Anthriscus sylvestris	Cow Parsley
Arctium minus	Lesser Burdock (Sticky buds)	*	*
Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat-grass	*	*
Artemisia vulgaris	Mugwort	*	*
Arum maculatum	Arum (in fruit)	*	*
Bellis perennis	Daisy
Betula pendula	Silver Birch		*
Borago officinalis	Borage (Allotments)
Brachypodium sylvaticum	False Brome	*
Brachypodium pinnatum	Tor Grass	*
Capsella bursa-pastoris	Shepherd’s-purse (in fruit)	*	*
Cardamine flexuosa	Wavy Bittercress
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed (in flower)	*	*
Centaurea scabiosa	Greater Knapweed (in flower)	*
Chamaenerion angustifolium	Rosebay (in flower)	*	*
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	*	*
Cirsium vulgare	Spear Thistle	*	*
Convolvulus arvensis	Field Bindweed (in flower)	*	*
Cornus sanguinea	Dogwood (in fruit)		*
Corylus avellana	Hazel		*
Cotoneaster horizontalis	Rockspray Cotoneaster (Cultivated plant disbursed in bird droppings)	*
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn (in fruit)	*	*
Crepis capillaris	Smooth Hawk’s-beard (in flower)	*	*
Cytisus scoparius	Broom		*
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot	*	*
Epilobium hirsutum	Hairy Willowherb	*	*
Euonymus europaeus	Spindle (in fruit)		*
Euphorbia helioscopia	Sun Spurge		*
Fagus sylaticus	Beech		*
Ficaria verna	Lesser Celandine
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash (in fruit)		*
Galium aparine	Cleavers	*	*
Geranium robertianum	Herb Robert		*
Geum urbanum	Wood Avens	*	*
Glechoma hederacea	Ground Ivy (in flower)		*
Hedera helix	Ivy	*	*
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed (seed heads)	*	*
Hyacinthoides non-scripta	Bluebell
Hypericum hirsutum	Hairy St John’s-wort
Ilex aquifolium	Holly		*
Knautia arvensis	Field Scabious (In flower)	*	*
Lamium album	White Dead Nettle
Lamium purpureum	Red Dead Nettle
Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow Vetchling
Linum catharticum	Fairy Flax	*
Lonicera periclymenum	Honeysuckle (in fruit)		*
Luzula camestris	Field Woodrush [Good Friday Grass]
Malus x domestica	Apple (in fruit)		*
Malus sylvestris	Crab Apple		*
Matricaria matricarioides	Pineappleweed	*	*
Mercurialis perennis	Dog’s Mercury		*
Narcissus pseudonarcissus	Cultivated Daffodil
Odontites vera	Red Bartsia (in flower)	*
Ononis repens	Restharrow (in flower)	*
Oxalis articulata	Pink Sorrel (Allotments)
Phalaris arundinacea  ‘picta’	Reed Canary Grass or Ribbon Grass [Varigated in allotments]
Plantago lanceolata	Ribwort Plantain	*	*
Plantago major	Broad-leaved Plantain	*	*
Populus sp.	Poplar sp. possibly Balsam Poplar		*
Potentilla reptans	Creeping Cinquefoil	*	*
Prunus avium	Wild Cherry		*
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn (in fruit)	*	*
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken	*	*
Quercus ilex	Holm Oak (in fruit)		*
Quercus petraea	Sessile Oak (in fruit)		*
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak (in fruit)		*
Qercus cerris	Turkey Oak (in fruit)		*
Ranunculus acris	Meadow Buttercup	*
Ranunculus auricomus	Wood Goldilocks
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	*	*
Reynoutria japonica	Japanese Knotweed [a notifiable pest!]
Rhamnus cathartica	Buckthorn (in fruit)		*
Rosa pimpinellifolia	Burnet Rose (in fruit)		*
Rosa arvensis	Field Rose (in fruit)	*
Rosa canina	Dog Rose (in fruit)	*	*
Rubus fruticosus	Bramble (in fruit) Some are clearly magnificent cultivated varieties.	*	*
Rubus-idaeus	Raspberry		*
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad Dock	*	*
Salix caprea	Goat Willow		*
Sambucus nigra	Elder (in fruit)	*	*
Senecio vulgaris	Groundsel (in seed)	*	*
Silene alba	White Campion	*
Silene vulgaris	Bladder Campion (dead seedheads)	*
Solanum nigrum	Black Nightshade (in flower)		*
Sorbus aria	Common Whitebeam (in fruit)		*
Sorbus aucuparia	Rowan (in fruit)		*
Sorbus intermedia	Swedish Whitebeam		*
Stachis sylvatica	Hedge Woundwort	*	*
Stellaria holostea	Great Stitchwort
Stellaria media	Common Chickweed
Taraxacum officinale agg	Dandelion sp.	*	*
Taxus baccata	Yew		*
Teucreum scorodonia	Wood Sage (in seed)	*	*
Tilia x vulgaris	Lime sp. (in fruit)		*
Tussilago farfara	Colt’s foot	*	*
Ulex europaeus	Gorse
Urtica dioica	Stinging Nettle	*	*
Veronica chamaedrys	Germander of Birds-eye Speedwell		*
Veronica hederifolia	Ivy-leaved Speedwell
Veronica persica	Field Speedwell
Viburnum lantana	Wayfaring Tree		*
Viburnum opulus	Guelder Rose (in fruit)		*
Vicia sepium	Bush Vetch (in fruit)		*
Viola odorata	Sweet Violet
Viola riviniana	Dog Violet

INVERTEBRATES

Scientific Name	Vernacular Name
LEPIDOPTERA (Butterflies)
Mantiola jurtina	Meadow Brown: A very abundant butterfly of grassy areas and hedgerows. Its caterpillars feed on grasses.
Pararge aegeria	Speckled Wood: Caterpillars feed on the leaves of False Brome, Cock’s-foot Grass; Yorkshire-fog & Common Couch Grass, all of which grow on the Crags.
Pieris brassicae	Large White: Caterpillars feed on members of the cabbage family and are consequently reviled by allotment gardeners.
Polygonis c-album	Comma: A butterfly of hedgerows and woodland edges. Its caterpillars (which look like bird droppings!) feed on Nettles, Elm and Hop.
Pyronia tithonus	Gatekeeper: A butterfly of meadows, lanes and gardens. Its caterpillars feed on grasses.
Vanessa atalanta	Red Admiral: It is a strong migrant, spreading northwards from the Mediterranean each summer to breed. Its caterpillars feed on Nettles and in Autumn it feeds on rotting fruit. The one we saw today was sipping the juice of an over-ripe Bramble.
(Micro-moths)
Cameraria ohridella	The Micro-moth ‘Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner’ in Horse Chestnut leaves.
Acrocercops brongniardella	Micro-moth leaf miner on oak leaf.
GALLS
(Mites)
Aceria macrochela	Gall mite on Field Maple
Cecidophyes rouhollahi	Gall mite on Goosegrass
Eriophyes tilae	Gall mite forming ‘Nail Galls’ on Lime leaves
(Hemiptera: Psillidae)
Phyllopsis fraxini	Gall bug (jumping louse) on Ash
(Diptera : Cecidomyiidae)
Dasineura fraxinea	Gall midge on Ash
(Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae)
Blennocampa phyllocolpa	Gall sawfly on Dog Rose
MOLLUSCA
Cepaea nemoralis	Brown-lipped Snail. 12 in area of 1m2 of limestone grassland.
Helix aspersa	Garden Snail. 1 in area of 1m2 of limestone grassland.
FUNGI
Rhytisma acerinum	Tar Spot on Sycamore leaves

Recorders: Nora Boyle, Colin Howes & Tim Kohler.