Carr Lodge Nature Reserve

Fumitory at Carr Lodge Credit Jim Horsfall

Carr Lodge Nature Reserve

A large expanse of lowland grassland, which floods in the winter, but dries out through the spring and summer. Home to flocks of ducks in winter, and ground nesting birds in spring.

Location

Adjacent to Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
( nr junction 3 M18, south edge of Doncaster)

Doncaster
South Yorkshire
DN4 8DB

OS Map Reference

SK 57898 99698
What 3 words: refills.handfuls.covenants
A static map of Carr Lodge Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
35 hectares
image/svg+xmlz

Entry fee

Free
image/svg+xmlP

Parking information

Limited parking on Pegasus Way, or in small layby on Hall Balk Lane, or walk from Potteric Carr car park (but please note you will be crossing a busy road)
image/svg+xml

Walking trails

There’s a circular walk around the reserve, but no access to the main fields. The site is uneven, parts are wet and muddy, and there are some steps. Not presently accessible for wheelchairs or buggies.

image/svg+xml

Access

The site is very uneven, parts are wet and muddy. Not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs at present.

Dogs

image/svg+xmlOn a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times. We recommend a visit of half a day which is easy to combine with Potteric Carr or Parson’s Carr

Best time to visit

March to June; September to November

About the reserve

Carr Lodge is like the little brother or sister of Potteric Carr and, like its neighbouring big sibling, it’s a highly valuable habitat for a variety of wetland birds, plants and creatures

Contact us

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Contact number: 01904 659570
Contact email: info@ywt.org.uk

About

Watch the birdlife flooding in

As well as being part of an important network of satellite reserves around Potteric Carr, Carr Lodge has plenty to offer visitors in its own right.

Its wet grassland fields hold many nesting birds and host visits from other species that pop in from next door to feed. This is a dynamic reserve, which begins to flood with very shallow water between November and January, and this can last into May or June. This is an excellent place for overwintering ducks and geese, and for ground-nesting birds in the spring, such as lapwing and sometimes redshank, so access is mostly around the perimeter. Find the viewing screen in the small wood by junction 3 of the M18 and scan the floodwater in winter and spring to pick out different species.

There’s a high population of great crested newts in the ponds, and if you’re very lucky you might catch a glimpse of a grass snake. Around the ponds, grazing cattle help to provide varied conditions for different plants including stoneworts, fen pondweed, and whorled water milfoil. There’s also a great variety of dragonflies.

Expect the unexpected

Carr Lodge is a relatively new Yorkshire Wildlife Trust site, managed as a nature reserve as mitigation for a housing estate being developed. Many of the species that have been found at Potteric Carr will also appear here, which means you can expect a great diversity of bird and insect life, especially dragonflies and damselflies, and you never know exactly what might turn up.

This is one of only three places in Yorkshire where the nocturnal and very rare Crucifix Ground  beetle has been recorded. It’s around 8mm in length, black with red spots, and rather bristly.

The site is owned by the Land Trust and is managed by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Seasonal Highlights

Spring: Lapwing, Redshank, Great crested newt, Grass snake

Summer: Common darter dragonfly, Meadow brown butterfly, Essex skipper, Speckled wood

Autumn: Flocks of starlings, Common sandpiper, Green sandpiper

Winter: Redwing, Fieldfare, Pink-footed goose, Wintering ducks