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Description
This reserve combines wetlands, meadows, woodland and farmland, with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and the River Tame running through it. There's good birding at any time of year and this is a particularly good site for Barn Owl, especially in spring and summer. There is a heronry where over 100 birds can be seen during breeding. Other breeding birds include Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Garganey, Common Cuckoo, Cetti's Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler. A few Great Egret winter here but you might see one at other times of year.
In autumn and winter, you might find Great Bittern, Short-eared Owl or Western Marsh Harrier, as well as peak numbers of ducks and waders. There are also Lesser Spotted Woodpecker here and they're most easily seen in winter and early spring, sometimes at the feeding station. During the summer months, you could see a Eurasian Hobby hunting dragonflies. Some of the rarer birds that have shown up here in recent years include Temminck's Stint, Spotted Crake, Eurasian Wryneck, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Pallid Harrier, Blyth's Reed Warbler and Caspian Tern. In 2021, Great Bittern bred here, raising two broods. This was the first breeding record for the species in this region of the UK since the 19th Century.
Apart from the birding, there's also the nearby Middleton Hall, an historic manor house with gardens, shops and a cafe.
Details
Access
By train - The nearest railway station is Wilnecote, 2.5 miles away. On foot follow the signs towards Fazeley then turn left on the A4091 until you reach the canal. Walk alongside the canal to the reserve.
By bike - National cycle route 533
By road - The reserve is off the A4091 (near the M6 and M42) and signposted. Take the A446, the A4091 and Bodymoor Heath Road, which takes you to the car park, open from dawn to dusk.
Other ways - the Heart-of-England Way footpath and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.