Soar-GUC, Zouch to Kegworth
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
At Zouch there is a small car park [SK505234] off the A6006. From here cross the road and follow a short footpath to the Canal which here is part of the Zouch Cut lying within Notts. Head west along the Canal for a quarter of mile past a lock to where it rejoins the River Soar's northward course. At Kegworth there is also a small car park also adjacent to small cut [SK495273 ] that lies just within Notts. From the Car Park follow the watercourse south from the bridge.
Hathern and Kegworth Civil Parishes.
Trends and Recent Developments along the navigable watercourse from Leicester to the Trent are as follows
A colony of the Scarce Chaser Dragonfly was discovered near Ratcliffe on Soar in 2016, with 12 individuals present in 2018. The nearest other sightings in VC55 are at Rutland Water.
The Willow Emerald Damselfly was first reported in VC55 in 2019 at the Eye Brook Reservoir Inflow and then from Watermead. This species is likely to spread to the whole Soar Valley in next 2-3 years. Most sightings are in September, the species prefer overhanging willows which are abundant.
Garden Angelica has spread northwards through much of the Soar Valley in recent years, the large globe-shaped flower-heads of this umbellifer are distinctive.
Corbicula flaminea, The Asian Clam is an accidentally introduced species speading south along the Soar Valley.
Please be sure to report any sightings of these species
Site species count:
This stretch off the River Soar covers the 3.5 miles from Zouch north to Kegworth. There is a right of way footpath along the route on the Nottinghamshire bank. After periods of heavy rain especially in winter months this route may become very muddy and at times impassable due to flooding. There is no access to the Leicestershire bank throughout although patrons can obtain good views of the River from the car park and terrace of the Otter Public House [SK491254]. The county boundary is in the midstream position so please ensure any records you enter into NatureSpot refer to sightings within Leicestershire and that their grid references plot within the county.
Birds
Herons, Cormorant, Kingfisher, Common Tern (pictured above), Grey Wagtail. Swift, House and Sand Martin and Swallow.
Trees and Plants
Willow family several species, Alder, water meadows rich in flowers and grasses.
Water Margins: Purple Loosestrife, Indian Balsam. Garden Angelica (recent colonist), Lesser Celandine, Marsh Thistle, Marsh Woundwort, Water Mint, Water Figwort.
Aquatics: Arrowhead, Water Plantain, Floating Pennywort (a nuisance) and Yellow Water-lily (consult individual species pages for flowering season and known distributions)
Insects
Butterflies all common widely distributed species, Dragonflies Southern, Brown and Migrant Hawker, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, all 3 Chasers and Ruddy and Common Darters. Damselflies Beautiful Demoiselle, Common Blue, Blue-tailed, Large Red and Red-eyed Damselfly (favours lily pads). (Look at individual species pages for flight seasons)
Molluscs Giant Ramshorn, River Snail, Swan and Duck Mussel plus the invasive Zebra Mussel and Asian Clam.
Fish Perch, Pike, Tench and Roach
The records and images below may include those from adjacent sites if the grid reference submitted with these records overlaps the boundary of this Wild Place.
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