Birding Group Visit To Moore Nature Reserve 6th November 2012
Our birding group visit to Moore Nature Reserve was somewhat marred by poor weather but we made the most of it anyway. As we got ourselves sorted out in the car park we could see a small group of Redwing in the nearby trees which was a good start since it was the first certain sightings of the autumn. We walked around Middle Moss Wood going round to Birchwood Pool. On the pool there were a large number of gulls, Black-headed, Herring and Lesser Black-backed. More interestingly there were a few Tufted Ducks, some Gadwall, Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebes.
Moorhen and Coots were less plentiful that usual but there were some Wigeon and a Pochard and the usual Mallards. We walked round the side of Birchwood Pool and through Birch Wood but there was nothing to add at the other hides. We cam back through the middle of the woods which were pretty boggy but we did see a couple of Jays.Back at Middle Moss Woods we walked around to the bird feeding station which had more or less been abandoned the last time we visited. However, they seem to have started up again and there was some food on the feeders and this attracted the odd Nuthatch, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits and Chaffinches.
Elsewhere in the woods there were the usual corvids, Crows, Magpies, Jackdaws and Rooks. Blackbirds and Robins also present and a couple of Pied Wagtails and a little flock of Long-tailed Tits also showed for us.. There were also Goldfinch flocks flying around the tops of the trees.
We ran into one of the locals who visits almost every day and he told us he had seen a Bittern at the Phoenix hide the day before but hadn’t seen it today. He also said he had seen Siskins and Redpolls but, of course, we didn’t catch sight of any of these.
It was pretty wet and with the weather showing no sign of improving we decided to call it a morning. We could at least take heart at a nice sighting of Redwings.
Bird Sightings : Moore Nature Reserve
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Wigeon | 30 |
| Gadwall | 6 |
| Mallard | 20 |
| Pochard | 1 |
| Tufted Duck | 20 |
| Little Grebe | 2 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 2 |
| Kestrel | 1 |
| Moorhen | 2 |
| Coot | 8 |
| Black-headed Gull | 30 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 20 |
| Herring Gull | 10 |
| Magpie | 8 |
| Jay | 2 |
| Jackdaw | 12 |
| Rook | 12 |
| Carrion Crow | 6 |
| Blue Tit | 8 |
| Great Tit | 8 |
| Coal Tit | 6 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 8 |
| Nuthatch | 1 |
| Blackbird | 4 |
| Redwing | 6 |
| Robin | 4 |
| Pied Wagtail | 2 |
| Chaffinch | 12 |
| Goldfinch | 12 |