Fourteen of us gathered in the car park at 8.00am on a warm and fairly sunny morning.
After a brief introduction Andy led us along the south side of the lake opposite the sand martin bank. There didn’t seem to be a lot of activity there, but the few people that waited a bit longer were rewarded by a Sand Martin flying round and into one of the nest entrance holes.
We immediately had our first warbler – a clear flutey Blackcap, followed by a loud babbling Garden Warbler. It seemed so close but we couldn’t see it as it was hiding deep in a willow bush. Garden Warblers have few distinguishing marks so are the typical LBJ - Little Brown Job - and even have the scientific name of Sylvia borin. Nevertheless, the musical sounds of several of these two warblers, added soon by a Cuckoo, followed us around most of the morning.
We viewed the lake from near Gordon’s Bench, which has been painted again and looks like new. We could hear another warbler chattering away in the reeds or willows, but was it a Reed Warbler or Sedge Warbler? As it rose up into a display flight and added some whistles and chirps we were pretty sure it was a Sedge. Looking back into the meadow we spotted a Greenfinch at the top of a tree and a Reed Bunting flying across from the water’s edge.
The Warbler Hide gave us a better view of the lake but most of the birds were further away so we continued on towards the Otter Hide. We saw a few pairs of Great Crested Grebes but they didn’t seem interested in displaying for us. They should have been on nests by now but Andy thought the recent high water level had forced them to abandon their nests, even though they cleverly tie their nest on to reeds so that rising water level usually just raises the nest as well. He hopes there will still be time for them to try laying again.
We had better views from the Otter Hide of Common Terns just sitting on wooden posts sticking out of the water. Perhaps they were recovering from their long migration, although it is Arctic Terns that have the longest migration of any bird – from the Antarctic where it is ice free in our winter to Arctic areas to breed in the northern hemisphere summer. The Parks Trust had tried providing a raft in the hope that Common Terns would nest on it. Although in many places Black-headed Gulls take over the space, in this case it was just Moorhens and Mallard that tried nesting there.
On the strip of land called the bund, The Parks Trust had recently cut away a lot of willows hoping for more space for waders. On the mud of the bund was an Oystercatcher and a Lapwing. Keith could see a Common Sandpiper through his telescope but it then hid away among the vegetation. Andy pointed out several Gadwall, with their greyish plumage and white, black and red patches. It’s a duck that quite recently has started breeding locally.
On the short walk up to the Heronry Hide we added another warbler – the Cetti’s Warbler. As usual we just heard its loud call, delivered from the middle of a bush. This hide gave good views of the island where several Grey Herons were nesting. Andy explained that young herons can be identified from their plain grey heads, whereas adults have white and black heads. We had the chance to try and identify another warbler in the reeds. Was it a Reed Warbler this time? We noted the repetitive monotonous phrasing, unlike the Sedge’s tendency to go all over the place. Andy said it had been noted as like rubbing two stones together, and advised to wait and see if it appears. Then it popped up along a reed stem, confirming its identity. Further out in the water, we noticed something thrashing around. It could have been an Otter perhaps, but then a fin was seen poking out of the water and someone commented that it was a “cavorting” carp.
As the sun warmed up during the morning, some of us spotted some butterflies : Brimstone, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Orange Tip, Peacock; and also a Hairy Dragonfly, Banded Demoiselle and Common Blue Damselflies, and Black-headed Cardinal Beetles.
As we walked back to the car park, we discussed which other birds have display flights, and whether only male birds sing, and Andy included some anecdotes of the time he was leading bird tours overseas.
The group thanked Andy for being such a helpful and interesting guide. Keith Gander also provided his telescope and much information on the bird ringing activities at Linford Lakes. Thanks also to Pauline and Neil Studman for being in charge of the First Aid Box.
Warbler Walk Species List
Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Gadwall, Garden Warbler, Great-crested Grebe, Greenfinch, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Greylag, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Robin, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Song Thrush , Swift, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren
42 spp
Andy Harding is the former county Bird Recorder for Buckinghamshire.
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