Pop down to the Ponds

WE’RE going for a wander just outside Rotherham for this feature. Into Burngreave, in fact.

IN a few of my birdwatching features, I’ve made the point that little natural gems can be found in amongst the industry of this area (both current sites and old sites left to decay) and this nature reserve is another fine example.

Crabtree Ponds is a green lung surrounded by roads which is a popular place with local residents.

It can be found beside the A6135 Barnsley Road close to Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital, sandwiched between Crabtree Close and Crabtree Road (map reference SK361899).

Crabtree Ponds is a great place to spend some birdwatching time but there is plenty to see which is not feathered too.

The Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, which runs the site, says it has plenty of aquatic life such as rudd, roach, perch, crucian carp, sticklebacks and eels, as well hawker dragonflies, smooth and palmate newt, frogs and toads.

The Trust says that its dense shrub layer has also proved a pleasant home for 27 different species of fungi.

Mammals-wise, there are Pipistrelle, Daubenton’s and Leisler’s bats which visit Crabtree Ponds to feed from their home at the nearby Roe Wood and Little Roe Wood (also worth a look).

Birds in the wood include treecreepers, woodpeckers, wrens and several tits so a few might flutter over to Crabtree Ponds as well. You might also catch a few waterfowl.

Crabtree Ponds isn’t a big reserve by any means, covering 1.4 hectares, but it has access at all times and there is a good path network through it and the larger reserve it is a part of.

Crabtree Ponds started out as an ornamental pond but has proved to be a boon for nature in the area.

There is a five-year management plan and work programme for Crabtree Ponds to make the fascinating site even better for wildlife.#

LINK TO TRUST WEBSITE:

You can find out more about the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust at http://www.wildsheffield.com/

If you want to read past Bird Brain features, they are at:

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97311/discovering-the-delights-of-denaby.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97377/a-really-flash-reserve.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/97664/moor-of-what-you-like.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97800/nature-amongst-the-industry.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/98570/the-carr-s-the-star.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/98088/low-common-is-a-high-achiever.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97089/bird-brain.aspx