Last Monday Keith and I had a day out to Pitsford Water in
Northamptonshire. We arrived at around 6.30am, and after buying our permits ( excellent
value at £5) from the little hut by the main gate we parked up on the causeway
that divides the reservoir into two parts (wildlife reserve and sailing). By
now the sky was beginning to show the first glimmer of light and the first
thing that we noticed, apart from the cold ( -4 C / 25F ), was how low the water level
was, which doesn't bode well for the Summer.
Whilst having a warming cup of coffee and waiting for the
sun to rise we noticed stream after stream of Gulls coming in to land on the
water from where they had, presumably, roosted for the night. Over the din of
the traffic which was now getting busy along the road, we started to hear from
across the water, what we decided were
Jackdaws 'talking' to each other prior to leaving their roost and sure enough,
as the chattering got louder literally hundreds of Jackdaws left the trees and
started swirling around in the sky before slowly dispersing to wherever they
were going to spend their day - a beautiful sight!
After recording at least 17 different bird species without
moving away from the car and watching a beautiful red sunrise it was time to
set off on our seven mile trip around the reserve and within less than 300
yards we came to a small group of bushes containing a feeding station where,
amongst others, we found large flocks of
Fieldfare, Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammers. Keith also spotted a covey
of Red-legged Partridge making a hasty retreat!
With another ten or so species
recorded here it looked like a good day was in store. Unfortunately
the birds were keeping their distance making it difficult to get any
real close photo opportunities.
Fieldfare
Retreating Red-legged Partridge.
So, on with our walk, despite the sun now shinning in a
bright blue sky it was still cold with a thick white frost on the ground. Although
there are numerous hides overlooking the water we didn't see any waders mainly
due to the shallow water in the scrapes being frozen over!
For most of the way
the path tends to be some distance from the water's edge and travels through
various stands of trees, quite a few species noted here including both Green
and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Pheasant, and Bullfinch. We were also
accompanied for most of the way by what appeared to be a single Robin darting
from bush to bush just a few yards in front of us but in reality it was a 'relay' of
Robins escorting us safely through their 'patch'.
There were still a few Jackdaws hanging around.
Nearing the end of our walk the path again afforded good
views across the water where we had a good, if fleeting, view of a pair of Goosander and a male Goldeneye.
Goosanders
I also managed to capture this image of a different kind of
aviation. There is a small airfield close by Pitsford called Sywell were they
fly a lot of vintage aircraft. I checked the registration number and this is
a DeHavilland DH-82A Tiger Moth built in 1939. I don't know what the
passenger jet is but it just struck me as to how far (in some ways!!) we have
advanced over the last 70 odd years!
So after seven miles and a little over six hours of pleasant
walking we arrived back at the car for a welcome 'picnic' of rolls and coffee.
With over fifty species of birds logged along with Rabbits, Brown Hares and
Grey Squirrels it turned out to be a very enjoyable day.
A video of the walk!
