Doncaster Lakeside

Coordinates 53°30′32″N 1°06′26″W / 53.5088°N 1.1071°W / 53.5088; -1.1071

Doncaster Lakeside is a recreational area and shopping complex centred on a lake, around 3 km or 2 miles SE of Doncaster town centre, in the area of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. In recent years it has been expanded and modernised. After completion, the area has settled vegetation, paths, bridges, notice boards and public gatherings.

Exercise

A popular path for walkers, joggers and cyclists surrounds the lake. It follows the perimeter of the lake and is about 2 miles or 3.5 kilometres long.

Wildlife

Many species of bird and fish have established themselves here and at the nearby Potteric Carr nature reserve, which offers bat, spider and other guided tours, has included this area in its extended walks about wildlife in the area.

Birds

Several species have been recorded here, including Gadwall, Canada Geese, Moorhens, Cormorants, mallard, Tufted ducks, Northern Shovellers, Gulls, Coots, Great crested Grebe, Sand Martin,^[1] Temminck's Stint and Pochards. Raptors have also been seen here, including Osprey, Kestrel and Horned owl.

Mallard duck in flight	Shovellers and pochard ducks	Adult and young coot and eggs	Tufted ducks	Crested grebes

Swans

This lake is home to a flock of mute swans which have the gene for leucism.

Left, mute swan cygnet (grey feet turning darker with age); right, Polish swan variant with pinkish hue to feet	Mute swan with lighter (pinkish) feet	Mute swan (darker hue feet)		Mute swans at Doncaster Lakeside (lighter pinkish hue feet)

In around 1800 some swans were brought in from Poland and were called Polish swans. At first, they were thought to be a new species, which was named cygnus immutabilis. Compared to normal mute swans, these swans are whiter, and their legs are pinkish, not dark. Later, modern science discovered the variant in the swans' DNA and confirmed that it was not a new species but a different allele.

Bats

After sunset the resident bats show their themselves. Pipistrelle, Noctule, Daubentons, Brandts and Natterers have been heard on walks around Lakeside.[2] Bats cannot be heard by humans. A bat detector is need to tune into the frequency of each species of bat.	Bat detector	Bat sound from Eptesicus serotinus

Pipistrelle in flight	Noctule bat at roost	Daubenton's bat	Natterer's bat	Brandt's bat

Sports

Annual water sports events take place here, to the irritation of nature lovers and interest groups.

Annual dragon boat racing has also been promoted. Various groups have used the lakeside track as cycling tours for their events.

Action Groups

This area is monitored by the Lakeside Wildlife Action Group.

Other groups include Birdwatch, Swanwatch, Butterflywatch, Frogwatch, as well as walking and cycling groups.

The Lakeside Wildlife Action Group recently erected informative notice boards, sponsored by a local accounting firm. Other notice boards feature walking/cycle path, location map, scan codes and walking trials and these boards are managed by Doncaster Metropoliton Borough council.

References