Lakeside is a suburb of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

, England, centred around a circular lake. Approximately south-east of central Doncaster, it has recently seen new development and modernisation with the construction of several new luxury housing estates, a leisure park with restaurants, a cinema, and a bowling alley, the ''Herten Triangle'', which has more eateries and fast food establishments, the '' Lakeside Village'' shopping centre, and the '' Eco-Power Stadium''. The area has settled vegetation, paths, bridges, notice boards and space for public gatherings around the lake. It is split between the ''Town'' and ''Bessacarr and Cantley'' wards within the

Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The ...

. Lakeside borders

Bessacarr Bessacarr () is a suburb on the south-east edge of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Consisting of mostly private residential development from the 1960s onward, it also contains some of the most expensive property in Doncaster, around St Wi ...

to the east, Belle Vue to the north,

Balby Balby is a civil parish and suburb of Doncaster in the City of Doncaster district in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Balby is within the Doncaster Central constituency and contains the electoral wards ...

to the west, and

Potteric Carr Potteric Carr is a large area of land to the southeast of Doncaster, in Yorkshire, England, over in size. History One of the earliest references to Potteric Carr comes from the itinerary of Leland c.1540: As Leland travelled into Doncast ...

to the south.

Wildlife

Many species of bird and fish have established themselves here and the nearby Potteric Carr Nature Reserve, which offers bat, spider and other guided tours, has included this area in its extended walks about wildlife in the area.

Birds

Several species have been recorded here, including

Gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

Canada Geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is ...

, Moorhens,

Cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

Tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird men ...

s, Northern Shovellers,

Gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...

Coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usuall ...

Great crested Grebe The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds noted for its elaborate mating display. Taxonomy The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in ...

Sand Martin The sand martin (''Riparia riparia''), also known as the bank swallow (in the Americas), collared sand martin, or common sand martin, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the ...

Temminck's Stint Temminck's stint (''Calidris temminckii'') is a small wader. This bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by ...

and Pochards. Raptors have also been seen here, including

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

Kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour ...

and

Horned owl The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for the Eurasian eagle-owl. This genus contains 19 species that ...

. This lake is home to a flock of

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, ho ...

s which have the gene for

leucism Leucism () is a wide variety of conditions that result in the partial loss of pigmentation in an animal—causing white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes. It is occasionally spelled ' ...

. In around 1800 some swans were brought in from Poland and were called Polish swans. At first, they were thought to be a new species, which was named ''cygnus immutabilis''. Compared to normal mute swans, these swans are whiter, and their legs are pinkish, not dark. Later, modern science discovered the variant in the swans' DNA and confirmed that it was not a new species but a different

allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...

Bats

After sunset the resident bats show themselves.

Pipistrelle ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the genus has been consi ...

Noctule ''Nyctalus'' is a genus of vespertilionid bats commonly known as the noctule bats. They are distributed in the temperate and subtropical areas of Europe, Asia and North Africa. There are eight species within this genus: *Birdlike noctule, ''Nyc ...

, Daubentons, Brandts and Natterers have been heard on walks around Lakeside.

Sports and recreation

A popular path for walkers, joggers and cyclists surrounds the lake. It follows the perimeter of the lake and is about 2 miles (3.5 kilometres) long. Annual water sports events take place here, to the irritation of nature lovers and interest groups. Annual dragon boat racing has also been promoted. Various groups have used the lakeside track as cycling tours for their events.

Conservation

This area is monitored by the Lakeside Wildlife Action Group. Other groups include Birdwatch, Swanwatch, Butterflywatch, Frogwatch, as well as walking and cycling groups. The Lakeside Wildlife Action Group recently erected informative notice boards, sponsored by a local accounting firm. Other notice boards feature walking/cycle path, location map, scan codes and walking trials and these boards are managed by Doncaster Metropoliton Borough council.

References

{{Reflist Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster