Alton Water - 30/6/2020

With water stretching to the horizon, Alton Water can be termed as big. Acres of birdless water also mean the place is difficult to birdwatch. There are few viewpoints and the birds are often distant specks on the water. It takes a lot of time and a lot of walking to get to these viewpoints, but its usually worth it.
In the time it took me to see a meager total of birds here, I could have completed a circuit of Minsmere and have seen a lot more. However most places aren't Minsmere, and there were still birds present today and I was able to get some decent photos, so I can't complain.

COMMON TERNS on a tern raft

Alton Water is a unique habitat for Suffolk. Manmade, it is by far the largest body of freshwater in the county, the only expanse of any note. It is bordered by forest plantations which are maturing into proper woodlands, places that are full of the twitterings of small birds.
The water is the main county site for GREAT CRESTED GREBE, with a large population present whatever the time of year, with a small number breeding. This is a bird of deep water, feeding on the small fish that populate the reservoir.
The other bird its important for is its population of COMMON TERNS. This agile and acrobatic bird graces the water in large numbers as they look for food to feed their chicks, nesting on specially prepared rafts floating on the reservoir. The causeway is a great place to see them as they dance through the air all around you in good numbers.

A pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBE, Larchwood Hides

For ease I'll split the reservoir in four - the Northern Hides; the Tail; the Larchwood Hides and the Visitor's Centre.
The Northern Hides are usually my first port of call. A half hour walk from the nearest car park through some peaceful woodland, you don't see a soul, but then as you approach the hides, you begin to hear it. The closer and closer you get, the more this huge cacophony hits you. Lots of birds all falling over each other. This is the TERN and GULL colony, which nest on rafts that the hides overlook. Never the most peaceful of birds they squabble amongst each other in a noisy manner.

TERNS perched on the edge of one of their breeding rafts

There are three rafts in front of the hides. COMMON TERNS nest in them, the chicks at the moment are fairly newly hatched and are quite small. Compare that to the earlier nesting BLACK HEADED GULLS, whose young dwarf the terns, and are soon to fledge. The rafts can hold around ten chicks, but it was quite hard to count with all the coming and goings.

CORMORANTS airing their wings out, North Hides

The reservoir water levels are higher than last year. Usually several islands appear around this time of year, in front of the hides, whose muddy margins attract migrant WADERS to stop and feed. Today there was only one small area, but this was enough to attract a single GREEN SANDPIPER. The typical early returning wader, its strange to think Autumn migration begins already in June!

COMMON TERN perched on the railings, the causeway

The Tail, on the other hand, is an area of the reservoir thats cut off from the main body of water by the road. Its much more sheltered than the main reservoir, less disturbed and has more natural surroundings. As a result it attracts different sorts of birds and can be a good refuge in bad weather. There were breeding GREAT CRESTED GREBES and COOTS in various forms, from nesting birds to fully fledged individuals. There was a family party of SWANS, with three lovely cygnets, just idling round the water. A few pairs of swan nest on the water every year.

Juv BLUE TIT, Larchwood Hides

From the north section I drove round the underbelly of the reservoir to get to a new point. Here I aimed to visit the Larchwood Hides, the only viewpoint of the southern area of the water. The water sports people, the canoeists and such, don't really come this far up the reservoir, so there were plenty of GREBES out on the centre of the water.
In front of one of the hides a pair of GREBES were constructing a nest in a mat of waterweeds. The birds would share the weeds with each other, offering up as presents, a ritual of sorts, inspecting whether it was the right sort to go into the nest. It was lovely to watch, a very intimate experience, one I was glad to both witness and photograph. In the end I must have taken about a hundred photos of them.

This pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBES were making a nest

From the Larchwood Hides there was one raft in use by the TERNS, which made it less intense than the northern hides and another WADER of Autumn migration, a COMMON SANDPIPER, was using the raft to bob about on.
A KINGFISHER was present flying into an area of bordering wood. They nest in this area every year and its a decent point to look from them. Its such a shame our most beautiful bird is only ever seen in a flash as it flies away from you, a blur of sapphire blue.

 In front of the LArchwood Hides they would compare pieces of water weed

From the Larchwood Hides its a small hike to the visitors centre. On the way I saw another KINGFISHER, probably a different one to what I saw at Larchwood.
I didn't go all the way to the centre, as the area here is used by water sports people and so the water is very disturbed, with few waterbirds. I have nothing against people using the area for recreation, everybody must have access to the countryside, its just not great for birds. The centre, as you would expect, is busy with people and birdwatching doesn't really go with crowds. The centre is a honeypot site, where visitors to Alton Water congregate, even with the Covid restrictions.
The scrubby grassland around here is good for YELLOWHAMMERS, with a few still singing, some REED BUNTINGS and lots of WARBLERS.
There was a SWAN family with four grey cygnets, all getting strong on the food fed to them from the hordes of people, and there was a flock of EGYPTIAN GEESE, originally escapees, never truly become wild.

So you can decide if today was worthwhile, I really can't. I saw some birds, I got some good photos, but I had to work for it.There are plenty of places where you can see a wide variety of birds and get decent photos without as much time or effort, so it can be frustrating at times, and is the reason I don't often visit this site that is nearby to where I live.
However I shall not end on a down note. Birds are always here, our often overlooked companions on planet earth, and its nice they can adapt to live in a place that is entirely manmade in construction as Alton Water.