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Trent Country Park · Walthamstow Reservoirs

22-23 March 2002

Observers: Alistair Simpson & F. Simpson

Highlights: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Mandarin & Ruddy Duck.

Saturday 23 March 2002
Trent Country Park > Middlesex Filter Beds Nature Reserve > Hackney Marshes & River Lee
Cool, partly cloudy with plenty of sunshine, light S wind.

TRENT COUNTRY PARK (TQ 290097)
Extensive mixture of woodland, parkland, farmland and small lakes. Nuthatch (9 observed) (4 singing mm). Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (3 calling/drumming birds heard). Great Spotted Woodpecker (2 drumming/3 calling). Green Woodpecker (2 heard calling). Treecreeper (2 prs observed). Chiffchaff (4-5 singing mm). Jay (3 heard calling). Siskin: small group, possibly c5, heard calling. Mandarin: pair on the larger lake at (TQ 290976), (5mm/1f) on the pool beside the main drive (TQ 283969). Other species noted: Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Goldcrest, Canada Goose, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Song Thrush, Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Kestrel, Chaffinch, Greenfinch. Comma (1) (TQ 289977), Small Tortoiseshell (1) (TQ 284972).

MIDDLESEX FILTER BEDS NATURE RESERVE (TQ 359865)
Small mosaic of open water, reed beds, scrub, wet woodland and brickwork. Green Woodpecker (calling). Chiffchaff (singing m), Mistle Thrush (calling), Coot (1), Moorhen (heard), Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Dunnock and Blackbird.

HACKNEY MARSHES & RIVER LEE
Former marshes now a massive complex of football pitches, tree and scrub-lined tidal river. Teal (23), Gadwall (pr), Grey Heron (4), Green Woodpecker (calling), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1). Also noted: Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit nest.

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Sunday 24 March 2002
Walthamstow Reservoirs.

Man-made basins surrounded by hawthorn and willow scrub and a few mature trees with areas of short turf and rough grassland. Willow Warbler, Shelduck, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Coot, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Linnet, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Great Crested Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Little Grebe, Kestrel, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Shoveler, Goldeneye, Great Black-backed Gull, House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Starling, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Carrion Crow.Grey Wagtails (pair) on the River Lea Diversion Channel. A third bird flew in but was quickly seen off. Reservoir No.1: Well grown young in the Grey Heron colony. Great Crested Grebe (2prs), Tufted Duck (17), Pochard (9). Reservoir No. 2: Well grown young in the Grey Heron colony. Great Crested Grebe (3prs), Reed Bunting (singing m), Pochard (1). Reservoir No.3: Great Crested Grebe (1pr), Tufted Duck (52), Little Grebe (2), Pochard (3). East Warwick Reservoir: Shelduck (pr) on the island in front of the new hide. Ruddy Duck (1st W), Gadwall (pr), Great Crested Grebe (3prs), Tufted Duck (52), Great Black-backed Gull (1), Pied Wagtail (1). West Warwick Reservoir: Shoveler (5), Goldeneye (f), Reed Bunting (singing m). Willow Warbler calling from scrub along the Lea by East Warwick Reservoir. Peacock on nettles and giant hogweed at (TQ34708889). Red Admiral passed closed by (TQ34708889). Small White (TQ 34748893). Small Tortoiseshell (TQ 3488) Reservoir No.4: Observed the large Cormorant colony. No nestlings visible yet. Several birds with as much white facial plumage as the sinensis race. Great Crested Grebe (3prs+1). Tufted Duck (23).

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