150 up at Cotswold Water Park

Ruddy Shelducks

Ruddy Shelducks

Ruddy Shelducks

Pit 44

Central area of the Water Park

          

With the Saturday morning weather forecast looking hopeful I decided to head to the Cotswold Water Park. The water park covers over 150 lakes made by gravel extraction over a 40 mile radius. A simple hours journey went very quickly and a couple of Kestrel were observed. The Park lies just to the south of Cirencester and there is a nice Visitor Centre and Cotswold Outdoor store called the Gateway Centre as you peel off the A419. Ideal for a mid morning coffee and cake.

With so many lakes to see I contacted local birder Bob Phillpott who marked my card to where the good numbers of birds were at the moment. His tip to take the wellington boots was a great one given the local flooding.

My first stop was a flooded field near Down Ampney where 2 Ruddy Shelducks were feeding close to the road side. They did a quick lap of the field before settling where I take a distance digiscope image. The road was flooded in places and the car got a decent soaking. A Little Egret looked on struggling to understand what all the fuss was about.

I then took the short drive to a central point where I could explore a number of the pits. Plenty of Chaffiches were in the car park and I then picked up a close Yellowhammer (first of year) and a Goldcrest. On pit 44 there was 1 Male Goosander, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 20 Red Crested Pochard (another year tick), 20 Tufted Duck, 1 Cormorant and 2 Moorhen. The Pochards moved considerably closer after a while so I thought it was worth getting a minute of video coverage given their stunning colour.

I was very keen to find a wintering Smew but despite some intense scanning I couldn't locate one. I was relieved not to see one had been reported once I'd got home. Flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare were present all over the park. Other sightings including a flock Wigeon, Red Crested Pochard, Pochard, Goosander, Grey Heron, Goosander, Canadian Geese, Tufted Ducks. A pair of Common Buzzard took flight from a hedgerow as I headed back to the car. 

On the way home I stopped at Ufmoor Wood near Halesowen for my second attempt to see the reported Yellow-Browed Warbler. No luck again despite a number of Worcestershire birders all doing their best. The wood was pretty quiet in fact, I only picked up one flock of Long Tailed Tits in two hours along with Goldcrests. I did find a pair of Marsh Tits on my Thursday visit close to the main path. 

Year list passed the 150 mark by the 1st February so a great start to the year. Big targets for this month are Smew and Jack Snipe. I have a half term trip planned to Devon and hope to see Cirl Buntings for the first time.