I had a very enjoyable three hour walk around the reserve this morning, Saturday 6th November, in the bright November sunshine. On the walk from Cottage Lane, Collingham, to the reserve and back I saw a total of 65 bird species. The highlights were:
bearded tit (beardies) - at least two birds in the main reedbed (Phase 1) calling and seen in flight. One bird, a first-winter male, flew up high and afforded good flight views before dropping back down into the reedbed. The other bird I saw briefly in flight was a female or first-winter.
raven - a bird flew south over the reserve at 11.47 am. I first heard its deep cronking call in the distance and then it flew over, massive and with the distinctive wedge tail shape.
pink-footed goose (pinkies) - a skein of c90 birds flew north-north east at 9 am and another skein of c40 birds flew in the same direction at 11.40 am
goldeneye - 2 females/first-winters on one of the silt lagoons
There was a good selection of ducks on the reserve with 2 male pintails, a shelduck (first one I've seen on the reserve for a while), 12 pochards, a pair of shovelers, and mallards, teal, gadwalls, tufted ducks and 4 wigeons. A green sandpiper was feeding on a muddy edge in the reedbed and 35 snipe were on Phase 2. Two little egrets were feeding in reedbed pools. A chiffchaff was in the wood with long-tailed tits and bullfinches. In the hedgerows, redwings and fieldfares were feeding on berries. A buzzard, sparrowhawk and kestrel were hunting over the reserve.
Other wildlife seen included 3 common darter dragonflies, a brown hare and a stoat in a grass field on the walk back being scolded by blackbirds and wrens.