Trip reports
Mid-week Walk - Staines Reservoirs - by Peter Hambrook
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Despite the cold conditions a hardy few turned out for this walk on what is one of the most exposed sites in the area. In the trees around the car park three redwings and a song thrush moved around restlessly before flying off into the nearby housing estate. We had been warned in advance that work was ongoing to replace some of the fencing here and there was a lot of churned up mud on the ramp leading to the footpath that crosses the dividing bund between the two basins. Fortunately the footpath itself had been kept clear by the hardy workers who were replacing the old concrete panelled fencing with new, high, galvanised, spiky units. Hopefully this will not be extended all the way across or bird watching here will be nigh-on impossible.
Once clear of the new fencing, the full force of the wind hit us, probably gusting to 30mph or more from a very cold north-easterly direction. Not surprisingly, most of the wildfowl were sheltering in the lee of the banks and notable amongst these was a large number of wigeon which were feeding on the grassy areas. A solitary common sandpiper gave brief views before moving out of sight. Venturing further along we picked up a small flock of meadow pipits and amongst the coots a couple of female ruddy ducks were found. A distant grebe on the south basin was identified as a black-necked, although it wasn't the most satisfying view ever. A search for the reported female scaup found only two well marked female tufted ducks which, despite showing a lot of white around the base of the bill, also clearly showed the tuft on the head which is the best way to separate these two very similar species. A number of goldeneye were braving the conditions on the open water, while shovellers could be seen in the distance against the northern bank.
By now the conditions had deteriorated further and it was difficult to keep the scopes steady, so we headed back to the cars, pausing to admire a hunting kestrel on the way. You had to admire the fencers who were still working in the, now very cold, conditions.
Peter Hambrook