Wildlife on The Blue Loop
Sheffield’s industrial past caused badly polluted waterways unable to provide homes for wildlife. Today, water quality in Sheffield is much improved and the Blue Loop has become a haven for wildlife, with fish, kingfishers and otters all thriving in the area. Sheffield’s waterways are one of the city’s most valuable wildlife assets.
This is some of the wildlife you are likely to see:
Fish
The Blue Loop is clean enough to support a thriving population of fish including Brown Trout, Pike, Grayling and Bream. Look out for the steps built into the Walk Mill Weir, which forms a ‘fish pass’ to allow the fish to get up and down the weir to travel to their spawning grounds. Weirs can be a problem for fish, but fish passes are increasingly being used installed on weirs in Sheffield’s rivers to help.
Butterflies
Plants like buddleia and nettles are common particularly along the Canal and provide food and egg laying sites for a range of butterflies. During the summer months you are likely to see Peacocks and Red Admirals. Sometimes the plants are cut back from the paths, but not too much so there is still food for butterflies.
Dragonflies
Dragonflies must lay their eggs in water, and are most often found in areas with dense reeds. Many species inhabit the Sheffield waterways, particularly around the Meadowhall area and the ponds at Tinsley moorings.
Herons
The thriving fish population provides food for the heron. It stands in the water and stabs at unsuspecting fish with its beak as they swim by. Look out for herons near weirs as the water here is full of bubbles and therefore good for fish. The Environment Agency works to monitor and maintain fish stocks, which in turn is good for the hungry heron.
Kingfisher
These beautiful birds move fast up and down the river and sometimes all you will see of them is a flash of blue. They eat fish too, but unlike the statue-like heron, they catch their prey by diving dramatically into the water. They need trees overhanging the water for nesting and from which to feed, so when trees are cut back to prevent blockage of the river this must be done carefully. Sometimes trees are replaced by kingfisher pipes to be used as perches.
Grey Wagtail
The grey wagtail is more colourful than its name suggests with a grey upper body and yellow underbelly. They are often glimpsed only as a quick flash of yellow, and like to forage and nest in trees and rocky areas by the waterside. Grey wagtails are currently an amber listed species.
Ducks
Mallard ducks are a common site on the Blue Loop. Male birds have a bright green head and a yellow bill, while females are a light brown colour and have orange bills. Only female Mallards quack. Look out for their tails poking out of the water while their heads are submerged mid-dive as they look for food.
Moorhens
Moorhens have blacky-brown bodies, white undertails and a jagged white line along their sides. Their bills are red with a yellow tip.
Coots
Coots are slightly larger than their close relative the moorhen. Their bodies are black, and they have a white beak and ‘shield’ which extends up the head from the beak.
Otters
Otters have returned to Sheffield’s rivers. They need fish to eat, and quiet riverbanks covered in plants where they can hide and rest up. You are unlikely to see them as they are very secretive, but you may spot their footprints in the mud.
Japanese Knotweed
This plant was brought to England from Japan in Victorian times. Unfortunately it has spread along most of Britain’s waterways, and outcompetes most other plants, leading to less of a variety of plants to support insects, birds and mammals. Controlling Japanese Knotweed with herbicide sprays which don’t harm the water and other wildlife is being carried out on parts of the Blue Loop, followed by replanting with other varied riverside plants.
Water vole
The water vole is the largest member of the vole family, and lives along the banks of the gentler stretches of the river. Somewhat resembling the brown rat, water voles are in fact perfectly adapted to the aquatic environment, being expert swimmers and divers. Water vole numbers have declined in recent years, due to a combination of habitat loss and predation.
Kestrel
Kestrels are a member of the falcon family, and are easily recognised by their characteristic hunting behaviour of hovering between ten and twenty metres above the ground, looking for small mammals such as voles. Along with Sparrowhawks, they are one of the few birds of prey to inhabit the canal area. They are frequently spotted at the Tinsley Locks area.
Reptiles and Amphibians
The Don and the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal are both home to a variety of reptiles and amphibious species. Grass snakes, common toads, slow worms, adders, smooth newts and common frogs have all been seen in the vicinity of the Sheffield waterways, in spite of several pollution incidents. Efforts are also being made to encourage the Great Crested Newt to return to the River Don.
Bats
Sheffield waterways provide good habitat for several bat species. You’re not likely to see them in the daytime, but at night bats will use the canal and river for drinking water, as well as for hunting small insects. The Daubenton’s bat, in particular, is often seen skimming over the top of the water to feed on a variety of water insects, and Pipistrelles, although being the most commonly found bat in buildings, will often feed over the water of a nearby river or pond. Old and abandoned buildings make perfect spots for bats to roost, and many are believed to inhabit the disused industrial complexes along the Don and the Canal.
Blue Loop Events
Blue Loop Wildlife
The Blue Loop is a wildlife haven in the heart of the city! From otters to kingfishers and bats to butterflies, visit the Blue Loop and see what you can see!
