Trip reports

Bird Walk at Chigborough Lakes, EWT Reserve.

Saturday, 18 October 2008

Twenty-one people attended this walk in ideal autumn conditions of sunshine in moderate temperatures and only a light wind. Much work has been done on this reserve in the last couple of years, improving the pathways and generally making it more accessible. Unfortunately in the quiet conditions of a very pleasant walk, the birds also kept fairly quiet and little calling was heard. Autumn has produced a good crop of berrries and there is ample food in the countryside which has led to people commenting on a noticeable reduction in the number of birds visiting the feeders in their gardens.

A few Fieldfares were observed but they appeared to be rather flighty and unsettled, but a small flock of Long-tailed Tits was more obliging. Passerines did appear to be present in only low numbers, but there were large numbers of Mallards on the various lakes with a few Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Coot and two Little Grebes.
There were several Canada Geese around and the main noise was from a large flock of Greylags which circled overhead on a couple of occasions. A Kestrel was watched briefly until it was seen off by a pair of Crows. The Heronry had no birds present at all, the incumbents probably feeding on the Blackwater Estuary during the hours of low tide.

We briefly crossed over Scraley Road on to Lofts Farm to look onto the gravel pits there and we did at least find one Little Egret perched high in the sallows. A Sparrowhawk was watched for several minutes as it soared overhead and a pair of Wigeon were observed at the far end of the pit, where a loafing Great Black-backed Gull was shortly joined by two of its kin.

The return walk to the car park produced little new apart from two Cormorants on one of the lakes and a Green Woodecker was heard but not seen. We can only hope that next months walk at Minsmere will be in such pleasant weather.