How to get there
OverviewThe area has an infamous past as the site of the former Orgreave Coking Plant and Chemical Works. Also within the site was the Orgreave Colliery, (Which had one of the highest pit, tips in Britain), along with the drift conveyer from Treeton Colliery. Green areas did exist in the shape of the remains of the ancient Rotherwood in the grounds of Rotherwood and Orgreave Halls. The old lagoons on top of the pit tip were good for breeding and passage waders, and held a large Gull roost. A reedbed on a pond near the river was also good for wetland birds, and was in the 1980s the best dragonfly pond in the Sheffield and Rotherham area. From the mid 1990s to the late 2010s the land was cleared of contaminates and opencast for coal. This also included re-routeing the river closer to Treeton into a new channel with a waterfall. Two lakes have been created. The smaller one at the south with the island is a nature reserve, and is specially designed for Water Voles! The larger one to the north is ripe for development with plans for luxury housing, shops, bars, cafes, sandy beaches etc, with also the possibility of boating and fishing. All the land from the large lake to Catcliffe has outline planning permission for development as housing, offices, schools etc. The southern end of the site is to remain green with many more trees to be planted.
Apart from basic information boards by the entrances there are no facilities on the site and a dearth of shops, pubs and cafes in the immediate area. Likely speciesEntering the site from Treeton, the area to the east of the river was formerly arable land and has not been opencast. Birds found in this area have included Grasshopper Warbler, Stonechat and in Jan 2010 Waxwings were feeding on Guelder Rose berries. Siskin and Lesser Redpoll should be searched for on riverside alders.
A scan from the bridge over the river can be productive for wildfowl such as Teal, Gadwall, Goosander, Little Grebe etc. If the water level is low a few waders can be found at times of passage including Common/Green Sandpiper, Redshank and Greenshank. Kingfishers and Grey Heron are regular and Dipper has been sighted. More wildfowl can be found upstream along the River Rother, and in hard weather numbers can be impressive, particularly Teal, Mallard and Tufted Duck, with smaller numbers of Goldeneye and Shoveler feeding. Water Rail have been observed at the edge of the reeds and other reedbed birds can be expected.
The grasslands hold large numbers of breeding Skylark and Meadow Pipit but as the number of visitors with dogs increases numbers will decline. Many other species use the grassland for feeding, with Linnet and Goldfinches predominating among the finches. The ubiquitous Canada/Greylag Geese now number over 200 at times, with Gadwall and Wigeon also feeding on the grass when disturbance is low. On rare occasions White-fronted and Pink-footed Geese have joined the more common resident geese. Wheatears have been regular on the hillside to the west of the lake mainly during spring passage. The first birds to colonise the lakes after construction were waders, with Little Ringed/Ringed Plover and Lapwing breeding alongside the edges prior to the site being opened to the public. Unfortunately since then these species have struggled to breed. A good variety of passage waders have dropped in with Oystercatcher, Dunlin and Redshank being the most common, but when the water level is right almost any species can occur. Avocet, Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone and Grey Phalarope are some of the rarer inland waders that have occurred around the lakes.
Around the edge of the lakes, Wagtails occur in good numbers at times of passage with many Pied plus smaller numbers of White and Yellow in spring. Common Terns took up residence on the nature reserve island in 2011 and may have bred, while other species of tern have also visited the lakes. Gulls are a prominent feature of the main lake, usually as a daytime roost but on odd occasions, an evening roosts of many thousands occur. Besides the many Black-headed Gulls from mid-summer to mid-autumn, up to several hundred Lesser Black-backed Gulls are present and, with careful scanning, a few Yellow-legged Gulls can be found. Through winter the Lesser Black-backs are replaced by hundreds of Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls. Large numbers of the common wildfowl occur on the lakes, often moving around the other local sites such as Treeton Dyke and Catcliffe Flash; more unusual species to arrive have included Brent Goose, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter and Smew.
Very much the most productive wetland site in the SBSG area in the early 2010s, it remains to be seen if Orgreave will remain as good as the area matures, and is developed!
Click here for recent site records.
Bob Croxton |
