 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| In a new series of articles I hope to report on many aspects of falmouth birding in a monthly format on great places in the area around Falmouth and the interesting birds to be found, rarity round-up for the month, and events occuring in the area such as guided walks and conservation events. The collection of monthly articles can be found on the LINKS page. |
|
| February 2007- Winter Guide to College Reservoir, Rarity round-up for January and events in February |
| . |
| College Reservoir Guide - Apart from being my dedicated local patch with the adjacent Argal Reservoir it is a beautiful place pretty close to the busy town of Falmouth. The lake at 35 acres in area and surrounded by damp decidous woodland and farmland, provides a good mix of habitats and plenty of species frequent the area. Farmland is perhaps the least promising habitat as the farmers use modern farming methods and only the hardiest birds can survive all year round. Winter sees small flocks of Curlew and Lapwing visitng the fields often at high tides, probably not a coincidence. Redwings predominate in the hedgerows along with the commoner meadow pipits on the grass. Raven is likely to be heard every so often as it flies overhead. The woodland is very good for tricky woodland species especially in the winter as the bare branches allow close scruitiny of the roving tit flocks. Special birds present in winter include Marsh and Willow Tits along with their commoner cousins the Coal and Long-tailed Tits. Great-spotted Woddpeckers call in winter and drum in Spring+Summer. The roving tit flocks often include a few Goldcrest and have potential for Firecrest and L.S.Woodpecker although i've not seen any so far! The water holds most of the interest with fairly large flocks of wildfowl but lacks shallow mud or marsh. The most numerous are Coots and Wigeon which often exceed 100, sometimes reaching 200 each! Lesser numbers of Tufted Ducks and Pochard are present most of the winter with 50 of the former and 20 of latter being maximum counts (in 2006). Confusingly on the recent birdrace the flock of pochard were not present at all and I hope they return soon! Scarce ducks include Teal, Goldeneye, Goosander, Gadwall and Shoveler which though the winter often turn up in ones and twos but are never that common. Rarities this winter have been 2 Ring-necked Ducks, one which stayed until 20/01, on the lake associating with Tufted Ducks. |
 |
| Ring-necked Duck - College Reservoir - 09/11/2006 |
| Mute Swan - College Reservoir (09/11/2006) |
| P.s. I'm planning to set-up a nut feeder in the north-western woodland with luck the willow and marsh tits will take to it, and who knows what else might turn up. I'll update you when it happens. |
|
|
 |
| The circular walk is muddy in winter and wellies are highly recommended! Some of the path is covered by boardwalk but is not suitable for disabled access on the whole. On the north-western shore there are several paths to the edge of the reservoir but please be careful not to scare the duck flocks. The site is fairly regularly watched and has turned up some good rarities over the last few years including Red-crested Pochard (2002), Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Duck (2 in Nov 06), Scaup (2006), Yellow-legged Gull (2006) and 2 Purple Heron (Spring 2006). As a guide to its avian diversity; since oct 2006 I have seen around 60 species to date. The total for the site however is well over 100 now. I find the viewpoint in the south-eastern shore good for a quick visit as it alows a quick scope across most of the lake if time is short. A longer walk would abviously encompass the circular route around the reservoir which takes in the dam end at the north-eastern end. For a map of the area please click here. |
|
|
| Rarity round-up for January in Falmouth - The highlight was still the single Ring-necked Duck (female) staying from november. It stayed until around the 20th of the month remaining faithful to College Reservoir throughout. Argal Reservoir had a flyover Shag, Med Gull, Sinensis Cormorant and upto 5 Goosander. Carrick Roads held 22 Black-necked and 2 Slavonian Grebes, Red-breasted Mergansers and Great-northern Divers. College Reservoir also produced a single Marsh Tit, pair of Goosander (m+f), 3 Goldeneye, 2 Great Crested and 2 Little Grebes. Swanpool - A sandwich tern was reported a few times in early January from the seafront frequenting the coast here along with Med Gulls, Shoveler and Water Rail at Swanpool (14/01). A stonechat has been present near Gyllyngavse with 1 Great-northern Diver, 2+Black-throated Divers, 3 Slavonian Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe offshore. Swanvale held a Black Redstart reported from Priselow fields but was tricky and a Green Woodpecker showed along the track. Other sightings - 5 Woodlarks were reported at SW.775.315 in farmland. Also in the area were Blackcaps, Linnets and Skylarks. |
|
| Events in February around Falmouth - Sunday 4th - 9.30am (01326377192) Swanpool - Meet at Swanpool car-park for a morning walk around the lake and surrounding area (SW.801.312). Saturday 17th - 7.30pm (01326561952) Helford River - Where the land meets the sea at Gweek Village Hall. Meet at hall beside the National Seal Sanctuary, Gweek (SW.709.622). Clean seas, people and farming, some fascinating findings. Entry �2. Slideshow. For more events outside the area of Falmouth please visit the CBWPS and CWT websites which can be found on the 'links' page. |
 |
| Swanpool beach - looking towards Pennance Point on a sunny winters day. |