Barn Elms WWT London

Twelve of us met in the car park of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust in Barn Elms London on an overcast and chilly November day.  We could hear and see Ring Necked Parakeets whilst getting ready, and a single Redwing was spotted sitting high in a tree.  As we made our way to the Visitors Centre the pools outside contained the first of many Coot and Moorhen.

The spectacular (and warm) view from the main observatory gave us the chance to see a variety of ducks such as Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Shoveler, Mallard, Wigeon and Teal, along with Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe and Grey Heron.   Geese were represented by Canada and Egyptian varieties and a flock of Lapwing took off and swirled around in the sky at regular intervals.   As we watched all the activity one of the group called out a raptor flying low over the reeds which turned out to be a Sparrowhawk.

We made our way to the south route first and as we followed the path, we saw Blue Tits and a busy Chiffchaff in the Birch trees.  A group of Long Tailed Tits worked their way along the tree line.  The next two hides offered little in the way of new birds for the list but did give us the chance to brush up on our gull identification, comparing the Black Headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Common Gulls as they stood side by side.  

The bird feeding station was busy with Blue and Great Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch.  There were also one or two Siskin feeding in the Alder trees alongside.  Roger introduced us to his friend the Robin who flew over for the sunflower seed produced from his rucksack.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker also came down to the feeders.

The Peacock hide was surprisingly quiet but we stayed for a while enjoying more of the same birds already seen.  A Blackbird was in front of us on the path back to the Visitors Centre where we had our lunch.  Another Robin (or perhaps the same one from earlier) sat on one of our telescopes looking for crumbs that we might spill during lunch.

The word then spread that the hoped for Bittern had been seen from the Headley hide on the Western route, so we set off again with a purposeful stride, pausing only to admire the close-up views of the captive Barnacle and Red Breasted Geese.  Some of the group who had been quicker off the mark had already seen the Bittern, but it had vanished into the reeds again just before the latecomers arrived at the hide.  There were also views of a distant Peregrine from here on it’s usual perch on one of the buildings outside the reserve.  On walking to the Wildside hide, this also proved quiet, although there were a pair of Stonechat on the fences here which were a nice addition to the list.

We then made our way back to the Otter enclosure for the feeding session, noticing the captive White Storks and Common Cranes on the way.  These birds are clearly not yet fully on display but are gradually being prepared for more extensive viewing, presumably to highlight the recent conservation work with both these species here in the UK.  

Some of the party who had not seen the Bittern returned to the hide at this point and were successful, so that all the group had then seen the secretive star of the show.  The resident Asian Short Clawed otters were delightful at their feeding time, but the commentary stressed their important place in the eco-system as an apex predator rather than the cuteness factor.  

This brought our visit to a satisfactory close and with the birds heard throughout the day (Green Woodpecker, Kingfisher and Cetti’s Warbler,) we had managed a respectable tally of 50 bird species in all, excluding the captive specimens.

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