Sunday 12 January 2025
When 16 of us met up in the car park for this walk the weather was an improvement on that of the previous few days and although still very cold , it was clear with, fortunately, no wind ― the water was like that on a mill pond.
On arrival at the north east corner of Reservoir 2 we had close views of some of the many coots, mallards and tufted ducks that visit the site at this time of year ; they are of course used to people. Several redwings, a song thrush, starlings and goldfinches were searching for food on a grassy area near some of the nearby laboratory buildings and as we started to cross the Causeway between the two major waterbodies, a small flock of cormorants were loafing very close to us on the sloping
concrete shore of Reservoir 1. Along the Causeway further on, and where the water was shallower, 3 little grebes were sighted constantly diving to find food giving us very close views. Further out in the water almost every buoy had a cormorant perched on it, some with their wings outstretched, and a single lesser blacked was perched for some time on a sailing club monitoring structure. A few herring and black headed gulls occasionally also flew by, plus a raven, cronking as it passed over.
We then made for the bird watching hide at the Pinkhill Reserve. On the way in we were told by a couple just leaving that they’d just seen a nearby perched bullfinch, but we missed out with that one. The water in the large shallow pool was unfortunately iced over, so no waterbirds were present, and we had to content ourselves with tit species visiting the suspended feeders located over the water which someone had managed to top up.
On the walk along the River Thames path to the Shrike Reserve, a large flock of greylag geese were feeding in a field beyond the river and a similar sized flock of Canada geese flew over on their way to the reservoirs. From the hide moorhen, pheasant and wren were spotted.
When we reached the reservoir site for our return walk back to the cars, a distant flock of 80 or so feral snow geese were seen on the
water on the far side of Reservoir 2, quite a spectacle as they flew off.
Soon after that as we walked back to the Causeway watching 2 pied wagtails making their way head of us below on the concrete shore as we went, a single common sandpiper joined them . It remained there for quite a few minutes, giving everyone a good view before it flew off.
A good end to the day’s walk.
The full list of species seen and heard can be seen here
David Rolfe
WEST OXFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB 