As much as I would like to resist it, it is that time of year
again when the daylight appears to go by in a brief flutter and the nights seem
to drag on forever. I must admit that I’m more of a summer person, there is
something disheartening about leaving for and arriving back from work in the
dark, with no free time during the week to enjoy the great outdoors in
daylight. This makes weekends all the more important for taking advantage of
time spent immersed in nature. Luckily there are some truly wonderful natural
experiences to be savoured in autumn and winter. One of these is the abundant
arrival of migrant waterfowl to our wetlands. We are fortunate to have a number
of excellent areas nearby to go wildfowl spotting, but one that has particularly
enchanted me this month is Grafham Water. This reservoir is not only important
for supplying water to the surrounding area, it is also a boon for wildlife.
The Wildlife Trust reserve at the reservoir boasts walkways
through ancient woodland and newer plantations, areas of open grassland, and
well-kept hides which are perfect for spying on the wide array of water birds.
Meandering our way between the hides on our most recent visit we were
accompanied by the upbeat “cheeping” of chaffinches and busy chattering of blue
tits. Great tits also called from the trees with their distinctive disyllabic
tune and podgy long-tailed tits darted in great numbers between hedges.
From the hides overlooking the reservoir we were amazed by the
number of coots in view – in a quick count through the binoculars we tallied at
least 500 of these feisty monochrome individuals. Besides the ubiquitous
mallards and black-headed gulls, the reservoir was teaming with tufted ducks,
great-crested grebes and teal. A few posts emerging from the depths of the
reservoir provided excellent vantage points for herring gulls and suitable
locations for imposing cormorants to fan their great jet-black wings.
We were certainly not disappointed with the wealth of
wildfowl we saw at the reservoir but it must be said that we didn’t see any
particularly rare birds. However, this was remedied on our way back by a
sighting that neither of us was expecting. As we ambled along the path away
from the last hide before the car park we suddenly caught sight of something
bright rustling in a tree. It was a red-fan parrot (otherwise known as a
hawk-headed parrot) unceremoniously ripping berries off branches and gleefully
eating them, red juice dripping from his beak. While some parakeets breed in
the UK, this guy was almost certainly someone’s pet who had made a bid for
freedom. So not only is Grafham Water an excellent place for a countryside
stroll, you might even spot some Amazonian fauna!
