Blashford Lakes

Heavy rain and high winds was a feature of the weather in the week up to our visit to Blashford Lakes but because of our influence over the weather, or perhaps just good luck, the winds had died down and the rain managed to stay away for the duration of our visit. Actually Blashford Lakes is a good choice for a visit when the weather is unpredictable because you are never far away from a hide in which to shelter.
We started our walk from the visitor centre where there is a helpful guide showing which birds are currently to be found on the reserve. Unfortunately this can turn out to be a disappointment if you don’t see some of the birds that are mentioned and birds being good fliers have a habit of flying away once seen. This is what happened on our visit as birds like Siskins and Yellow legged Gulls were nowhere to be seen. There was however plenty of birds at the woodland hide on the bird feeders including Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Bluetit, Greatit and Greater spotted Woodpecker as well as a Grey Squirrel collecting discarded food off the floor beneath the feeders.
The second hide we visited overlooked one of the lakes but the sun, which is low in the sky at this time of year, shone directly in to the windows so the birds on the water were reduced to black shapes. The side windows however overlook the reed beds at the edge of the lake and it was through this window that one of our members spotted a Water Rail. This shy nervous relative of the Moorhen is a slate grey colour with a bright red beak and legs and is not often seen in the open. The hides at Blashford Lakes are quite modern and care has been taken to make them as unobtrusive as possible with one way glass fitted in the windows. Unfortunately minimising the sounds has been left to the visitors and when the Water Rail was seen at one side of the hide everyone clumped over the wooden floorboards in their walking boots to have a look. This must have seemed like a herd of elephants to the Water Rail which promptly disappeared in to the reeds. Everyone returned to their places and quiet was restored. The Water Rail, thinking it was a bad dream, emerged in to the open again only for all the people to clump back over to the side of the hide. At this point the water rail gave up and was not seen again.On emerging from the hide it was nice to see a Grey Wagtail bobbing about on the ground looking for food.
After lunch we went across the road to the area around Ibsley water. This is by far the largest expanse of water on the reserve and a total of three hides are provided to see as much of the water as possible. Nevertheless it is difficult to identify some of the distant birds using binoculars and even bird watching scopes do not show all the details. Birds such as Canada geese and Greylag geese though are big enough to identify at great distances and the Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe do venture close to the hides. We were lucky enough to see a Great Crested Grebe surface with a fish in its mouth less than twenty metres from one of the hides.
The open water and small islands attract a great number of birds at this time of year and this has not gone unnoticed by the raptors. We saw Sparrow hawks swooping low over the water’s edge on at least two occasions. Several Buzzards, which are large enough to be identified, were present on the ground on the far bank of the water. One of them was surrounded by feathers from a recent kill and was joined by another to share the spoils. Raptors are becoming more and more common to the detriment of other birds especially the weak and small species.
We spent a pleasant afternoon walking between the coppiced willow plantations to the other hides and around the smaller lakes. Coppicing is when the stems are cut down to ground level and pollarding is when the stems are cut back to the main trunk. Willows, Sallows or Osiers, have many uses. Two to three tablespoonfuls of powdered willow bark in a litre of boiling water produces a medicine for fevers and cold relief. Powdered willow bark can also be used for rooting new cuttings. The withies can be used for basket weaving, brooms and cricket bats. The flowers in early spring provide some of the first nectar for bees and recently willow plantations have been used as a biofuel for generating electricity. Willow is an all round useful plant.
Blashford Lakes is maturing into a diverse and interesting nature reserve which is well worth a visit; even if you don’t see all the varieties of birds that other people seem to do.