Sawbills at Abberton Reservoir

18th November 2019

Winter marches on so time for a visit to Abberton Reservoir to photograph the sawbills, the Smew and Goosander. Fairly quiet at the Layer Breton end with just the usual Pied Wagtails and a Heron enjoying the morning sun.

However, the Layer de la Haye causeway was totally different. I have been coming to Abberton Reservoir for 50 years and have seen wildfowl numbers decline gradually over the years. But today there were more wildfowl than I have seen for at least 20 years, and they weren't there two weeks ago. I don't really understand the sharp increase as it has not been particularly cold in the UK, but perhaps it has been in Northern Europe.

Both Tufted Ducks and Pochard were well represented.

Wigeon and Teal were dabbling in the shallows. It's a bit odd isn't it that ever since they increased the capacity of the reserve by increasing the height of the banks, the water levels have been lower than they even used to be.

Goldeneye are also starting to return in small numbers and this drake was happy to feed reasonably close to the bank.

At one point thousands of Teal took to the air as this male Marsh Harrier was hunting behind Billets Farm and then wafted across the water.

So now on to the target species, the sawbills. Smew were represented by a single red-head that fortunately was feeding in the shallower water near the bank. It shouldn't be too long before more arrive.

But the stars of the show today were the Goosander which had already built up to 40+ birds and were present on both causeways.

Although it is only November the males are already thinking of next year's breeding season so there was plenty of aggression.



The females kept out of it and had a bath and a wing-flap.

They also have a beautiful diving technique.



Although the females are nowhere near as colourful as the males, they are beautifully marked with their subtle pastel colours.

Well, that was a good start to the winter and it will be interesting to see what some cold weather brings.