February 2nd 2012

The biting easterly wind made Draycote Water bitterly cold this morning. The highlight was 2 Whooper Swan which arrived with 2 Mute Swan late morning while other sightings included 6 Shoveler, 34 Goosander, 26 Goldeneye 12 Reed Bunting, 20+ Yellowhammer, Jay, 10 Fieldfare and 4 Dunlin.

record shot of Whooper Swan by Bob Hazell

Unfortunately there will be a lot of disturbance over the next few days from the construction of a sailing club car park in the picnic area and the construction of a pipeline on, along and eventually through draycote bank as Severn Trent have been granted a license to extract water from Newbold Comyn connecting too an already present pipe line with the intention of raising the water level by at least a meter as soon as possible. Purification Works traffic today was being diverted along draycote bank while supplies were delivered.