Cloudy but bright with a very strong wind for our visit to Cheddar Reservoir. The car park was packed I guess because it was a Sunday a lot of folk were out for their pre dinner walk plus their dogs!
Part of the reservoir was taken up by a Pike fishing competition and the sailing club had boats out on the water so our visit was not a quiet one.
On arrival we quickly spotted the beautiful female Mandarin in with some Mallards. Didn't realise how small the Mandarin is compared to a Mallard. Not too far away a Red Crested Pochard came into view and then we spotted a lone female Goldeneye. Not bad for the first 10 minutes!
We eventually walked twice around the reservoir taking in the stunning views along the way and looking out for wildlife. Really good to see large numbers of Pochard here along with Tufted Ducks, Great Crested Grebes and huge numbers of Coot. Really love watching the way Coots seem to run across water often to give chase to a rival. Great to notice a Peregrine fly high over the reservoir and on to distant fields.
21 species of birds seen on an enjoyable walk - you just don't know what you may find on the reservoir!
Beautiful female Mandarin Duck
A Peregrine flew over the reservoir
No comments:
Post a Comment