Planes and Staines

Staines Reservoir (North basin)

 Location to Heathrow

Distant Goldeneyes

Google Image of location

During a trip down the M40 to London for a couple of days (to coach Astwood Bank CC) we opted to make the most of it and visited a couple of local hot spots on route. The fog was very thick as we left the Midlands but thankfully it lifted just before Stokenchurch to enable us to watch 17 Red Kites all within a couple of miles.

First stop was Staines Reservoir which looked rather glorious in the morning sunshine. The Reservoirs sit right next to the main runways at Heathrow Airport. Two Little Grebe were calling as we entered the causeway and a number of Pied Wagtail were feeding along the edge. Wintering Black-necked Grebe were the highlight but viewing was very distant. There was once again good numbers of Goldeneye and Wigeon whilst I spotted a local Fox sunbathing in the east side. Other sighting included Tufted Ducks, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Canadian Geese, Herring Gulls, Mute Swans, Shoveller and Teal.

The planes just constantly flew from the different runways. It is really difficult to comprehend how many people where flying in and out of that one airport.

Seasonal birding

 Staines Reservoir

On top of the O2

Man flu struck just before Christmas so not felt the urge to go out as much as normal. I did manage to get out for two hours on Christmas Day to burn the lunch off round the lanes of which Redwings were the dominant species to be seen. 

I headed to London on 27th for a couple of days to visit the outlaws and also to spend a day in the city. I managed to get to Staines Reservoir on the hope of seeing a Black Necked Grebe but sadly no luck. However I did find 14 Goldeneye taking refuge from the blowing gale on the North basin. Other sightings were Cormorant, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, 30 Wigeon, 50+ Coot, Pied Wagtail, 10 Tufted Duck. There was a constant stream of jets taking off just behind the reservoir from the close Heathrow airport. Most definitely a strange place to go birding.

The next morning we heading to Greenwich as we were booked the climb the O2. The weather was stunning allowing fantastic views of the river and the city. The climb was superb and certainly not for the feint hearted. Managed to notch a Great Black Blacked Gull among the local gulls and a couple of Cormorant flying up river.