Reader
Well-known member
The weather report for today was excellent and I wasn’t going to waste it. I only had the morning to go birding as I wanted to look through the jobs page in the Birmingham paper that came out at midday.
One of the more productive spots that were being reported was Draycote reservoir, which is just about 30 miles from me. Setting out at 07:30 I was soon witnessing a brilliant sunrise as I passed Birmingham International Airport. As usual the road is that busy that there is nowhere to stop to take photos and the fiery sky had to go without a photographic memory for me to keep.
By the time I reached Draycote reservoir it was awash in sunlight. There were 3 target birds for me to go after but whatever birds seen this place is a great place to drive around. You are supposed to be a permit holder to drive around but I have yet to be approached by anyone other than other birders here. This is a huge reservoir that I only visit a couple of times a year, usually at the end of the year or at the beginning. If anyone is interested in going there you will find all the info you need by clicking onto:
http://www.agug98.care4free.net/draycote_reservoir.htm
Turning right as you near the reservoir you drop down below a grass bank. You come to various passing places and at each one I stopped and walked up the bank to see what was about. First birds to take flight were a party of about 30 Lapwings. Great crested Grebes were everywhere and by the time I had left I estimated that there must have been well over 300 of them on the water. Tufted duck and quite a few Goldeneye and Goosander could be seen but the sun was almost directly into my face so taking shots of them was out of the question. At the end of the first track is Toft Bay where plenty of differing wildfowl can be seen including huge numbers of Wigeon, Mallard, Tufted together with a party of about 30 Ruddy ducks and a few Pochard could be seen. Mute Swans, Canada Geese, quite a few Little Grebe as well as possibly 100+ Coot and about 50 Lapwing were present also. A Kestrel hovered for a brief spell before turning and dropping down behind the trees. Further along the perimeter were more of the same especially Goldeneye and Goosander but again the sun was in my face. I tried for one shot of a Goldeneye but it hasn’t come out too good. Mind you it was over 100 yards away so I have to be grateful that I can even get a shot off. If it had of been my old SLR system I wouldn’t have had a chance. I will put it as an attachment.
Halfway along this bank I was watching a huge raft of Cormorants out on the water. Amongst them were a few Goldeneye. I scanned through these birds to try and find my 1st target bird (a Great Northern Diver) but it wasn’t present, or I was missing it as it dived. I never did find this bird but what I did find amongst these birds was another target bird, a Long tailed Duck. They were much too far away to try for, as these birds were in the centre of the reservoir, plus they were directly into the sun. As I started away from the parking spot a Great spotted woodpecker flew over my head and quickly disappeared through the surrounding trees. One other bird I saw in fair numbers was Little Grebe. They were dotted all along this far bank and at the end I must have counted over 50 of them. Again I can’t remember ever seeing so many, in one day, at one site.
The temperature was dropping quite quickly and the wind started to get up. My fingers were so cold that I was having difficulty tightening the screws on my digiscope adapter. By the time I had reached the far side of the reservoir the wind was now quite bad and very cold as well. It was side on into my face, plus it was making the scope shake quite badly. My eyes were streaming also making it difficult to make out some of the distant birds. There was one other added problem. There were joggers coming from every direction, which in turn pushed the birds well away from the reservoirs perimeter.
The last turn, going back towards the entrance, is known as Rainbow corner. This is usually a productive area but today was distinctly lacking of birds. Another birder had pulled up in the car park and I got out to chat to him. Straight away he pointed out my 2nd target bird before I even had a chance to speak to him. 2 Slavonian grebes were drifting along with about 20 Tufted Ducks and I tried my hardest to get a good photo of them but the wind was beating me and every shot came out blurred. Hopefully Andy can show me how to use the manual settings properly when I next see him. I scanned the reservoir again for the Diver but it eluded me once again but I did pick up one lone Pintail out in the centre of the reservoir.
It was time to go but I did at least see 2 of my target birds plus the sight of over 300 Great crested grebes, (which I think is the most I have seen in one go) plus well over 50 Goldeneye and Goosander not to mention all those Little Grebes. It was only about 2 & half hours that I had been birding but a combination of great sunlight and delightful birds made it a welcome break for me. Thoroughly enjoyable.
One of the more productive spots that were being reported was Draycote reservoir, which is just about 30 miles from me. Setting out at 07:30 I was soon witnessing a brilliant sunrise as I passed Birmingham International Airport. As usual the road is that busy that there is nowhere to stop to take photos and the fiery sky had to go without a photographic memory for me to keep.
By the time I reached Draycote reservoir it was awash in sunlight. There were 3 target birds for me to go after but whatever birds seen this place is a great place to drive around. You are supposed to be a permit holder to drive around but I have yet to be approached by anyone other than other birders here. This is a huge reservoir that I only visit a couple of times a year, usually at the end of the year or at the beginning. If anyone is interested in going there you will find all the info you need by clicking onto:
http://www.agug98.care4free.net/draycote_reservoir.htm
Turning right as you near the reservoir you drop down below a grass bank. You come to various passing places and at each one I stopped and walked up the bank to see what was about. First birds to take flight were a party of about 30 Lapwings. Great crested Grebes were everywhere and by the time I had left I estimated that there must have been well over 300 of them on the water. Tufted duck and quite a few Goldeneye and Goosander could be seen but the sun was almost directly into my face so taking shots of them was out of the question. At the end of the first track is Toft Bay where plenty of differing wildfowl can be seen including huge numbers of Wigeon, Mallard, Tufted together with a party of about 30 Ruddy ducks and a few Pochard could be seen. Mute Swans, Canada Geese, quite a few Little Grebe as well as possibly 100+ Coot and about 50 Lapwing were present also. A Kestrel hovered for a brief spell before turning and dropping down behind the trees. Further along the perimeter were more of the same especially Goldeneye and Goosander but again the sun was in my face. I tried for one shot of a Goldeneye but it hasn’t come out too good. Mind you it was over 100 yards away so I have to be grateful that I can even get a shot off. If it had of been my old SLR system I wouldn’t have had a chance. I will put it as an attachment.
Halfway along this bank I was watching a huge raft of Cormorants out on the water. Amongst them were a few Goldeneye. I scanned through these birds to try and find my 1st target bird (a Great Northern Diver) but it wasn’t present, or I was missing it as it dived. I never did find this bird but what I did find amongst these birds was another target bird, a Long tailed Duck. They were much too far away to try for, as these birds were in the centre of the reservoir, plus they were directly into the sun. As I started away from the parking spot a Great spotted woodpecker flew over my head and quickly disappeared through the surrounding trees. One other bird I saw in fair numbers was Little Grebe. They were dotted all along this far bank and at the end I must have counted over 50 of them. Again I can’t remember ever seeing so many, in one day, at one site.
The temperature was dropping quite quickly and the wind started to get up. My fingers were so cold that I was having difficulty tightening the screws on my digiscope adapter. By the time I had reached the far side of the reservoir the wind was now quite bad and very cold as well. It was side on into my face, plus it was making the scope shake quite badly. My eyes were streaming also making it difficult to make out some of the distant birds. There was one other added problem. There were joggers coming from every direction, which in turn pushed the birds well away from the reservoirs perimeter.
The last turn, going back towards the entrance, is known as Rainbow corner. This is usually a productive area but today was distinctly lacking of birds. Another birder had pulled up in the car park and I got out to chat to him. Straight away he pointed out my 2nd target bird before I even had a chance to speak to him. 2 Slavonian grebes were drifting along with about 20 Tufted Ducks and I tried my hardest to get a good photo of them but the wind was beating me and every shot came out blurred. Hopefully Andy can show me how to use the manual settings properly when I next see him. I scanned the reservoir again for the Diver but it eluded me once again but I did pick up one lone Pintail out in the centre of the reservoir.
It was time to go but I did at least see 2 of my target birds plus the sight of over 300 Great crested grebes, (which I think is the most I have seen in one go) plus well over 50 Goldeneye and Goosander not to mention all those Little Grebes. It was only about 2 & half hours that I had been birding but a combination of great sunlight and delightful birds made it a welcome break for me. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Attachments
Last edited:
