Stocks Reservoir - 13 March 2012

I love walking at Stocks Reservoir and tend to go up there 2 or 3 times a year. The annual report (a joint venture between RSPB and United Utilities) is packed full of birds but I must go at the wrong times, as all I ever see are Cormorants and lots of them too. It must cost a fortune to keep the trout stocks up for the fly anglers.

I always park at Slaidburn and walk through the farmland and alongside the River Hodder, heading North to the reservoir where I then go anti-clockwise around, before returning via the road down from the UU 'mansion'!

Early signs were promising for a good day, when I saw a Jay taking a drink from the middle of the river. Same time last year I had seen a Dipper by the cross-over bridge about a mile out, and for some reason I just knew it would be there again. I approached the bridge with some caution looking for somewhere to sit-off for a while, but there it was, on a stone under the bridge waiting for me! It flew upstream fairly quickly so I never got to see it dipping under this time.

Onward up to the reservoir and now confident that this would be my day, I crept into the hide, opened the latches and there they where... Cormorants and nothing else! However, the feeders at the side of the hide are always interesting because they are very close and sitting quietly rewards with some good views. Today there were lots of Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Siskin.

One pasture beyond the northern end of the reservoir was full of Greylag Geese.

Dipper - so good of it to be there for me.

Coal Tit awaiting its turn at the feeder

Siskin at the nut feeder