Here are my highlights; I saw 38 species in all, of which one was a new one for me at this site. I've now seen 56 species in total at the reserve. It was a bit of a wildfowl extravaganza this time around....
- 11 Teal on Wychall Reservoir - as far as I could tell. The marshy nooks and crannies of the reservoir make it a bit difficult to count the Teal, but obviously provide them with some nice habitat!
- Four Goosanders and seven Tufted Ducks on Merecroft Pool.
- Also on Merecroft Pool, TWO male Shovelers - I'd only previously had one there.
- My most unexpected and exciting bird of this trip - a lovely male MANDARIN DUCK on Merecroft Pool! Provenance unknown but it sounds like he'd been doing the rounds of various local sites - I bumped into another birder who said a Mandarin had been seen at Upton Warren in the week, and Adrian (a fellow KNNR patch birder!) spotted a Mandarin in Cannon Hill Park on Monday morning. Most likely all the same bird. We may not ever see the Mandarin at KNNR again but I don't know, there are some very nice overhanging branches and secluded spots around the edge of the pool of the type favoured by Mandarins, I think he should come back ;o)
- A pair of Grey Herons building a nest in an Alder on the island in Merecroft Pool.
- A very large flock of Goldfinches in the bushes around the top end of British Waterways Meadow, with a few Siskins interspersed among them. I watched and listened for ages but couldn't find any Redpolls in there.
- A Sparrowhawk flying over the Paddocks.
- A Buzzard over Wychall Reservoir.
- A Treecreeper in trees along the Rea Valley route, not long after I'd entered from Westhill Road.
Here are a couple of scenes of the reserve from my trip:
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| Path down the side of the paddocks. |
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| Pinehurst Meadow (HDR) - it was a bit windy for HDRs really, some dodgy alignment in there. |
Unfortunately I hadn't brought my zoom lens with me, so could only take some truly dreadful record shots of the Mandarin!
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| View full size to spot the Mandarin! |
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| View full size to spot the Mandarin! |
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| Grey Herons nesting. |
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| Grey Herons nesting. |
The reason I'd left my zoom lens behind was to bring my close-up lens instead, to photograph some plants - I've recently started a new course, Identiplant, which will enable me to develop my botanical identification skills to a more advanced level. At the moment I know quite a few common plants, but this course should equip me with the skills to use a floristic key properly and therefore the ability (in theory) to identify any plant! As part of my first assignment I had to find three monocots in flower; not too hard at this time of year, especially with the warm weather we've been having over much of winter. I don't actually have to take photos of the plants I find for my assignments, but I enjoy doing it and it's a good way to keep records. Here's what I found, hopefully my identifications are correct:
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| Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrop). |
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| Crocus vernus (Spring Crocus). |
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| Muscari armeniacum (Garden Grape Hyacinth). OK so I cheated a bit, I actually took this photo in our neighbour's front garden when I got home! |
FULL BIRD LIST
| Blackbird | Goosander | Nuthatch |
| Black-headed Gull | Great Spotted Woodpecker | Robin |
| Blue Tit | Great Tit | Shoveler |
| Bullfinch | Greenfinch | Siskin |
| Buzzard | Grey Heron | Sparrowhawk |
| Carrion Crow | Herring Gull | Starling |
| Chaffinch | Jackdaw | Stock Dove |
| Coal Tit | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Teal |
| Coot | Long-tailed Tit | Treecreeper |
| Dunnock | Magpie | Tufted Duck |
| Feral Pigeon | Mallard | Woodpigeon |
| Goldcrest | Mandarin Duck | Wren |
| Goldfinch | Moorhen |
