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The Pont Valley is home to a multitude of wildlife including Red Kites, Deer, Red Squirrels as well as a rich diversity of other less rare species. Some of these we know of, others you may have encountered personally but not reported. For example, there are regular and persistent reports of the Great Crested Newt occurring in some wetlands. Only some of these have been verified since the last major survey carried out. If, as we expect, UK Coal continue to understate the importance of the Pont Burn Valley to wildlife within their "Environmental Impact Assessment", explaining how opencasting will be carefully and sympathetically conducted, we need to be able to present facts which we believe refute any such claim. Of course we could commission experts of our own and may well do this. But we believe that local knowledge and participation in an ongoing, rather than one single survey might also be useful. We think that we can record, on these pages, detailed information about all our wildlife, inviting individuals as well as organisations to join with us. The Pont Valley Net has started with rarer species which we think might seize attention. But we invite others to tell us more, either as individuals or organisations and become part of the Pont Valley Net
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Wildlife Sightings in the Pont Burn Valley
Please use the Comments section below to record your sightings of local wildlife in the Valley.
Wildlife in Watling Woods
Watling Woods lies at the head of the Pontburn Valley. Indeed, the springs which rise within what are now woods are the source of the Pont Burn.
Some older folks may remember how it once looked and may even have played there as some of your youngsters still do believe it or not. In and around Spry's Pond for example, the remnants of the ponds are still there, home to Common Newts and, we think, Great Crested Newts. If you can add your recollections about it's past, make a comment below and we will transfer it to the right webpage or better do it yourself - there is a webpage in the "People and Places" Section, under Leadgate.
What we need right now however is for folks to do some walking around these woods, now, and let us know how it feels, what's there and how we might better help look after them. Does it feel under threat? It is, yet another part of the Pontburn Valley where wildlife may soon be looking for a new home.
Still in Leadgate, or more strictly down in Bradley just below where the Lamplass factory sits for now (most by now know it will soon be replaced by a housing development), the burn passess in a culvert below the main road before joining the Pont Burn as you might know it below Spry's Farm or Low Bradley Hall if you prefer, where it attracts some serious wildlife away from the villages. When the houses go in we will need to make sure the drainage is sorted so the road no longer floods
Deer have made the short migration across the roads and a small herd is now firmly established in Watling Woods. Red Kites are now seen regularly overhead and will begin to look for places to nest in the Spring. We need people to tell us what they see while out on walks, or better, organise themselves into small groups and do a survey. If you need help with this, get in touch and let's see if we can do the same vfor Watling Woods as we did and are still doing for the Pontburn Valley along its whole length. Let's starting joining things up and working together.
PS. On another wbpage you might note that we are also working with the Tyne Rivers Trust to monitor the Pont Burn. One of the things we are looking to do when conditions are right is to re-introduce some brown trout fry between Bradley and Lintzford, where the burn enters the River Derwent. If you're interersted in giving us a hand, make a comment on that webpage.
Created on 12/05/2007 05:37 PM by rmr
Updated on 04/01/2009 05:14 PM by dshields
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