British Garden Birds - Carsington Water

Carsington Water is the 9^th largest reservoir in England and is owned by Severn Trent Water. In addition to providing drinking water, the reservoir provides facilities for water sports, fishing and bird watching.

By walking around the reservoir or sitting in one of several hides you can watch a good variety of species. The hides look over the water and allow you to watch wildfowl and waders, including divers and some of the scarcer gulls and grebes in the winter, in relative warmth and comfort - one of the hides is even centrally heated.

The land around the reservoir comprises woodland and grassland and so birds of these habitats may also be seen. Tree Sparrows are present in good numbers, and Kingfisher, Buzzard and Raven are often seen.

The visitors centre has a restaurant and shops, including one that sells bird foods, feeders, binoculars, etc.

Below is a list of species I have observed on visits at different times of the year.

What You Might See
Barnacle goose Bewick's swan Black-headed gull Blackbird Blue tit Brambling Bullfinch Canada goose Carrion crow Chaffinch Common buzzard Common gull Common scoter Coot Cormorant Curlew Dunlin Dunnock Ferruginous duck Fieldfare Gadwall Goldcrest Goldeneye Golden plover Goldfinch Great black-backed gull	Great crested grebe Great northern diver Great spotted woodpecker Great tit Greenfinch Green woodpecker Grey heron Grey wagtail Herring gull House sparrow Jackdaw Kestrel Kingfisher Lapwing Lesser black-backed gull Linnet Little grebe Little owl Long-tailed tit Magpie Mallard Meadow pipit Mistle thrush Moorhen Mute swan Oystercatcher	Pheasant Pied wagtail Pochard Raven Red-crested Pochard Redpoll Redshank Redwing Robin Rook Ruddy duck Siskin Slavonian grebe Snipe Song thrush Sparrowhawk Starling Teal Treecreeper Tree sparrow Tufted duck Wigeon Willow tit Wood pigeon Wren Yellowhammer Yellow-legged gull