Walthamstow Wetlands (3 December 2023)
12 Group members assembled in the relative warmth of Tottenham Hale tube station, a good turnout for a damp, dark and chilly December morning. Jerry had already been outside, admiring the cheeky Starlings pinching crumbs from a nearby café. As he said, their sparkling plumage is reminiscent of the costumes of pearly kings and queens.
Arriving at the Wetlands visitor centre we were joined by four more members and Sue and Tony, our excellent London Wildlife Trust (LWT) volunteer guides for the morning, who took us on an interesting route in the southern section of the reserve, along some of the paths that are closed to the public in the winter, as well as giving us some fascinating insights about the site.
The scrub outside the visitor centre was alive with tits and finches, including Chaffinches and pair of Greenfinches. On the reservoirs, which make up most of the site, there were good numbers of the commoner waterfowl, notably Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall, together with a few Pochard and Teal as well as the usual mix of gulls. We searched in vain amongst the tufties for a possible Greater Scaup which had recently been reported, although Tony explained that a bird that had been a regular in several recent winters appeared not to have returned. We also looked for a recently sighted Oystercatcher, a relatively unusual species for Walthamstow, but only a few of the Group were lucky enough to find it.
Many of the reservoirs held several Great Crested and Little Grebes, while those at the front of the party when we reached Reservoir 4 were treated to the sight of a Kingfisher, flying away, of course. Cormorants were everywhere, as befits a site which is also London’s largest commercial fishery.
After thanking Sue and Tony, some of us enjoyed some welcome lunch and hot drinks in the cosy visitor centre, while a few hardy souls remained outside, adding Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest to our list. This was just as well as it soon started raining steadily, sending the smaller birds into hiding in the undergrowth.
Finally, as the weather started to clear up a little, a few of us ventured over to the northern side of the reserve. Try as we might, we struggled to add any new species from the viewpoint looking across Lockwood Reservoir. However, walking along the reservoir perimeter we were finally rewarded by excellent views of a very smart Grey Wagtail and, further on, a pair of Common Sandpipers, looking tiny beside an “enormous” Common Gull.
Between us we ended up with a total of 44 species. It was disappointing not to see some of the less common birds characteristic of this site, notably Goldeneye and Peregrines, but it was nevertheless a very enjoyable outing to an interesting location that has the further advantage of being easily accessible by public transport.
by Clare Million