Description
Swithland Reservoir, adjacent to the Mountsorrel quarry is a hotspot for birdwatchers. With rarities such as skalna lastovka, kildir and ameriška rjavka, Swithland Reservoir is a great place to birdwatch all year round. In winter, you can expect ducks such as zvonec, žvižgavka, kreheljc, rjavka and other wintering wildfowl. Then in spring, the arrival of Sandpipers and other waders such as zelenonogi martinec and pikasti martinec can be viewed from the Kinchley Lane railings and the dam. siva pastirica and rumena pastirica can also be seen in low double figures, however the bela pastirica is the most frequent.
mala bela caplja, velika bela čaplja and occasionally kravja čaplja can be seen from a distance and the very rare, but uncommon at Swithland, plevica can also be viewed. The dam and the Kinchley lane railings are the best spot for watching the birds. Summer announces the arrival of terns such as mala čigra, navadna čigra and kričava cigra, which dive and dart around the reservoir. More ducks such as reglja can also be seen in summer. Moving on to autumn and the autumn migration, another great season for birdwatching, much rarer waders such as mali prodnik and Temminckov prodnik, if you're lucky, can be seen and the much rarer Sandpipers such as srpokljuni prodnik and morski prodnik.
spremenljivi prodnik, vodomec and priba can be seen all year round, but autumn and spring the best season for them. Finally back in to winter, on a late evening, you can be rewarded by the obvious figure of a Pegasta sova and a močvirska uharica, and occasionally a mala uharica can be seen perched in a nearby tree.
Details
Access
You can drive around Kinchley Lane in Mountsorrel, which will eventually lead to the dam or you can view from Swithland Lane. Parking is available on Kinchley and Swithland Lane, as the roads are quite wide and the dam on Kinchley Lane is probably the best place to park.
