Birds

Birds

From over 20,000 wintering waterbirds and 21,000 wintering gulls, to large numbers of breeding warblers, Little Ringer Plover, Common Tern, Bittern and Great White Egret, the Cotswold Lakes holds a plethora of opportunities for either the amateur birdwatcher or the seasoned twitcher.

Monitoring and recording of breeding and wintering birds at the Cotswold Lakes is carried out by an army of people including dedicated members of the public, professional ecologists, Cotswold Lakes Trust staff and volunteers, and British Trust for Ornithology Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) volunteers.

Highlights:

• The Spring, March and April for the early arriving warblers and hirundines (swallows and martins). May sees the Hobbies arrive back, often in large numbers, and Swifts also appear, all hungrily feeding around the lakes after their long journeys.
• The Summer for breeding birds, including waders, ducks, several species of heron such as Little Egrets and a whole range of songbirds like Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Sedge Warbler, all of which nest here in good numbers.
• The Autumn for the sheer number and variety of passage birds, particularly for an inland site. Scarce migrants have included Pied Flycatcher, Wood Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Whimbrel, Temminck’s Stint, Grey Plover, Black Tailed Godwit and Bar Tailed Godwit, Mediterranean Gull and Black Tern.
• The Winter brings large numbers of waterbirds and gulls; look out for Pochard, Teal, Pintail, Goosander, Green Sandpiper, Curlew and Lapwing. Rare gulls have included Caspian Gull, Yellow Legged Gull and Iceland Gull. Also worth keeping an eye out for Cetti’s Warbler, Peregrine Falcon and Water Rail.

Check the Bird Blog for details of what is currently being spotted.

Take a look at our Bird Watching page on the Cotswold Lakes website for more information.