On a grey but dry and mild February morning (i.e. an especially good morning, weather-wise, by the standards of the current winter!) eight of us strolled around the lake for a pleasant two and a half hours to spot wildfowl. We were rewarded with good views of several species. That included Goldeneye which we saw from several different vantage points. As usual for these birds, they were spending quite a lot of time under the water and they were also moving around the lake quite a lot. So it is difficult to know exactly how many we saw in total but at one point we were watching two males and eight females. So there were at least ten of these special winter visitors on the lake altogether, and probably more.

Other wildfowl species which we saw well included Shoveler, Pochard and Tufted Duck, all of them in good numbers, as well as a pair of Egyptian Geese. Also on the water were a good number of Great Crested Grebe now coming into their attractive breeding plumage and in some cases treating us to their spectacular courtship display.

At the water’s edge we saw Lapwing and we several times heard, but did not see, Cetti’s Warbler. Similarly we heard the distinctive flight call of a Kingfisher in the SE corner of the lake, close to the Shoveler hide, but none of us managed to spot it as it was arriving in the bushes there.    

Around the lake we managed good views of several other attractive species. These included Redwing, Siskin, Long-Tailed Tit and Greenfinch, We were delighted in particular by the greenfinch, a brightly coloured male, when he sang for a prolonged period from a prominent position in a nearby tree. At this time of year, as the days grow longer and milder, it is a joy to see and hear some of our resident species start to sing again as they seek to establish territory or seek a mate.

Ours was a congenial group which made it a joy to lead. My thanks must especially go to committee member Linda, who took notes to aid my writing of this report, and also 14 year-old Rishan (hopefully I have the right spelling of his name) who amazed and enthralled us all with his extensive knowledge of birds, his extraordinary eyesight and above all his enthusiasm. Rishan’s contributions very much enhanced the experience for us all and I for one was amazed at, for example, how accurately he was able to pick out and count seven Common Gulls amongst a distant flock of around fifty Black-headed Gulls bobbing on the water.

We saw nothing especially uncommon today but we would have seen or heard 30+species altogether and since that included nice views of some very attractive birds it was a successful outing, I would say.

Simon Jones