West Hallam - Straw's
Bridge Nature Reserve
w/e 7 June 2009
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Ask anyone directions to Straw's Bridge and they would probably
tell you that it's at the bottom of Derby Road and whilst this
is perfectly true the site does actually lie within the West
Hallam Parish and the access to the car park is off High Lane
East. Walkers can reach it from a variety of directions though
including the Nutbrook Trail which, with the Nutbrook Canal,
marks its eastern boundary. We made our way there one evening
for a gentle stroll around the site before the forecast rain
arrived.
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The low lying area has always been prone to flooding exacerbated
by the demise of the canal network in the nineteenth century
but for about ten years in the 1970s and 80s coal was extracted
from here by opencast methods. Since then it has been landscaped
by Derbyshire County Council and is now managed by Erewash Borough
Council for the benefit not only of the wildlife but also for
the people who come from near and far. Part of the landscaping
has involved the introduction of many aquatic and marginal plants
to protect the lakeside from erosion.
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Such has been the success of the restoration that a large number
of swans can be seen on the largest area of water on the site
so that it is known locally as Swan Lake. But on this particular
evening the swans were few and far between although a pair of
Canada Geese with five youngsters passed a family of mallard
ducks (in the shadows at the bottom right of the picture) swimming
in the opposite direction. Coots, moorhens, tufted ducks, lapwings
and great crested grebes among others are also common sights
on the water.
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The Reserve is crossed by a disused railway line and passing
under a bridge through the embankment leads to two more lakes
which provide a more peaceful and sheltered environment for nesting
and breeding birds. Copious amounts of reed-mace and rushes have
been planted around these two smaller lakes. On a previous visit
a heron was spotted standing in the shallows but none was apparent
tonight.
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Standing at the same position as for the previous image, the
sound of beating wings signalled the passage of a number of Canada
Geese flying off to roost for the night.
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A path circles the larger of these two additional lakes and those
rushes and reed-mace can be seen to good effect.
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At one end of the lake the reeds give way to an area devoted
to wild flowers and two of those elusive swans appeared to be
bedding down for the night at the side of the path.
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But as we returned to the main lake we caught up with that family
of ducks we had seen earlier and bedding down seemed to be the
last thing on their minds as the ducklings wanted to make friends
with this coot under the ever watchful eye of their mother. With
the sun sinking lower and the temperature dropping though it
was time for us to call an end to this visit to Straw's Bridge
Nature Reserve.
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