The black-winged stilt was spotted at
the Idle Valley reserve in Retford
By
Gurjeet Nanrah
Community Reporter
11:04, 4 SEP 2019
An 'extremely rare' bird was spotted
this weekend at a nature reserve in north Nottinghamshire.
The black-winged stilt was seen at Idle
Valley nature reserve in Retford over
the weekend - marking its first sighting in Nottinghamshire for 45 years.
It is a long-legged wader bird that is
also rarely seen elsewhere in the UK.
Members of Nottinghamshire Wildlife
Trust, the charity that looks after the nature reserve along the
River Idle, believe the sighting shows how the wetland reserve has great
potential as a location for wildlife watching.
The trust’s head of communications Erin
McDaid said: “The bird has caused real excitement. It arrived over the weekend
and was still on site this Monday so a number of people have been able to see
and photograph it.
"It’s a very rare visitor for
Nottinghamshire, the last one was recorded in 1974 and they are still quite a
rarity across the UK.”
Another rare creature spotted recently
at Idle
Valley nature reserve was the red-margined willow sawfly - which is considered
destructive to habitats.
The sighting comes ahead of the first
Explore North Notts weekend on September 14 and 15 - which is part of the
Heritage Open Days Festival - and is aimed at celebrating the county's historic
buildings, country parks and open spaces.
September is considered a good time to
visit the reserve as many birds begin their autumn migration, meaning birds
that could be seen include flycatchers, garganeys, wheaters and whinchats.
A guided bird walk will take place on
Sunday, September 15 from 9.30am to 11.30am, so visitors can explore the
reserve and children aged 8-12 can take part in the Wildlife Watch Group’s ‘In
the Swim’ event the day before which focuses on fishes and other animals that
live in water.
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