Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley: a historical review 1850-2002

Like other lowland wetlands in Britain, the Lower Derwent Valley has faced a range of threats over the decades, including inappropriate land and water management. In the battle to secure a safer future for the flora and fauna, crucial measures have been taken, such as land purchase by English Nature, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Carstairs Conservation Trust and management agreements with local landowners.

Reflecting its importance, this new book is a systematic review of birds in the area. The role of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union and of local birders, particularly members of the York Ornithological Club, is fully acknowledged.

Old photos of wildfowlers by the late Sydney Smith and modern photos by Rowarth, Weston and Huddleston give a real flavour of the flooded meadows in winter, the days of the punt-gunning wildfowlers and the special birds in the valley. While the photos add much to the interest of the book, the map on page 13 is disappointing. The scale is so small that I struggled to get a clear idea of the exact scope of the review. Even the boundary of the national nature reserve isn’t shown.

This leads me to two important issues. The first is the lack of any ‘where to watch’ information in the book. Indeed, with an inadequate site map and no marked viewing sites, this gives the impression of the valley as ‘a local place for local birders’. Of course, the prime reason for the review is to record for posterity the avifauna of the valley, but space could have been made for a map for visitors with details of watchpoints. My copy of Where to Watch Birds in Britain by Harrap and Redman mentions nine hides in the national nature reserve alone. Where are they now?

The second issue relates to the recording of birds within a site area. If the book is to provide a lasting resource of ornithological information for the valley the recording area needs to be carefully defined. It is impossible to defend areas from threat unless the recording area is clearly mapped out. You will not even know where your gaps in knowledge are without declaring your core area first.

A good summary of ringing work in the valley is presented and there is a species list, covering some 262 species. The list contains some forms or races but not others, so we have Taiga Bean Goose and, listed separately, Tundra Bean Goose. There’s nothing wrong with including forms or subspecies, but have we the whole story here? Why, for example, is there no Blue-headed Wagtail? Surely it has occurred in the region.

Other anomalies in the list include no reference to accepted BOU Categories A-E. And surely the inclusion of both Red and Black Grouse on the list is completely fanciful – in the text we are told that there was a failed attempt to introduce birds to Skipwith Common in the early 1900s. Is Skipwith Common in the recording area of the book? If so, there are other species that should be included in the systematic list.

The review pulls together much detailed information about the birds of the Lower Derwent Valley. The ringing information and accompanying photographs are good. The lack of information on the site boundary is disappointing and the inclusion of some birds in the species list is rather random, but if you plan to visit the area regularly it is nonetheless a useful reference.

First published in Birdwatch 163: 49 (January 2006). For details of our full range of bird books please click here.

Tech spec

• Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley – a Historical Review 1850-2002 by Craig S Ralston (Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, Yorkshire, 2005).
• 248 pages, colour photos and line illustrations.
• ISBN 1857168488. Pbk, £10.