In pictures: Potteric Carr
Potteric Carr is a good place to visit all year round, but a sunny autumn day is a particularly beautiful time.
Potteric Carr near Doncaster is one of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's flagship nature reserves. Jo Smith is Education and Reserve Manager and she takes us on a walk around the site.
Dennis is one of the regular birdwatchers. Potteric Carr is a great place to visit if you're a novice birdwatcher. You're guaranteed to see something, and there are so many people there with the equipment and expertise to show you what to look for.
A chaffinch feeds on the birdseed outside Willow Pool hide. Potteric Carr's habitat consists mainly of wetland and reedbeds, as well as meadows and woodland so there's a plethora of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and mammals.
The habitat is predominantly wetland and reedbed so there are lots of waders, ducks and other waterbirds. Is this one a moorhen? Or a coot? If you can identify it, email us: south.yorkshire@bbc.co.uk
David Plumpton took this photo of a bittern in flight at Potteric Carr. The bittern comes to Potteric Carr over winter to nest in the reedbeds, and the staff there want to encourage it to stay and breed.
Potteric Carr started life as a small nature reserve largely run by volunteers in the 1960s. It has gradually expanded to around 500 hectares and volunteers still play a crucial part to the running of the reserve.
The reserve is only a mile or two from the centre of Doncaster, and is about half an hour's walk from the train station. Several railway lines run through the reserve and the M18 is close by but the wildlife don't seem to mind!
It's the mainline York-Doncaster-London railway which runs through the reserve so you get the occasional train thundering past. This sign reminds us to beware of the overhead live wires.
There are about 60-70 species of fungi in Potteric Carr. This poisonous toodstool, the 'fly agaric' was at the side of one of the woody paths.
Huxterwell Marsh is the newest extension to the reserve. Low grade agricultural land was excavated, landscaped and flooded to create this wetland reedbed habitat. It opened to the public in June 2008 and the octagonal hide is already very popular.
View from the Piper Marsh hide at Potteric Carr. Volunteers in the distance can be seen doing their annual job of cutting back the reeds.
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