Walthamstow Wetlands

Walthamstow Wetlands had very recently opened to the public, so today I decided to go birding there to see what it was like. The journey there wasn't too long, so it could be a site I visit more often. 

It was very busy with families, but it wasn't too hard to get away from most of them. I walked up the path viewing Lockwood Reservoir, and almost immediately saw a Wheatear  sitting on a wall. Quite late! 2 Linnets and a Meadow Pipit then flew over the reservoir.

A Late Wheatear

I walked to the end of the reservoir where there were a lot of waterbirds sheltering, mostly Coots, with a couple of Great-crested Grebes too. I then saw a smaller grebe though, so I  turned my scope to it, and realised I was looking at my first Black-necked Grebe. This is a bird that I really should have already seen, but it was still great. 

A Blurry Black-necked Grebe

The rest of the day was spent looking at all the other reservoirs, which didn't have much on them, but some of the birds of note included a Grey Wagtail flying over and a few Little Grebes, bringing the number of grebe species seen that day up to three. I will probably come back here in the winter because it seems like a place where some scarcer winter ducks could mix with the common tufted ducks