A report from Pete Weisner of a male Bearded Tit at Weston Turville Reservoir on 18th Jan caught my interest. I informed Dave Evans, who lives near the site, and he said he was visiting the site the following day. I decided to visit anyway as the site is always a pleasant place to go birding. I was half way there when a message came from Dave to say he was watching the bird! 15 minutes later I was on site with Dave only to be told that the bird had flown into the large expanse of Phragmites reeds. We decided to follow the track along by the Phragmites and soon saw the bird in the large reed bed. Fortunately it decided to fly back to the area of Reedmace that was right in front of the old hide along the south bank of the lake. We moved back towards the hide and soon saw the bird as it fed on the stems of the Reedmace. Graham Smith soon turned up with two other local birders (Carl and Clive) and we were all treated to extended views of the bird as it continued to feed. By about 12 noon the bird disappeared and we left.
According to one of the local birders, what was do doubt this bird was seen 2-3 weeks earlier! Unfortunately it was not reported at that time but hopefully it will hang around for a while.
A steady stream of birders were arriving as we left and we pointed them in the right direction for the hide.
See video at bottom of page.
The lake was largely frozen
View from the old hide. The Bearded Tit was in the closer Reedmace
Nice selection Jim - Graham
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