Weather: Overcast, misty & cold. From 8:40am.
Another trip out to the Tring reservoirs, Wilstone being the best for birding, in anticipation of hopefully seeing good numbers of hobby next month. I thought I'd have a dry run as it were & maybe pick up an early arrival.
In the car-park: Long-Tailed Tit & a very vocal Blackcap, the first of many. A Grey Heron then flew overhead onto the reservoir & I then picked out Goldfinch & Chaffinch in the hedgerow bordering the car-park before finally climbing the reservoir embankment.
On the reservoir itself: Common Tern in surprisingly good numbers, actively foraging & preparing to breed; Tufted Duck, Coot & a couple of Black-Headed Gull, Mallard, Mute Swan & Gadwall. Swallow were also present in good numbers, skimming low over the waters, & as I took a few steps along the track I noticed many were chattering away in the branches of a nearby tree which was maybe a roosting site.
Also as I advanced along the path a Pied Wagtail went up, soon followed by a Meadow Pipit & I noticed the first of many Great-Crested Grebe on the water.
Looking further along a Moorhen scuttled back to the water from the path, & in the adjacent fields & hedgerow, Woodpigeon, Willow Warbler in good song as was a skylark, but unlike the warbler I couldn't pick it out in the mist. Other birds in good voice included Song Thrush & Wren but both were not visible at this point.
Rounding the bend of the path into the small woodland & good view of a Great-Spotted Woodpecker, & a Carrion Crow on the fields, then a Chiffchaff in the tree-tops along with Great Tit, & lower down, Wren & Dunnock.
From the one & only hide, I immediately picked out a larger than average brown-headed duck which revealed itself as a lone & unexpected Pintail, it was accompanied by a few Cormorant & a couple of Greylag Goose. Whilst scanning the water a cuckoo was also clearly heard 'singing' from the fields towards the car-park but there was no chance of seeing it through the mist. I sat for a while observing the water & was struck by the noise the numerous gadwall were making which was accompanied by squawking from the heronry in the middle of the reservoir; I was also able to pick out a few Pochard & a lone Shoveler before leaving the hide.
After the hide the path continues up into some pasture & then along the side of a dried-up canal, before turning back & heading through some small woods back towards the reservoir. Along this stretch I saw a couple Jackdaw, flushed from the hole of a large seemingly dead, tree, Blackbird, Robin, & a Song Thrush which I finally managed to pick out amongst the trees, & in the woods, a Jay.
The final part of the walk is again on the reservoir's embankment, & as I began this last stretch I noticed what looked like a red-breasted bird landing on the reservoir's concrete side & as soon as I raised my binoculars to get a better look I could see the powerfully-built bird had an orange breast & metallic blue upper-parts, a unmistakeable Kingfisher. I watched as it flew fast & direct across the reservoir & into the trees, a great bird to see & my first in many years.
In the agricultural pastures that are overlooked from the reservoir wall, there were good numbers of birds browsing the fields including Canada Goose & a nice pair of resting Stock Dove which were briefly accompanied by a Mistle Thrush.
Rounding the final bend of the embankment towards the car-park were large numbers of hirundines, numbers large enough to almost be described as clouds, of mainly Sand Martins but there were also a few House Martins. With these numbers it's easy to see why the hobbies are frequent visitors here!
As I watched the martins, hoping for a last minute raptor to finish the day, a wagtail flew along the wall & with a quick scan it was easy spot it as a Yellow Wagtail. It landed promptly & began to forage accompanied by a pied wagtail allowing good views of a bird that us new to me in England
The wagtail was a very nice way to finish a surprisingly productive day. One thing about this site is to try & get there early because by the time I'd finished the car-park was full & the area was full of other walkers.
42 species, 1 new species.
No comments:
Post a Comment