A Wild Bird Watch at Essex Wildlife Trust's Abberton Reservoir, Colchester

My wife and I visited Essex Wildlife Trust's Abberton Reservoir today, Thursday 19 January 2012. At the Visitor Centre we were treated to incredibly close up views of blue and great tits and chaffinches feeding at the seed and nut dispensers.

DSCF5875 You could see the birds so close to the window pane you could touch them at arms length

Some of the feeders were positioned close to the centre's window, never have had such a closer view of garden birds - fantastic!

DSCF5981 When food is left our in Bird Feeders and on the ground too, who knows what visitors will turn up. We had a very pheasant time watching, excuse the pun.

A pheasant also fed on the ground the seeds and nuts from the bird feeders, as did moorhens and blackbirds. An occasional grey squirrel climbed up to the nut feeder to have its share.

DSCF5933 Great Tit
DSCF5921 and DSCF5925 Moorhens 

After having a look around the shop, spoke to the centre staff and picked up our permits it was time to explore the reservoir, also from the hides. The Roy King hide faces outward towards what appears to be a sandbank where cormorants roost. Other wildfowl seen included tufted ducks, great crested grebes, common gulls, black headed gulls, the larger great black backed gull, mute swans, a few wigeon and ravens.

DSCF5983 Chaffinch on feeder

Further up the reservoir another hide faces southeastward looking into a smaller bay and headland. As dusk was setting in, we realised just how many cormorants (probably hundreds) actually do roost here overnight as they arrived in their 12s and 15s. Many of them flew towards the sandbank in front of the Roy King hide whilst many others headed towards the grounds surrounding the narrower southern end of the reservoir of which the Great Wigborough-Colchester road goes through. It was an incredible sight, in the backdrop of the lowering sun.

As dusk advanced we headed back towards the visitor centre, there was another surprise in store. Two short-eared owls flew towards us and settled onto the grassland facing the new visitor centre which is hoped will be open next month. Our first ever sighting!

Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve is undergoing some changes at present, with plans in the next two years or so to increase the capacity of the reservoir to hold another 15 billion litres of water, that's a height increase of 3 metres from its current level which is expected to be fully functional by 2014. The Reserve remains open as normal throughout construction work

After leaving the visitor centre, in the backdrop of the red/crimson sunset sky, from the Great Wigborough road we saw a kestrel hovering for prey such as voles and mice.

A day well spent for both of us.

Sightings
At the Visitor Centre we saw Pheasant, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Magpie, Mallard, moorhen.

Grey squirrel

Abberton Reservoir: Black Headed gull, common gull, great black backed gull, great crested grebe (x2), mute swan, tufted duck, cormorant, raven (x2), wigeon

Access route Roy King Hide to Visitor Centre
•Short Eared Owl x2

Southern end of Reservoir from Great Wigborough road
•Kestrel

Links
For further information about Essex Wildlife Trust Abberton Reservoir visit the website http://www.essexwt.org.uk/visitor_centres__nature_reserves/abberton...

Essex & Suffolk Water
http://www.eswater.co.uk

Michael Wood
Thursday 19 January 2012