Visit to Moore Nature Reserve 27th March 2012

Visit to Moore Nature Reserve 27th March 2012

We had recently been to Moore Nature Reserve with the birding group and we had seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the woods near the Lapwing Lane end of Lapwing Lake (on the path that leads down to Canal Bed Hide. We wondered if we could get a second viewing of this bird but we also wanted to have a wander around the further reaches of the site that the birding group does not usually go to. Since it was a beautiful sunny day it seemed like a good day to do this. We parked up and immediately walked down to where we had seen the Woodpecker. There were some birders and photographers hanging around there but the bird had not been seen yet that day. We thought that we could drop back later to check again so we walked down to the the Canal Bed Hide. The numbers of water birds has dropped off a bit but there were lots of Tufted Ducks and Gulls, Swans and Mallards. We walked back up the path and turned left where we had seen the Woodpecker and walked round that little copse turning left again at Lapwing Lane and dropping in at the  Feeding Station Hide. There were Tits, Reed Buntings and Chaffinches –  few Mallard and lots of Squirrels ! Otherwise it was quite quiet.

We tried turning left out of that hide and walking around the far edge of the reserve but the path was closed for “bridge repairs” so we had to come back on ourselves and turn left at the path where the other birders were still looking in vain for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We walked along the edge of Middle Moss Wood where we saw a Song Thrush, various Blackbirds and the odd Robin. We turned right at the end and walked along the edge of the meadows at the edge of Birchwood Pool and we stopped at the Birchwood Pool West Hide. From here we could see a couple of Oystercatchers, two pairs of roosting Gadwall, a pair of Teal and a few Tufted Ducks. We also spotted a couple of Little Grebes and in the trees at the far edge of the pool a Buzzard was roosting in the trees and a couple were swooping around in the air.

We came away from that hide and stopped briefly to look at the big Rookery in the woods opposite before turning round the edge of Birchwood Pool. We stopped briefly at Birchwood Pool East Hide but this is just a slightly different view of the same birds. We did see a few more Gadwall on this side of the island but otherwise it was much the same birds. We continued on along the path to the side of Birch Wood where we saw a Chiffchaff but heard many more. We stopped next at the Pump House Hide which is usually beyond the range of the birding group but we wanted to explore the further reaches of the site so we continued on past the Pump House Pool and then turned left to Colin’s Hide and from there we followed the path around the outside of the site with Moss Wood on our right. Eventually you come to a long straight path with a narrow strip of water to your left and as we walked down that path we heard a Pheasant. This path eventually ends with a sharp right turn as you come back along the main path with the Eastern Reedbed on your left. A bit further down this track you can turn right and you get to the Phoenix Hide which is a brand new hide that is on a raided ramp with benched facing in three directions. One side looks onto the Eastern Reedbed and the opposite benches look onto Moss Wood and the Pump House Pool. Here, in the deeper water, we saw Pochard, There were a couple of Lapwing and we watched one Lapwing mob a Magpie so much that it had to fly off to get cover some distance away. The reed beds here are quite extensive and because you look down on the reeds I imagine that it would be fantastic when the Warblers start arriving. It is the most remote of the hides but it might be possible to park at that side of the reserve and walk to that hide quite quickly. The most likely parking place would be on Eastford Road. It would be interesting to drive down there and try to get under the two railway bridges turning left after the second railway bridge. You would need to try to get as par down this track as possible.

After this we walked back down the track at the ship canal edge of the reserve dropping down to Birch Wood and then taking the steps up to the edge of Dog Field. We crossed back over Dog Field to the car park. As we got to the car park we met a birder who had come back to his car to get his scope so that he could get a better view of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which had finally appeared. However, by this time we were a bit knackered having walked in the midday sun for about three hours so we  didn’t fancy walking back there just to find that the bird had disappeared again. In any case we felt that we had had a good days birding and a long walk so we were happy enough to just sit down for a bit

Bird Sightings : Moore Nature Reserve