Ducks often provide the highlights here in winter. On the 18^th we finally had our first wigeon (below) of the year, with four males and one female being seen on the water. Wigeon can be content here in autumn when there is plenty of weed on the reservoir surface but this time of year they need to get out of the water to graze, so they didn’t find the habitat here to their liking and were seen at Walthamstow later on the same morning.

Shoveler numbers were very variable through the month with birds being seen frequently flying in and out, the highest count being in low double figures. Teal (below) numbers were more settled, with around a dozen being present for the majority of the month.

As usual when the reservoir water level is high, both snipe and water rail were hard to see all month despite being definitely present. Two birds which were fairly easy to see though were peregrine, either perching on one of the nearby cranes or distantly on St Mary’s church, and kingfisher, which could be often spotted along the New River or perched in the channel between to reed-bed and the first island, close to the main entrance.

Redwing were frequently seen and heard near the café and along the woodland trail early in the early mornings, suggesting that they may be roosting here. Fieldfare sightings were limited to a few appearances by a single bird.

There has been plenty of activity around the bird feeders. The large local population of house sparrows can dominate at times but a coal tit is also a regular visitor to one of the woodland trail feeders, as are a group of around six greenfinches.

Whilst the breeding season is still a few months off, signs of breeding-related activity can already be seen and heard. A great spotted woodpecker has been regularly drumming, and song thrushes could be heard singing all month.

The total number of bird species seen here in December 2023 was 57, a figure about three lower than the average from the previous five years.