DAVID'S NATURE BLOG

16 SEPTEMER 2025 – ABBERTON RESERVOIR

We were lured to Abberton by the prospect of seeing a Grey Phalarope that had been seen at the reservoir from the Hide Bird Hide the previous day; but like a lot of ‘lures’ they don’t always come to fruition. This was one of those days - though of course, weren’t to know that when we arrived half-an hour before opening time at 10.00 a.m. so, we tried a vantage point from a car park near St. Andrews Church overlooking the reservoir, a few hundred metres away uphill.

Of course, trying to spot a small bird in part of a huge reservoir from a distance is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we had to try; and if we were successful, we knew where to train our binoculars (or in John’s case binoculars and scope) from the Hide Bird Hide a long way opposite us once we got into the reserve. The light was good, with nice warm sunlight, though it was breezy, with occasional strong gusts, so it wasn’t going to be easy. But there was no news about the Phalarope on the net thus far.

Mike and I tried our level best, but we were at a disadvantage with John using his telescope - but even at 60 times magnification, one had to have doubts as to whether he could pick the Phalarope up had it been there from that far away. We could see waders, but they were mainly birds like Black-tailed Godwits, which were almost Curlew-sized waders, yet even at that distance they looked miniscule. We didn’t find the Phalarope, so we had to wait until we got into the visitors’ centre to get any news. So, for the time being, we headed for the causeway to get our birding off to a proper start.

As we strived to get the Phalarope, John picked up a Western Marsh Harrier, and as Mike and I scanned the scene in front of us to pick it up too, I thought I saw another raptor which momentarily recalled the shape of an Osprey - but it soon disappeared behind a line of trees and didn’t reappear, so I had to write that one off. Yet later in the day, that ‘sighting’ might have had a semblance of significance.

So, at the Layer de la Haye causeway, there wasn’t much happening, although there were probably 20-30 Common Terns (mostly juveniles) plying the wavelets in the strong wind, and in the distance maybe 10 Great Egrets and several Little Egrets, together with 20 or so Spoonbills (mostly in sleep mode) on the shoreline sheltered by trees. Some of the juvenile Terns were resting on the steep sides of the causeway, allowing me the opportunity of getting some photographs, but the flying Terns - being buffeted by the wind - posed a much more challenging task photographically.

Before going into the Centre, we stopped off at Billett’s Farm, Wigborough Bay, where again most birds were some distance away - against the light it must be said, so the views weren’t great. Large numbers of wildfowl were here, including some Pintail, with large flocks of Black-tailed Godwits, and a bit nearer, some Ruff, several Curlew Sandpipers and at least four Little Stints, which pleased me for the latter two species were ‘year ticks’ for me. On the way back to the car, I had a reasonably good view of a high-flying Hobby which the others missed, as well as a hovering female Kestrel.

So, onto the Centre where there was no news of the Phalarope, so we made our way directly to the Hide Bird Hide where several birdwatchers were already scanning the north-western fringes of the reservoir. There were at least three Curlew Sandpipers; a Greenshank; loads of Black-tailed Godwits and at times at least three Great Egrets and a couple of Little Egrets, but little else of much interest was found. Island Mere hide revealed nothing more, and Gwen’s Hide almost gave the same result until John stated he could see a Raptor a long way off in the distance, circling between two tall wind turbines, which seemed somewhat familiar. Mike and I could just about pick the bird up in our binoculars, but quiet frankly it was like watching a speck circling between the turbines. Luckily, another birder was able to pick the bird up in his scope and he was sure it was an Osprey being mobbed by Crows, and when we all considered the flight pattern, the consensus was that it was more probably that species, which maybe gave my possible sighting earlier in the day just a little more legitimacy.

After a welcome cappuccino at the Vistors’ Centre, (where we were entertained by a tame Moorhen and close views of a lovely Little Grebe in the pond outside the café) we returned to the view from St. Andrews Church for a ‘last ditch’ effort to locate the Phalarope - without success - before driving to the Layer Breton Causeway, with nothing more of much interest, and heading home.

The only butterfly species seen that day was a male Small Copper, in a sheltered area out of the blustery wind, and Dragonfly species restricted to a few Common Darters and a lone Migrant Hawker.