Thames Valley Park continues to grow its biodiversity

Thames Valley Park Management aim to maintain and enhance existing habitats in the 24-acre nature reserve and floodplain with the support of ecologist Jonathan Adey. In addition to providing a pleasant and peaceful environment at the park, TVP aim to grow the diversity of wildlife onsite.

By working with Jonathan and implementing a habitat management plan, TVP ensure habitats will continue to evolve by reviewing the habitat establishment and plant survival. This in turn helps us to understand the habitat development and diversification from the original planting specification. The result of this will provide a range of habitats for invertebrates, birds, herpetofauna and mammals.

The larger meadows adjacent to the River Thames were sown with wildflower seeds in Summer 2020, with the intention of creating a species diverse area. This acts as a seed dispersal site for diversifying neighbouring areas of grassland. Seven months on and the grassland is already starting to show signs of greater diversity, with plant species including salad burnet, wild carrot, and ox-eye daisy being present throughout.

Since 2020, a total of 64 bird species have been recorded on the park – an increase of 24 species since 2014. The majority of these species are associated with the woodland, ponds and the River Thames. Bird species include red kite, shoveller ducks and linnet. While bird species have increased, wintering bird numbers have declined, including teal and tufted ducks. This is likely to be a result of water bodies being more open since tree felling around the ponds has become more frequent.

Bush cricket species, butterflies and dragonfly numbers remain the same, with downy emerald and hairy hawker dragonfly commonly seen around the pond areas.

The chart below shows the types of birds that are currently present at the park. A status of each of bird is listed to show red, amber, or green according to their conservation concern.

No.	Common name	*Scientific name*	Status	2014	2020
1	Black headed gull	Larus ridibundus	Amber	X	X
2	Blackbird	Turdus merula		X	X
3	Blackcap	Sylvia atricapilla		X	X
4	Blue tit	Cyanistes caeruleus		X	X
5	Buzzard	Buteo buteo		X	X
6	Canada goose	Branta Canadensis		X	X
7	Carrion crow	Corvus corone		X	X
8	Cetti’s warbler	Cettia cetti	WCA		X
9	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs		X	X
10	Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybita		X	X
11	Common tern	Sterna hirundo	Amber	X	X
12	Coot	Fulica atra		X	X
13	Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo			X
14	Cuckoo	Cuculus canorus	Red, BAP	X	X
15	Dunnock	Prunella modularis	Amber		X
16	Egyptian goose	Alopochen aegyptiacus			X
17	Fieldfare	Turdus pilaris	Red, BAP		X
18	Gadwall	Anas strepera	Amber		X
19	Garden warbler	Sylvia borin		X	X
20	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus			X
21	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis			X
22	Great crested grebe	Podiceps cristatus			X
23	Great spotted woodpecker	Dendrocopus major		X	X
24	Great tit	Parus major		X	X
25	Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris		X	X
26	Green woodpecker	Picus viridis			X
27	Grey wagtail	Motacilla cinerea	Red, BAP		X
28	Heron	Ardea cinerea		X	X
29	House sparrow	Passer domesticus	Red, BAP		X
30	Jay	Garrulus glandarius			X
31	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula		X	X
32	Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus	Amber	X	X
33	Kingfisher	Alcedo atthis	Amber, WCA		X
34	Lesser black-backed gull	Larusfuscus	Amber		X
35	Lesser spotted woodpecker	Dendrocopus minor	Red, BAP		X
36	Little egret	Egretta garzetta		X	X
37	Linnet	Linaria cannabina			X
38	Long-tailed tit	Aegithalos caudatus		X	X
39	Magpie	Pica pica		X	X
40	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos	Amber	X	X
41	Mandarin duck	Aix galericulata		X
42	Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus		X	X
43	Mute swan	Cygnus olor	Amber	X	X
44	Nuthatch	Sitta europaea			X
45	Pheasant	Phasianus colchius			X
46	Red kite	Milvus milvus	WCA	X	X
47	Redwing	Turdus iliacus	Red, BAP		X
48	Reed bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus	Amber	X	X
49	Reed warbler	Acrocephalus scirpaceus		X	X
50	Robin	Erithacus rubecula		X	X
51	Sedge warbler	Acrocephalus schoenobaenus		X	X
52	Shoveler	Anas clypeata	Amber		X
53	Skylark	Alauda arvensis	Red, BAP	X	X
54	Song thrush	Turdus philomelos	Red, BAP		X
55	Starling	Sturnus vulgaris	Red, BAP	X	X
56	Stock dove	Columba oenas	Amber	X	X
57	Swift	Apus apus	Amber	X	X
58	Teal	Anas crecca	Amber		X
59	Tree creeper	Certhia familiaris			X
60	Tufted duck	Aythya fuligula			X
61	Whitethroat	Sylvia communis			X
62	Willow warbler	Phylloscopus trochilus	Amber	X	X
63	Wood pigeon	Columba palumbus		X	X
64	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes		X	X

If you would like to find out more information on the local wildlife at Thames Valley Park, please contact General Manager, Rachael Millward at Rachael.millward@savillspm.co.uk.

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