Latest News

The 2nd in our monthly round-up video series this year, helped to be created by some of our brilliant supporters! February has been mostly wet, with almost every day seeing some level of rain! But it hasn’t stopped us from capturing

The Upper Ouse Conservation Trust (UOCT) is deeply grateful to the friends and family of a much-loved Great Ouseburn resident, whose funeral donations have been generously given in support of our work, as well as St Michael’s hospice.   After more than 20

Here it is; our first monthly round-up video, helped to be created by some of our brilliant supporters! January 2026 has seen the start of our first full year of caring for Townend Field Nature Reserve. We’ve had lots of

You may have come across a few areas where moles have been busy in Townend Field, including some patches over our permissive footpaths! During the summer ‘Garden Festival’ event, Sam Shipman, Head Gardener at Beningbrough Hall, spotted our molehills and

When you’re walking through Townend Field Nature Reserve, you might notice fallen branches, rotting logs, or old tree trunks left where they lie. While it can look untidy at first glance, this dead wood is one of the most valuable

Our survey team have been busy setting up borrowed (and more recently our own,) camera traps and analysing footage both from during the day and at night. See the ‘community’ section for information on how we managed to get our

We are all familiar with Coot and Moorhen, they can get very bold and approachable at ponds in parks, where they are fed, but there’s a dapper, smaller, much more discrete relative in the Rail family which you may not

PLEASE nominate us to help us get £1000 to support our work in developing the nature reserve. The Movement for Good Awards run by The Benefact Group is their annual programme of giving that anyone can get involved in. Here’s how it works: IMPORTANT: We

Earlier this month, our survey team captured this stunning clip of an otter coming out of the water at Townend Field Nature Reserve!  A Snapshot of the Species Conservation status: Numbers & Recovery in the UK Once pushed to the

We wanted to thank everybody who attended our opening event on Thursday 2nd October and to welcome everyone to the nature reserve which is now open! We want everyone to be able to enjoy this beautiful nature reserve so please

We had something a little different happening at the reserve recently… Independent film-maker Lucy Smith came along with her camera to capture the sights and stories of our new nature reserve. Lucy was keen to chat with a few of

We’ve had some truly exciting news from the reserve – and it comes with feathers! Thanks to our ongoing partnership with Askham Bryan College, one of their camera traps caught something very special: a common crane, from back in June. Now,

We were joined by 13 amazing volunteers today! The Island is now almost entirely clear of Himalayan balsam – thank you so much to everyone who helped. We are incredibly lucky to have so much support. We would love to

Last night (Tuesday 22nd July,) moth expert and volunteer Dave Watkins met with trustees Graeme, Lou and young nature enthusiast Ethan, to set 4 moth traps around Townend Field Nature Reserve. This was the third time the moths had been

Over the course of four hours, the team worked incredibly hard to clear large swathes of this invasive plant, including areas beneath the trees and along the stream banks. It was no small task, and we’re so grateful for their

Wildlife surveyor and volunteer Dave Watkins has sent over the results of his first bird call audio recording survey… take a look at what he has to say: “The results of the static recording session for the dates 14-23rd June

Together, we’re working to support education beyond the Ouseburn area—and in return, the team will be sharing the results of a variety of ecological surveys they’ll be carrying out on the reserve. With access to fantastic equipment, including trail cameras,