Looking for Winter Wildfowl

Pete

February 1

Yesterday, I went with Andrew and Nicole to Abberton Reservoir to look for wintering wildfowl. Abberton is a reserve based around a reservoir in Essex managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.

Our first stop was at Billets Farm, where a hide overlooks a reservoir bay.

There were plenty of Coot and Tufted Duck, but we didn't see the Black-necked Grebe that had been reported earlier. Probably the best bird seen was a male marsh Harrier which flew along the water's edge.

Marsh Harrier (m)

It was a short drive from the farm to the Causeway, from where we could see even more Duck, mostly Wigeon, together with a party of Male Goosander, some Great Crested Grebes, Common Pochard and a couple of Redshank. A distant Smew and Red Crested Pochard were also seen.

Leaving the causeway, we drove up to the Visitor Centre, which is situated on a peninsula with a series of hides around the water's edge. From here we had better views of the Smew and the Red Crested Pochard with more Goosander, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Coot.

In front of the hides we also had excellent views of Stonechats.

After stopping at the visitors centre for some lunch, we drove back to the causeway as a Rock Pipit had been reported but we were unable to find it. The Redshank were much closer though and the Goosanders were still present with the Great Crested Grebes. We also saw a distant Common Buzzard.

We decided to make one further stop at Billet's farm and were pleased to see a large flock of ducks and Coot not far from the bank. Searching through these we found 4 male Red Crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Pochard and best of all, a Canvasback. The Canvasback is the American version of our Pochard and looks very similar except that it is slightly bigger and has a black bill. The birds were actively feeding so it was quite difficult to keep track but it would just pop into view before diving again.

Canvasback (m) Photo by Eric Ellingson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericellingson/)

Red Crested Pochard (m) amongst a flock of Coot

During our trip, we also recorded 7 species of gulls: Black-headed, Common, Greater and Lesser Black-backed, Herring, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls.

So we set off for home after a very good day of birdwatching. Thanks to Nicole and Andrew for their company and for driving me there and back.