The clear highlight of the month was a bittern (below). On the morning of the 26^th, the well-camouflaged and completely motionless bird was spotted in the area of cleared reed-bed where it stayed for about ten minutes. It then turned and walked back into the dense area of reeds and was never seen again. This was the first bittern sighting here for about five years. Most previous sightings have also been in January, also during icy periods. When the temperature in the areas of the Lee Valley where bitterns commonly overwinter is around -5 to -10⁰C, it will usually be a few degrees warmer here and as there is a slight flow of water through the reservoir, a bittern flying south down the Lee Valley fleeing a reed-bed which has frozen over might see Woodberry as it’s best option, having a good sized reed-bed as well as areas of non-frozen water.

The bittern wasn’t the only bird seen in this flooded area of reed-bed in January. Cetti’s warblers and reed buntings were a regular feature, and the normally elusive water rail and snipe were also seen. We even had a jack snipe on the 31^st, a species which is less than annual here.

Early in the month before the frozen period, we had two visits on the 6^th and 8^th from a female wigeon (above). As for the other non-resident ducks, teal numbers remained constant at around a dozen all month, whereas shoveler numbers were more variable and had risen to around twenty at the end of the month.

A regular spectacle here during frozen periods is the large accumulation of gulls standing on the ice (above). Numbers have reached four figures in the past, this time it was up to a few hundred. We even had a couple of more unusual gulls this month. A yellow-legged gull (below) and a great black-backed gull were both seen on the 30^th. As often happens with large gulls they could be seen briefly having a wash on this reservoir but were much more likely to be seen over the road on the west reservoir.

Other regular sightings through January were sparrowhawk and peregrine, a kingfisher was a daily visitor for most of the month but sightings tailed off at the end of the month. Redwings were commonly seen along the woodland trail and in trees near the café.

The total number of bird species seen here in January 2024 was 58, slightly above the average of the last five years but well below the 64 species in each of 2017 and 2018.