Swithland Reservoir

March 24, 2001

Below some notes of some road birding near Swithland on a grey Saturday afternoon. On weekdays and saturdays Kinchbus 123 has two connections per hour with Swithland Village Hall. The public footpaths and tertiary roads are all closed due to foot and mouth. However by public road it is a pleasant walk from Swithland to the southend of the reservoir. Via Rothley one can then continue by public road to the end of the dam. Local people walk their dogs and an occasional car drives up to the dam of the reservoir. Otherwise it is a beautiful valley, silent but for birds and the occasional wailing call of a steam train. I did not count systematically.

The weather was quiet: heavily overcast, no wind, 8 degrees Celcius. Good view.

  1. Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus: 1 ex
  2. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo: several breeding pairs.
  3. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea: several breeding pairs.
  4. Mute Swan Cygnus olor: several breeding pairs.
  5. Greylag Goose Anser anser: one flying around accompanied by Canada geese.
  6. Canada Goose Branta canadensis: 2 ex
  7. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos: > 4
  8. Common Pochard Aythya ferina: > 4
  9. Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula: > 15
  10. Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula: about 30; some with elegant and musical courtship display (Musical wingbeat and purring calls besides various head turning and stretching performances of the males. Orange underside may be displayed as well.
  11. Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis:10
  12. Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus: 4
  13. Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus: 8
  14. Common Coot Fulica atra: 15
  15. Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus: > 300
  16. Mew Gull Larus canus: > 30
  17. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus: 3
  18. Herring Gull Larus argentatus: 1
  19. Stock Pigeon Columba oenas: 18
  20. Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus
  21. Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto: 1
  22. Green Woodpecker Picus viridis: 1 calling
  23. Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major: 1 near Rothley
  24. Sand Martin Riparia riparia: 3 ex flying over reservoir
  25. Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea: 1 male and 1 female on the grassy canal north of the reservoir.
  26. Winter Wren Troglodytes troglodytes
  27. European Robin Erithacus rubecula
  28. Common Blackbird Turdus merula
  29. Redwing Turdus iliacus: one group of 30
  30. Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus
  31. Goldcrest Regulus regulus: 2 singing in garden in Rothley
  32. Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus: > 10
  33. Marsh Tit Parus palustris: 1 calling near dam
  34. Blue Tit Parus caeruleus
  35. Great Tit Parus major
  36. Black-billed Magpie Pica pica
  37. Eurasian Jackdaw Corvus monedula: 1
  38. Rook Corvus frugilegus: 2
  39. Carrion / Hooded Crow Corvus corone: 1
  40. Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris: 40
  41. House Sparrow Passer domesticus: > 5; one group in Rothley
  42. Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs: > 20
  43. European Greenfinch Carduelis chloris: > 10
  44. Common Linnet Carduelis cannabina: 10; one group in tree near Rothley
  45. Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes: 1 female in trees along road between bridge over reservoir and the road crossing in Rothley. The large finch was hard to observe being well-hidden high in the branches in the back of a tree. The view by scope revealed a pale orange/brown breast and a gigantic triangular, similarly pale beak.
  46. Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella: one along approach road to northend of reservoir near Rothley

Fer-Jan de Vries

Nomenclature follows Voous’s List of Recent Holarctic Bird Species (BOU 1977, revised edition). English names are as in BOU Checklist of Birds of Britain and Ireland (6th Edition, 1992)