Strategy Area Description

The strategy area's urban areas, which cover a large part of its total land surface, are by no means devoid of wildlife. Many species have adapted to using these places, including bats, birds and many plants. Garden birds (for example dunnocks, blackbirds and titmice) can often be seen where amenity landscaping or gardens are present. At one time this habitat would have held many breeding house sparrows and starlings, and, in the summer, swift and house martin (which rarely nest anywhere else) - all of these have declined dramatically in recent decades.

Between settlements, extensive areas of landscaped greenspace along roadsides and similar areas have formed 'secondary amenity woodland', that - as trees and shrubs mature - provide habitat for birds such as greenfinch, goldfinch, magpie and mistle thrush, as well as corridors along which wildlife can disperse. By way of example, there are extensive tracts of such habitat on land planted during the development of Washington 'New Town', between 1960 and 1980. These occur within and around the villages of the town and along the river corridor covered by the 'linear' James Steel Park (City of Sunderland). Ornamental berry-bearing bushes in such areas sometimes attract spectacular wintering species, such as waxwing.

Nesting gulls are now a commonplace feature of many urban locations across the area. Herring gull has nested on rooftops close to the rivers Tyne and Wear since the mid-1960s. From the early 1980s, it was joined by lesser black-backed gull and both of these species of conservation concern nest, often in good numbers, on rooftops and in industrial estates across South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland. More unusual in this respect, is the inland breeding colony of kittiwakes centred around Gateshead and Newcastle quaysides; the furthest inland such colony in the world.

Transport corridors

The development of the road and rail network has typically resulted in the loss and fragmentation of habitats and their associated species. Nonetheless, the landscaped verges of major roads and rail lines within the strategy area (for example the A184 from South Tyneside into central Gateshead), now play an important role in facilitating the movement of wildlife through the landscape including into the urban centres, and some of these now provide valuable areas of semi-natural habitat in their own right.

Parks and gardens

As a habitat, parks and gardens are found across the strategy area, in particular around the conurbation fringes and less densely developed settlements for example West Boldon, South Tyneside.

Gardens, when varied and mature, can be important for a range of invertebrates. The range of such species that can be found in this habitat has altered dramatically in recent times. For example, both the comma and speckled wood butterfly are now 'typical' garden species but they were almost unknown in the strategy area during the early 1990s. The northward procession of these species is now being mirrored by the holly blue. Even once-exotic southern migrant species, such as the hummingbird hawk-moth, might sometimes be found feeding on the nectar of garden flowers in the Strategy Area.

As elsewhere, a sea change occurred in the public's attitudes to garden wildlife in the late 20^th century, when many people started to feed birds. This trend has continued and this is now important for the winter survival strategies of many common garden species. Some species that would not have been considered garden wildlife two human generations ago are now frequent visitors to such locations, for example great spotted woodpecker and tree sparrow. In suburban areas, the wood pigeon is ubiquitous and collared dove, common. Magpies are common at urban feeding stations, jay and pheasant - and hedgehog - are now expected species at urban-fringe locations and where mature woodlands are close by, nuthatch and even badgers appear. Species that were once alien to gardens, such as siskin and goldfinch and insectivores, like the long-tailed tit are routinely noted at feeders.

The long established municipal parks of the area - Mowbray Park in Sunderland, South Marine Park in South Tyneside and Saltwell Park in Gateshead, all have areas of mature 'park woodland' and extensive shrubberies that host common breeding birds and attract wintering or migrant birds. Their respective, rather formal, water bodies also attract a range of wildfowl.

Post-industrial

Across the strategy area there is an abundance of old industrial sites, consequent to the industrial decline it suffered over decades. These can be important for wildlife and many aspects of wildlife have adapted to 'brownfield sites'. This includes bee orchids growing next to the Gateshead Metrocentre, nesting common terns in Sunderland Docks, and ringed plover on sites adjacent to the Tyne in Gateshead in the 1990s.

One habitat that often develops in such nutrient-poor locations is sparsely vegetated, herb-rich grassland with areas of bare ground. This is the favoured habitat of the dingy skipper butterfly. Tanfield Railway Sidings, in the upper Team valley in Gateshead and Wardley Colliery at Follingsby in South Tyneside support regionally/nationally important populations of this species.

Where low scrub develops, this can be important for breeding linnet, and such sites may attract flocks in the late summer when abundant flowering ruderal weeds such as docks and black knapweed provide birds with foraging opportunities.

Post-industrial sites can also be important for a range of mammals, often providing town-based locations for foxes to den, hedgehogs to forage and habitat for common small mammals (such as common shrew, wood mouse and bank vole), which in turn, attract predatory birds such as kestrel and barn owl.