Trip Reports - 2026

Idle Valley

Six members enjoyed the mild weather at Idle Valley Nature Reserve after the cold spell of the previous week. All of the snow had melted but there was still some ice around the edges of the pools. We started by walking around Belmoor Lake by the Visitor Centre. We were back there by 11 for a coffee where some of us had a bite to eat. Highlights there included a Great Egret, a pair of Bullfinches and around 20 Goosander. We recorded a total of 33 species on the walk which took around an hour and a half. We then drove north for around 10 minutes to park on Chainbridge Lane. We did another circular walk covering another 5 of the lakes. There was a huge number of gulls loafing about there which must have numbered almost 1000. These were mainly Black-headed but included Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed Herring and Common Gulls too. Wildfowl included a large flock of Greylag Geese, over 250 Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Pochard, Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Goosander and Goldeneye. We failed to find any waders other than the large flock of Lapwing and also failed to find the Glossy Ibis which had been reported the day before. Highlights here included Green Woodpecker, a large flock of Redpoll, a couple of Sparrowhawks and a Raven flying through. Before we left we had recorded 46 species bringing the day's total to 56.