College Lake :: 28 October 2011

Normally the sight of redwing and fieldfare spell the arrival of winter but today we had views of both and the weather was far from winter, it was truly glorious! We were visiting College Lake near Tring, which was once a chalk quarry. This was our first visit to College Lake - the reserve is run by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust. It has a brand new visitor centre boasting a large hide overlooking the whole area; importantly it also has a café.

Arriving for an early lunch we sat in the sun at picnic tables reviewing the reserve map. We decided on a clockwise walk - somehow it always seems right! The reserve was easy to negotiate and was well provided for in numbers of hides. From high vantage points we were able to see kestrel and great crested grebe. Around the wooded area we were lucky enough to encounter the great spotted woodpecker.

Overall, a nice spot and beautiful walk on a glorious afternoon but a bit short of observable bird-life. The species count for our visit totalled 29, including: great tit, blue tit, mute swan, canada goose, coot, mallard, black headed gull, wigeon, kestrel, tufted duck, moorhen, blackbird, rook, fieldfare, cormorant, carrion crow, magpie, lesser black backed gull, great crested grebe, long tailed tit, woodpigeon, great spotted woodpecker, robin, buzzard, redwing, chaffinch, dunnock, greenfinch and green woodpecker.