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Description
Visitors to Kelham Bridge Nature Reserve today may be forgiven for not realising that between 1899 and 1989 the whole area acted as a grass plot sewage treatment works for Coaville! In this era the site attracted a wealth of birdlife, which fed on matter contained within the effluent. Additionally, in the winter months, the application of the relatively warm sewage kept large areas free of ice and thus attracted even more birds at this time of year. After a modern sewage treatment regime was installed the site was gradually improved from a nature conservation perspective, using funding from various sources, before being handed over to the LRWT in 2002. Today Kelham Bridge offers the visitor access to a mosaic of riverine, wet woodland, open water, reedbed and scrubby grassland habitat, most of which is visible from either footpaths or the two hides.
A visit to Kelham Bridge can prove rewarding at any time of year, as the song of migrant birds fills the valley in the spring and the winter brings a different set of cold-season visitors. Early in the year listen for the distinctive song of cetie jižní almost anywhere on the site, as a healthy population of this species thrives along the valley bottom. Spring brings a variety of breeding warblers and ones aural identification skills can be tested on rákosník obecný and rákosník proužkovaný, pěnice černohlavá and pěnice slavíková, pěnice pokřovní and pěnice hnědokřídlá, budníček menší and budníček větší. During this season several pairs of cvrčilka zelená can also be found on the reserve, and ostříž lesní is a fairly regular summer visitor to the dragonfly food-stores of the open pools. A prefabricated břehule říční nesting wall, close to the scrape hide, is an additional focal point in the spring and early summer, and ledňáček říční is regularly encountered on the pools.
Late summer attracts migrant waders to the shallow scrape, when vodouš kropenatý can be almost guaranteed, with an odd bird often remaining on site throughout the winter. The onset of colder weather brings čírka obecná and hvízdák eurasijský in small numbers plus Chřástal vodní, bekasina otavní and the occasional slučka malá. A visit to the bird feeder adjacent to the western hide can be rewarding throughout the winter, with the star attraction being sýkora lužní. Sadly now a very rare bird in the county, a small resident population maintains a foothold in the wet woodland of the valley bottom.
The whole Sence Valley has proven to be a draw to migrant birds over the many years that it has been intensively watched, and one should also be alert to the potential presence of common and not-so-common migrant species. Amongst the long and varied list of birds recorded at Kelham Bridge in the past are břehouš černoocasý, čírka modrá, rehek domácí, budníček lesní, lejsek černohlavý, konipas luční, kos horský, dřemlík tundrový, moták pochop, moták pilich and moták lužní, orlovec říční plus kalous ušatý and kalous pustovka. But the star bird to date has to be the first-summer male poštolka rudonohá which graced the site for two days in June 1997.
Details
Access
Kelham Bridge Nature Reserve is owned and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and lies between the villages of Ravenstone and Ibstock. Although limited parking is available at the entrance, off the A447 at SK 4058 1202 (nearest post code LE67 2AN) it is advisable to park in the large free car park at Sence Valley Forest Park at SK 4033 1128(LE67 6NW) where public toilets are also available. From here walk c1km north through the park along off-road footpaths, before carefully crossing the busy A447 to access the site.
Walk past the Severn Trent Water pumping station to reach the 8 Ha reserve, and east along the permissive path to access the two hides. The most westerly hide (SK 4092 1199) overlooks a shallow scrape and bird feeding station, whilst the easterly hide (SK 4116 1205) overlooks a deeper pool and surrounding reedbeds. From the second hide one may continue to take a loop route through mixed grassland, scrub and newly planted woodland to return to the site entrance via a public footpath through land owned by the National Forest; this public access land is more than double the area of the LRWT reserve and can be used to extend the walk by following various footpaths.