After recovering from a nasty cold I caught, I decided to go a bit further afield than usual, with a trip planned to go and see a very cool species. After arriving at Ashurst Station, still feeling a bit deflated after the cricket result, I set off on my bike towards the reservoirs.
After locking my bike and walking up to the causeway, I was taken aback by the huge size of the basins, I don't know what I had been expecting but it wasn't that! A few Black-headed Gulls were flying about, and lots of Coots and Tufted Ducks were visible. A group of Linnet was on the path, and on the slope past the fence, a few Pied Wagtails were feeding.
I scanned both basins, and with nothing visible, continued on along the causeway, keeping my eyes peeled for the target species. A bird on the water, a bit of a way out, caught my attention- surely this was it? A look through the binoculars confirmed my suspicions. This was indeed my target species of this trip- Black-necked Grebe.(A video of the Black-necked Grebes is now available on the blogs Youtube channel)
Black-necked Grebes are decreasing at a rate in Britain, so it's always a great pleasure to be able to see them. This individual was in a great plumage, and the first I have seen in breeding plumage in England. It continued swimming along, occasionally diving.
There were a few Great Crested Grebes also, with a few coming quite close on the North Basin.
The Black-necked Grebe was still showing on the South Basin, before swimming off too far away to photograph.
I continued walking on, and before long, British weather kicked in, so with not wanting my camera to get wet, I put it in my bag and started scanning around with my binoculars. A scan of the terns on the North Basin didn't produce any surprises, and a look on the South Basin revealed at least two more Black-necked Grebes, and with the rain subsiding for a bit, I managed to get a few photos.
As I had reached the westernmost point of the causeway, I turned around and started heading back towards the way I had come. Another Black-necked Grebe was a bit further down, and further out, a second one was also visible, and unlike the others, this one was not in full breeding plumage.
Both birds started coming a lot closer, allowing for great views.
As I had been so focused on photographing one of the birds, I hadn't realised an additional two that were swimming around together a bit further out.
A group of Linnets were on the path, and the Black-necked Grebe I had been photographing swam out to the other two.
With my train due to leave in 20 minutes, I called it a day and walked off to my bike. On the journey back to the station, I heard and possibly saw some Ring-necked Parakeets, a controversial species, but beautiful all the same.
I had thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and seeing the Black-necked Grebes was great, adding yet another bird to my year list, and a very cool one at that. The rain did hold off for most of the trip as well- not something I expected!
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