Last week we planned to go to the London Wetland Centre in Barnes with my school-friend Dexter, and so we did.
We arrived at about 11:15am, and straight away went to the Headley Hide on the West route. This is where one of the Bittern's had been seen regularly over the winter.
There was nothing really showing, although the hide guide said that the Bittern was around. With nothing other than a Reed Bunting, we continued to the Wildside hide.
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| Reed Bunting (m) |
All was quiet in the wildside. A few ducks lazed around. Another Reed Bunting showed himself.
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| Pochard (m) |
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| Reed Bunting (m) |
Then we bumped into my mum and sister, who had seen the Bittern in the Headley hide after we'd left. So we returned.
We were then rewarded with views from 15 metres away of the Bittern, which was climbing up the reeds, staying well hidden amongst them.
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
Then we had lunch, after a fairly satisfying start to out visit.
When finished, we started trudging to the Peacock Tower, via the South Route, when we came across another kind birder. He told us that another Bittern was showing well from the WWF hide.
And so we carried on, jogging slightly. We were then rewarded with some cracking views of a Bittern for a good half hour. It was very happy out in the open, fishing and posing delightfully. This was fantastic for us, especially as my friend Dexter had never seen a Bittern before!
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
Some Shelduck made an appearance, as did some Lapwing.
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| Shelduck |
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| Lapwing |
After settling with the double Bittern bonanza, we walked to the Peacock tower in the hope of a Water Pipit - a bird not yet on my life list. However, today seemed to be the day. I spied it about 600m off, nearer the Charing Cross hospital, but always distant. Using my scope I spied a Redshank as well.
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| Water Pipit |
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| Water Pipit |
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| Redshank |
Our luck continued. I scanned the edges and found another Bittern badly camouflaged under a small tree!
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| Bittern (3) |
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| Bittern (3) |
We headed back at around 1630, with several more birds added to the list, including a yellow-billed Moorhen.
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| Moorhen (yellow-bill) |
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| Green Woodpecker |
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| Chaffinch (f) |
An incredible day with some exciting species. After a total of approximately 45 species had been recorded throughout, making this (probably) the most successful Barnes visit yet.
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