Low Common is a high achiever

THE small nature reserve of Maltby Low Common – it is a nicely compact 6.5 hectares – is probably better known for its floral attractions than its birdlife.

But flora means insects and its rich diversity of the little bugs brings in the birds and the mammals, making it a reserve which can offer some big surprises.

Just a mile south of Maltby itself, the reserve should be on every local birders’ list of places to check out and you are always likely to see something interesting.

Okay, it may not offer the wildfowl of nearby Denaby Ings but there is much worthy of a look.

The reserve is described by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, which runs it, as a “mosaic of grassland communities” and for botanists it is a veritable smorgasbord of things to see.

Variations in the site’s geology and therefore soils mean that plantlife varies across the site.

Plants which can be ticked off at Maltby Low Common are marsh valerian, heather, common spotted orchids, mat grass, pepper saxifrage, meadow thistle, grass of Parnassus, sneezewort, tufted hair-grass, field scabious, lousewort, aspen and small scabious.

There are also sedges such as glaucous, oval and carnation.

More than 400 different sorts of insects have been logged at Maltby Low Common and butterflies and moths are well represented at the site.

Readers of this column will ofcourse be particularly interested in our feathered friends and, luckily for us, Maltby Low Common doesn’t disappoint.

Barn owl, kestrel and buzzard can be seen regularly and in the summer there are cuckoos, turtle doves, garden warblers and whitethroats.

But others can be spotted too, such as thrushes, finches and tits.

Maltby Low Common is deemed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and has seen conservation work in recent times to lay hedges.

The reserve can be found off Outgang Lane in Maltby. For those who need to know such things, the grid reference is SK543914 and the reserve can be accessed via the Doncaster-Maltby buses. It takes 20 minutes to walk to the reserve from Maltby.

Alas, the town has no rail link.

So get back to nature at this fascinating little reserve and see what little gems you can see.

LINK TO TRUST WEBSITE:

You can find out more about the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust at http://www.ywt.org.uk/http://www.ywt.org.uk/

If you want to read past Bird Brain features, they are at:

If you want to see past past Bird Brain features, visit:

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97311/discovering-the-delights-of-denaby.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97377/a-really-flash-reserve.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/97664/moor-of-what-you-like.aspx

http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/97800/nature-amongst-the-industry.aspx