Wilstone Reservoir - 15.10.10

After being ill for most of my second weeks holiday I finally felt alive enough for a couple of hours birding. I chose Wilstone as I had to pick up my son from school in Kings Langley on the way home. On arrival a Little Egret flew over the car park as did a couple of Skylarks. At the top of the steps I bumped into Dave Bilcock who told me to look over the edge of the reservoir and I will see a Rock Pipit! So I did and I did!!

A scan of the water found 9 Pintail and 5 Golden Plover were on the exposed mud. I wandered round to the hide and had a couple of Siskins fly over and along the path to the hide a Goldcrest was in with a tit flock and a female Bullfinch flashed by and another was calling nearby.

From the hide a Snipe and a Green Sandpiper were feeding on the mud on Drayton Bank and the pair of feral Whooper Swans were still present. Whilst walking around the back of the reservoir a pair of Yellowhammer were near Rushy Meadow and a Cetti's Warbler burst into song nearby. A Buzzard was sat on the roof of a barn and 3 Redwing flew over. A field by the dry canal held at least 50 Meadow Pipits but the crop was just too high to see the birds properly! Just before getting back to the car park a flock of at least 72 Golden Plover flew in, landed for 2 minutes the nflew off again towards Startops Res. Once back in the car park a Swallow flew over.