Date: June 2021
Distance: 2.5 miles
Family Friendly: Yes
Pushchair/ wheelchair access: Yes
Facilities: No
Parking: 1 very small car park, with separate disabled parking which is free. Please do not park on the road, the local residents get very frustrated.
This makes a wonderful walk and it is accessible for everyone. There are some paths leading through to woodlands, which would be challenging for anyone with accessibility issues or a pushchair. But, you will certainly not miss anything!
Don’t forget some food for the ducks too!
The reservoir is beautiful from all angles and the paths are soft and easy to walk in all seasons. In winter when it is particularly wet, the paths can become saturated, but with wellies on, you will have no problems!
If you are a twitcher you will absolutely love it here! This is certainly an amazing place to come and see some wonderful birds.
Identified Species
Coot – Fulica
This is such a wonderful bird. It is easily identified with its black plumage and white face and bill. The coot will be along the edges of the water more commonly, they only swim out for food when they cannot find food along the edge. Coots have long feet and long legs, they do not have webbing like ducks. Their chicks are fluffy little grey/ black things.
Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs
This is a lovely little bird, but is quite hard to see. It has a lovely blue/ grey head plumage that goes down the neck and to the shoulders. It has a brown face, with a black strip above the bill and a small grey/ pale grey pointed bill. The chest is a pink/ brown colour. The wings have black and white bands, or spotted markings. Their tail is long and black and white.
Great Crested Grebe – Podiceps cristatus
This is a stunning bird, with a lovely long white neck. It has longer dark black to red brown head feathers that point out from the back of the head. The face is white with a black eye stripe running from the eye to the long bill. There are dark red brown feathers from the back of the neck down a little. Their necks are white and bodies are dark brown.
Little Egret – Egretta garzetta
I absolutely love these birds and this is the first time I have seen one here! In a quiet pool, there was this lovely white egret. They are long and white with a grey bill that is long. They have long black legs with white feathers at the top on their thighs. Their slender neck is very delicate looking. This is very similar to the great egret, the difference between the two, apart from size, which is hard to define when you have nothing to compare it to! It the bill. The great egret has a long yellow bill, and the little egret has a grey bill.
Grey Heron – Ardea cinerea
Another one of my favourite birds, this gorgeous large bird has a black cap on its head (the one I have photographed is a young one), with a white face, white long neck and chest. With grey feathers to the back and wings, and a black tail. There are some black markings to the bottom of the wings also. Their beaks are yellow.
Cormorant – Phalacrocorax carbo
These were the first birds I ever identified and so they have a special place in my heart. I adore them! There are a number of different types of cormorants, and I believe we have 2 here. Cormorants are large black sea birds, some have black plumage all round and others have white chests and necks. Cormorants have grey and yellow beaks with yellow to white cheeks
Elder – Sambucus nigra
These are probably trees you have seen, but maybe never knew what they were. They are classed as a small tree to large shrub. They are distinguished by the leaves. Their leave are pinnate and have 5 to 7 leaflets that are in opposite pairs, with 1 leaflet at the centre. The leaflets are slightly toothed on the edge. In May the start to flower and produce a lovely head of white flowers in the umbrella type shape. The individual flowers are small and white with 5 white petals.
Dog Rose – Rosa canina
A wild member of the rose family. This is a beautiful flower and can have a pleasant scent. The flowers are either pink or white or a bit of both. Flowers have 5 large petals with divots or flat tops. They have many visible yellow stamen. The dog rose has red spines along the green stem. The leaves are pinnate with 7 leaflets forming along the stem, in opposite pairs and one leaflet at the top. Leaflets are serrated along the edge. In the winter these have hard red berries.
Hogweed – Heracleum sphondylium
This plant is also known as cow parsnip, there are so many plats with the word ‘cow’ at the beginning! This plant has 2 varieties, there is a giant hogweed, and this has sap that causes burns. So I always tell people to just stay clear, or make sure your children know what it looks like, so they stay away. It flowers around June and has a lovely umbrella of tiny white flowers. Each tiny white flower had 5 petals. The heads all form a domed shape. The stem in tall and hollow inside with ridges and spines running down the length and on all stems. The leaves are pinnate, with 2 smaller leaflets forming nearer the stem and one much larger leaflet at the end, that is deeply divided. The ridges on the leaves are very deep and the edges are toothed.
Common Blue Damselfly – Enallagma cyathigerum
These damselflies are common and found around bodies of water, from pool and ponds to lakes. The males are bright blue with black stripped markings and black bands along the tail. The females are either grey or green with dark markings across the tail. They are small and very quick, usually in small groups and can often be seem low to the ground when away from the water.
White Dead-Nettle – Lamium album
These plants look very similar to stinging nettles, but these do not sting, They have hairs along the stem and on the underside of the leaves. This particular member of the dead-nettle family has hooded white flowers. These flowers grow in clusters around the stem in bands up the stem as it grows. The leaves are serrated and deeply divided.
Germander Speedwell – Veronica chamaedrys
This is a gorgeous member of the plantain family. It has tiny purple or blue flowers, it is zygomorphic with veins visible on the petals. It has 4 petals, one large petal on the top, and 3 smaller petals below. There are 2 clear stamen protruding. The stem has downy hairs. The leaves look almost nettle like, arranged in opposite pairs of light green toothed leaves with clear ridges.
Rose Campion – Lychnis coronaria
This is another member of the campion family. The pink is a hybrid variety and appears to be more common, the main difference is the white downy hairs visible on the stem and calyx of the flower. The calyx is long and toothed, with the pink petals protruding and fanning out. There are 5 deeply divided pink petals. The leaves are opposite pairs, are rounded with a pointed tip. The ridges are deep.
Shepherd’s Purse – Capsella bursa-pastoris
This is a tall and thin member of the cabbage family. Small white petalled leaves form a racemen at the top, each flower is on its own thin stem, with 4 white petals. The stem is either hairy or not, and there are heart-shaped auricles in an alternate pattern now the stem to the base.
Common Larch – Larix decidua
Conifer and fur trees have to be one of my least favourite to try and identify! But, once you start looking you start to see how different they really are. I believe this is a common larch, the needles are formed in rings around the stem in increments along the branches. Cones are red when young and develop in to a woody brown once mature. The tree is largely conical, with the lower branches often hanging low.
Ash – Fraxinus excelsior
A beautiful large tree, the leaves are pinnate with a slight toothed edge and an ovate shape. The ridges are clear and leaves look a little waxy. They have between 7 and 13 leaflets, in opposite pairs and a single leaf at the tip. The bark is a little grey, especially in young trees. The twigs terminate with sooty black conical buds.
Cow Parsley – Anthriscus sylvestris
This is a member of the carrot family. This has a umbel top, with clusters of small white flowers each having their own stem and forming an umbrella type top. The leaves are 2 to 3 times pinnate and are fern like. The leaflets are toothed and serrated. There are downy white hairs along the stem.
Field Maple – Acer campestre
This is a deciduous tree. The branches are dense and tightly packed and frequently divided. The leaves are simple three lobed leaves, which are deeply divided, so it looks like 5 lobes. The leaves are small and deep green with a waxy feel. The seeds are the most recognisable! These are the helicopters I played with as a child! The seeds are in pairs and fall to the ground slowly, spinning as they go.
Sycamore – Acer psuedoplantanus
This is a well spread tree, that grows vigorously. It tends to be thick, with many branches. The bark is a grey brown colour, with many fissures forming irregular patterns along the trunk. In places, where the bark falls away, the bark underneath can have a slightly orange colouration. The leaves are simple and in an opposite position (as seen in the pic), they are divided in to 5 toothed lobes and are quite large. They have a slightly hairy feel to the underside.
Yellow Flag Iris – Iris pseudacorus
This stunning yellow iris is a member of the iris family (unsurprisingly!). It spreads vigorously and will spread along the waters edge, although it is great for wildlife. It has a thick spread of grass like leaves. The flowers are bright and sit below the height of the leaves. It has yellow petals and is zygomorphic.
If you would like to watch the vlog from this gorgeous walk, please watch below.
Here are some additional photos from the reservoir
