Coln Country Park aka Bowmoor SC

My family are all mad keen on dinghy sailing, which means many weekends are taken up with them racing or training at their club. Happily, the club is based in the Cotswold Water Park, and so while they’re all getting wet and tearing around in boats, I get to spend time finding out what birds are around this, and the adjacent, lakes. It’s a really good habitat for both waterbirds and lots else besides; and in winter the numbers of wildfowl (especially Wigeon) can be very large. The hedgerows around the lakes can also be very productive for finches, tits, and other smaller passerines. The occasional military aircraft taking off from nearby RAF Fairford doesn’t seem to put the them off for long!

I spent about three hours there today, checking out pits 125, 126 and Whelford Pools. I counted 168 Wigeon, at least 100 Coot, four Teal, an impressive gang of around 30 Shoveler, probably 70+ Gadwall, three Goosanders, forty-odd Cormorants, and a similar number of Tufted Duck. Off the water, a single Green Woodpecker, plenty of flocks of Goldfinches, a single Redwing, a Goldcrest and the usual gaggle of mixed Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits kept things interesting. Overall I recorded 34 different species, which compares well to the 19 I recorded in the woods yesterday.

The light wasn’t great for photos, but I did manage this slightly atmospheric snap of Whelford Pools. Any attempts at photographing the birds themselves were epic fails, sadly!

Zero Carbon Birding at Lineover and Dowdeswell Woods

We're spoilt for choice for awesome places to look for birds in the Cotswolds, and the temptation is to always jump in the car and drive to the real hot-spots we have around here. But sometimes it's nice to do something much closer to home. So this morning I got on my pushbike and cycled a couple of miles or so up the road to visit the closest 'proper' nature reserves to where I live - Lineover and Dowdeswell Woods.

Bisected by the A40, these two expanses of woodland are really lovely places to explore, and not bad for birds either. Dowdeswell is interesting as it sits on the bank of Dowdeswell Reservoir, and as such can produce an interesting mix of waterbirds and woodland treats. Lineover is proper ancient woodland, pretty steep in places, and with some great views across to the Malvern Hills.

Looking towards the Malvern Hills from Lineover Wood

Don't slip!

The weather was a bit grey and dull today, so not the best for taking photos. This time of year also not as busy with birds as later in the year, once spring is sprung. But over the course of about 3 hours, with a bit of patience, I found a few gems in amongst the obligatory Woodpigeons, Great Tits and Carrion Crows.

Probably the top pick today was getting a couple of (fleeting) glimpses of Marsh Tits - one at the western edge of Lineover, the other near the north-west corner of the reservoir. I think these birds used to be a lot more common than they now are (common tale, of course) - so it's great to be able to find these in my local patch. 

A single Nuthatch from distance at the top of Lineover was another highlight - I tend to see these later in the year so getting this as a year tick in early February was nice. Over on the other side of the reservoir, a Treecreeper hung around just long enough for me to take some exceptionally dodgy phone footage of it. A gang of Long Tailed Tits tore through the trees over my head as I was picking my way along a stretch of the Cotswold Way that runs along the top edge of Lineover. And although they're not uncommon at all, I was pleased to get my first sightings of Coal Tits at the edge of Dowdeswell.

Other birds on the list today included Song Thrush, Wren, loads of Great and Blue Tits, a couple of Chaffinches, four Cormorants and a Grey Heron on the reservoir, plenty of Robins and a good number of Blackbirds.

All in all, a great way to spend a few hours on a rather grey, chilly day. Always good to get a couple of year ticks!

Hello, and thanks for visiting my new blog. The fear of the blank page finally overcome (sort of), I've decided to start writing about a few of the things I really enjoy doing in my spare time. This is basically going to be an attempt to document my exploration of the birdlife of the Cotswolds and surrounding areas (where I live). It'll also aim to convey a bit of a sense of just how fantastic this part of the world is, and not just for birding. At its best, my contention is that the Cotswolds - and places like the Severn Estuary and the Forest of Dean - rival anywhere in the UK for awesome scenery, variety of habitats, diversity of wildlife, and really decent routes for hill-walking, running, and long distance hiking. I'm as big a fan of the Lake District, Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons etc as anyone - but I think my part of the world can give any of those a run for their money. There's a lot more to this place than syrupy cottages, tweed jackets, Range Rovers and extortionately priced ice-creams - if you know where to look...

Expect accounts of trying and (mostly) failing to locate the most interesting bird species that turn up in these parts; some thoughts on the best places to go birding, and what you can see; where the best walking or running routes are to be had; and other loosely related topics. As you can tell, this is very much an emergent project, so who knows where it will go. I'll write this on the assumption that I will soon have many thousands of devoted readers across the world, and that those people simply won't be able to function properly unless there's a regular dose of content on here for them to consume. And if no-one reads it at all - well, I aim to enjoy writing it anyway! 

So - prepare to be convinced that this corner of England is right up there with the best of them. And specifically, I hope this will get across the interest and fun to be had by taking time out to notice our feathered friends. There's a lot more to see out there than woodpigeons (although there are a LOT of those, at least round my house!)

Let's begin....