On my previous visit to the London Wetland Centre with Keith, we had been unsuccessful in locating a Bittern, an elusive bird of the reed beds which overwinters at this site. So with a day free, I decided to have another go.
Just as I was arriving, I got a notification on my phone that a Bittern had been seen from WWF hide, so I made my way there immediately. On arrival, it was not to be seen but I was given directions to where it had last been spotted and I sat down to wait. In fact, I didn’t have to wait long as within 10 minutes I could see it moving amongst the reeds on the other side of the lake and it did stop for one moment and stretch its neck to the sky.
After that I visited the Tower hide and looked out over the Main Lake, Grazing Marsh and the Scrape. The usual residents were present but there was no sign of the Water Pipit that had been reported for a few weeks previously
After lunch, I headed out on the northern side of the reserve and came across these two male Mallards having a fight over a female.
I stopped off too have a look at the Cranes in the collection.
I then went out to Wildside Hide as there has been a male Bearded Reedling winter in the reedbed by the hide. This is a rare visitor to London, but although it had been seen in the morning, it didn’t put in an appearance whilst I was there.
On Wildside this Mute Swan was already on a nest
Finally I stopped at the Otter pool in hope of a Grey Wagtail, but instead found a Grey Heron.
It had seemed rather a quiet day and although I hadn’t seen the Water Pipit or the Bearded Reedling, I was surprised to see I had recorded 40 species and I had broken the run of visits to the centre in which I had failed to see a Bittern.
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