Elton Reservoir

Mute swan cygnets

A cold and dreich start to the day — especially after yesterday's late burst of Summer — so I bobbed off over to Elton Reservoir, the least exposed of the two locations I had in mind for today. The skies were leaden but mercifully it was a dry day.

We're in that time of year where it's a good idea to check flocks for that odd bird out. I'd made a start with a dawn check of the gulls on the field across the road; predictably they were mostly black-headed gulls with a few lesser black-backs and herring gulls but every so often (well, twice over the past five years) there'll be a first-Winter yellow-legged gull drop in for a day. Anyway, it didn't happen today. Nor did it happen at Elton Reservoir. And all the starlings were starlings and all the tufted ducks were tufted ducks. And very nice, too.

Blackbird and song thrush

The hedgerows were heaving with birds: mixed tit flocks, charms of goldfinches, small flocks of greenfinches and hawthorn bushes full of blackbirds and song thrushes. It's good to see flocks of greenfinches, for the past few years the most I've seen at a time have been small family groups. It's not going to be long before the thrushes are joined by redwings, it certainly felt that way today despite most of the trees still being in full leaf. Just the one chiffchaff here today, another sign of season's turn.

Great crested grebe

Withins Reservoir was very quiet so I decided to take the path past the stables over to Ainsworth Road and then for the bus. The fields with horses were busy with woodpigeons, jackdaws and magpies. The empty pasture was peppered with meadow pipits and carrion crows and a kestrel patrolled the hedge margins for unwary rodents.

The weather may not have been splendid but Elton Reservoir always delivers a decent couple of hours' birdwatching.