Daneshill Lakes
The Daneshill Local Nature Reserve Lakes have been designed to accommodate a variety of different uses with a minimum of conflict.
The site is leased by the local parish councils to provide recreation, angling and boating facilities.
A small area is a schools Nature Reserve. The whole site is important for nature conservation. Large populations of birds are attracted here including breeding sedge warblers and great crested grebes. Various wildfowl such as tufted duck overwinter here. In summer the site supports a great variety of butterflies, including common blue, meadow brown and gatekeeper together with damselflies and dragonflies.
Daneshill Gravel Pits (North)
Once a commercial gravel pit this site is now part of a Local Nature Reserve, managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and leased from Nottinghamshire County Council, it is run as a quiet nature reserve specifically for wildlife conservation.
The site is particularly valuable for wildlife due to the wide range of habitats, including open water, wet grassland, and drier areas of gorse and willow/birch scrub. Many flowering plants grow here including common spotted and southern marsh orchids, celery leaved buttercup, weld and goats rue. Brambles and gorse attract many types of butterfly such as brimstone, common blue and meadow brown.
Good numbers of willow warbler, white-throat and blackcap are present in summer, while in winter siskin, water rail and goldcrest may be seen. There is a good chance of seeing any one of our three native woodpeckers and kingfishers which frequent the reserve as do a number of waders like redshank, greenshank, ringed plover and little ringed plover. This is also a good site of damselflies and dragonflies and both adder and grass snakes are present but rarely seen. Management includes controlling the spread of gorse, willow coppicing and pond clearance.