Stanwick Lakes

 History.

Quarrying began in 1985, by Hanson, and continued until the end of 2004.
The site was then purchased by East Northamptonshire Council and is currently managed by the environmental charity Rockingham Forest Trust.
The site, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and part of a Special Protection Area (SPA), covers over 750 acres and has more than 15 lakes and ponds providing a diverse range of habitat for wildlife.

Ringing.

Ringing commenced at Stanwick Lakes in 2007 and since that time in excess of 12,000 birds have been processed made up of over 9,000 new birds and over 3,000 retraps (birds ringed previously on-site or ringed elsewhere).

Since 2008 a Constant Effort Site (CES) has been in operation whereby the same number of nets, in the same location, for the same length of time, are operated once during each of 12 specified intervals between the start of May and the end of August. The standardised nature of the ringing allows changes in abundance, breeding productivity and over-winter survival to be assessed. The data from the Stanwick Lakes CES are combined with those of approximately 120 other sites that contribute to the scheme to calculate trends at national and regional levels.

Winter ringing began in 2007, with up to six visits being completed between October and December, depending on the weather. Although not part of a national scheme, the ringing effort was standardised to allow comparisons of breeding productivity, post-juvenile survival and abundance to be made. Since the winter of 2020/21, the winter ringing was extended to include a further four visits in January and February.to allow participation in the Winter Ringing Project (WRP). This is a national Constant Effort scheme that complements the summer CES through the capture of species of bird that can be difficult to catch in sufficient numbers during the breeding season, but are known to congregate around food sources in the winter. Approximately 100 sites around the UK participate in the WRP to generate survival trends and other demographic outputs.

A nest box scheme has been running since 2007 as part of the Nest Record Scheme (NRS). Multiple visits are made to each nest box throughout the breeding season to record the progress and contents of the nests. Sufficient data is recorded to allow breeding productivity and the likely causes of nest failure to be determined, to help identify the drivers of abundance trends. Frist egg dates can also be calculated to facilitate phenological studies into the effects of climate change on the timing of the breeding season of common woodland birds. Originally starting with 13 Blue/Great Tit nest boxes in 2007, the nest boxes distributed around the site now include 30 nest boxes for Blue and Great Tits, eight for Robins/Wrens, three for Tawny Owls/Stock Doves and two for Kestrels.

In 2015 an annual ringing demonstration was commenced in January in support of the RSPB’s Bird Garden Birdwatch. This is always a well-attended event, giving the public an opportunity to see up close our wonderful avian wildlife.

The ringer in charge of this site is Dr. Ian Wrisdale.