cotswold water park

birds

B i rd i n g i n t h e C o t s w o l d Wa t e r Pa r k

Where can I find out more….? Gateway Visitor Centre, Spine Rd, South Cerney GL7 5TL Tel.01793 752413 Open 7 days a week Café / Visitor information / Toilets / Free parking

Who manages the Cotswold Water Park ?

Many of the lakes are privately owned by gravel companies, developers, clubs and individuals but an increasing number of lakes are open for public access and activities. The Cotswold Water Park Trust was set up as a registered charity to make the Cotswold Water Park a better environment for wildlife and people. With a team of staff and volunteers covering es-tates, biodiversity, membership, events, education and administration, the Trust manages the Gate-way Centre, five Nature Reserves plus five car parks and many km of footpaths. The Trust also works with mineral companies, sport and leisure providers, local businesses, councils and communities to create a sustainable future for the Cotswold Water Park.

If you would like to find out more about the Cotswold Water Park, and the different ways you can help the Cotswold Water Park Trust, please visit the website www.waterpark.org

spring/summer © Cotswold Water Park Trust 2014 Reg. charity no 1120518

CWP Bird Blog To find out what is around when you visit, check out the CWP Bird Blog, an excellent

online resource kept up to date by volunteers.

Better still, why not send in your sightings to the blog at:

www.cotswoldwaterpark.wordpress.com

or via the Trust’s website at: www.waterpark.org

Please keep to Public Rights of Way, especially near

quarry sites, and respect landowners’ privacy.

The Cotswold Water Park is an area of 40 square miles of the upper Thames valley. For the past 50 years or more, sand and gravel extraction has been ongoing, resulting in new habitats such as shallow wetlands, expanses of gravel, sandy cliffs, reed beds and willow carr, whilst the post-extraction restoration process produces lakes of varying sizes and shapes, ponds, reed beds, duck marsh and wader scrapes.

With more than 150 lakes, the CWP now has more than 20,000 wintering waterbirds and holds nationally important numbers of Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Coot, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Smew and Shoveler.

Breeding waterfowl are important here, with good numbers of Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot and Mute Swan, and with increasing numbers of Gadwall and Red-crested Pochard, plus the occasional Pochard, Teal and Shoveler!

But it’s not just about the ducks!

The CWP also supports locally and nationally important populations of breeding Little Ringed Plover, Sand Martin, Black-headed Gull, Common Tern, and Nightingale.

Pits with cover

Garganey Having wintered in Africa, a few of these shy waterfowl appear in the CWP during spring and late summer.

Great Crested Grebe Beautiful birds with a wonderful courtship display in spring or early summer. Can often be seen catching fish.

W

Pits with cover

Green Sandpiper Another regular CWP wader. Wary and easily flushed; usually giving high pitched calls as they leave. July and August are peak months.

Lakes 51, 47, 58, 74

Hobby Very agile, often seen catching large insects over the pits, especially in May when they have just returned from Africa.

Lakes: 46/48, 56, 68a

Kingfisher Regularly seen; though often only as a flash of bright blue, as they zip past giving their shrill, even, whistled call.

W, try lake 74

Variable Little Ringed Plover These wading birds nest on bare ground, around pit edges or around the working quar-ries. Early migrants arriving f r o m m i d M a r c h .

Lakes: 43, 74

Nightingale Around 20 pairs return to the CWP from mid April. Their beautiful song is best listened for around dawn or dusk.

Lakes: 74, 79, 89

Oystercatcher Should be on the seashore, but a few spend the summer here; usually on bare, gravelly areas, but also feeding around short turf.

Reed Warbler By mid may the repetitive 'chirucing' of these birds will be emanating from the reed-beds; sounding like two damp pebbles rubbed together.

Sand Martin From March, hundreds arrive in CWP with colonies tunnel-ling into vertical sandy banks to breed. Often seen feeding on insects over pits.

W Reeds

W

W Sedge Warbler Scratchy, highly variable song (often mimicking other spe-cies) is delivered from the tops of bushes and brambles around the pit edges

Working Quarries

Shelduck A coastal bird which seems to have decided that inland sand/gravel is as good as a beach! A few pairs breed.

W Scrub

Whitethroat From mid April fairly common in areas with suitable habitat. Quite showy; often sing from bush top or in flight.

Short grass around livestock

Yellow Wagtail Very few breed in the CWP, but regular on migration. Peak times are the second half of April and late August/early September.

Reed Bunting Summer is the best time to see the handsome males, as they sing their simple song from the tops of lakeside bushes.

W Reeds

W

W Garden Warbler The tall, thick hedgerows around the CWP make it a real hotspot for these summer visitors. Lovely songsters, with a long, liquid, bubbling warble.

Shallow muddy margins

Dunlin One of the commonest waders to pass through the CWP in spring and autumn. Their black bellies make them easy to identify in breeding plumage.

Blackcap A common warbler around the taller hedgerows and copses. While mainly a summer visitor to the UK, a few are present in winter.

Chiffchaff The repetitive 'chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff' song advertises their presence from March. Most are summer visitors, though a few winter.

W

Common Tern Graceful and vocal, Terns can be seen plunge diving for small fish through Summer. Usually breed on sparsely vegetated islands, favour larger pits.

W Cuckoo With the first birds arriving in April, summer just wouldn't be complete without them (even if their breeding strategy isn't nice!)

Lakes: 41, 57, 74, 68a/b. 125, 126

Little Egret Very rare until recent years, they are now fairly common and bred in the Water Park in 2012 for the first time.

Notes

W = Widespread across the Water Park

Lake numbers = Please refer to the Cotswold Water Park Trust Leisure Map for lake locations. Recent sightings: Check the excellent CWP Bird Blog http://cotswoldwaterpark.wordpress.com/

Enormous thanks to the following for kindly donating these superb images: Nigel Birch, Pete Blanchard, Dave Collins, Steve Davies, Dave Kilbey and Dave Soons.