Cotswold Water ParkA prime site for any birdwatcher must be the western section of the Cotswold Water Park, situated midway between Swindon and Cirencester and crossing the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire border. With easy access from the A419, there are well over 100 lakes created through the process of extracting gravel. The area of water is greater than even the Norfolk Broads and it is only half completed.
As the gravel runs out in each area lakes are left behind, with many given over to leisure activities whilst others provide quiet areas for birds and wildlife. The countryside provides the setting for relaxation and discovery for adults and children alike - perfect for a family day out, birdwatchers, photographers walkers and water sports enthusiasts.
The Water Park is a nationally recognised area for wildlife, with plenty of parking and access to a network of footpaths, cycleways and bridleways.
With this large number of lakes it is helpful that they are all numbered to ease access. Three of the lakes (34, 84 and 68) currently contain bird hides, and information on recent bird sightings is available at these hides, from the two visitor centres, or via the Cotswold Water Park Society Website (see Links page), from where a map of the area can be downloaded.
A birdwatcher can start from anywhere in the Water Park, but as a guide the following lakes are recognised as favourite sites by local birdwatchers. Please keep to the well marked pathways as some of the lakes are silted up or still being worked, and as such can be dangerous for anyone attempting to get too close.
Swillbrook Lakes: (Lake 46/48) is managed for wildlife by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Park on the minor road from Neigh Bridge to Minety, and walk through this site where in spring and summer one of the major attractions is the number of singing nightingales that can be heard. This (with lake 57) is also one of the main areas where hobbies can be seen at relatively close quarters.
Waterhay: Situated on the minor road from Ashton Keynes towards Cricklade, make use of the car park at Waterhay. From here a track leads around several lakes in the Cleveland Farm complex. Lake 68 has a bird hide. This site has great potential for stop-over waders.
Keynes Country Park: This site has one of the two visitor centres in the Water Park. The car park is pay-to-park. The park is popular with families because of the well-maintained beach area for children but the birdwatcher can walk east through the complex to visit the hide at Lake 34 or go north to the hides at the Shorncote wildlife refuge (lakes 84 and 85).
Spring & Summer
The Water Park is on an important migration route for birds and is particularly interesting for the breeding warblers and nightingale. Other breeding birds include hobbies, little ringed plovers, sand martins, great crested and little grebes, tufted duck, gadwall, shoveler, red-crested pochard, shelduck and oystercatcher.
Winter
During winter the Water Park is nationally important for the number of wintering wildfowl attracted to the area, and the park hosts over 20,000 waterfowl of at least 40 different species. These include tufted duck, pochard, gadwall, wigeon, mallard, coot, goldeneye, teal, shoveler, pintail, goosander,good numbers of red-crested pochard and several smew.
Some lakes are beginning to attract wintering Bittern on a regular basis.
Passage migrants
Osprey, black tern, garganey and over 30 species of wader are regular stop-overs.
Rarities:
Squacco heron, gull-billed tern, white-winged black tern, whiskered tern, common scoter, and pied-billed grebe have all been sighted. The area is recognised as a potential site for red-footed falcon arriving with the hobbies.
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