Stoke Newington Reservoirs
From Londonbirders
Map: [1]
Contact: The Reservoirs Nature Society (TeRNS) (ternsorg@hotmail.com) for records, news, events and site information.
Website: HACKNEY WILDLIFE GROUP (Hackney Wildlife Group) daily news, site guide and profiles, monthly summaries, photographs, breeding & wintering bird surveys, etc.
The Reservoirs Nature Society (TeRNS)
Access is restricted. However good views of most of the two basins are possible from the New River public path, which runs for approximately one kilometre along the north side of the site, and from the main gate on Lordship Road (telescope advised). More than 110 species have been recorded.
Completed in 1833 there are 17 hectares of open water - Hackney's largest wetland area. They are designated a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Conservation, and were given legal protection in 1986.
Recent highlights:
2005: A Slavonian (Horned) Grebe on April 3rd; a Pied Flycatcher, September 3 – 4th; an (imm.) Garganey on September 5th.
2006: A (juv) Mediterranean Gull on February 4th; a female Golden Oriole on May 12th; a Black-necked Grebe on August 27th; and four Sandwich Terns over on September 3rd.
2007: Three Green Sandpipers on February 6th; two Whimbrel over on August 21st; a Common Redstart on September 3rd.
2008: Two Brambling (male and fem.) from the 11th March to the 5th April; a Little Gull over on August 31st; a Whinchat on September 27th; an (imm.) Iceland Gull on December 15th.
2009: A (juv) Great Northern Diver between the 4th and 13th February; two female Common Scoter on October 21st.
For a comparatively small, central London site set against such an urban backdrop, SNR's have produced some surprisingly good records for local patchworkers, and a strong upsurge in regular coverage in recent years has greatly improved the local ornithological picture. However, regular effort is strongly advised, and the area can be quiet for the visiting birder, especially outside migration periods.
Access is currently limited, but good views of the West Reservoir are possible from both the West Reservoir Centre and the New River path, which runs along the northern perimeter. The East Reservoir - managed as a nature reserve - can be viewed best (and in its entirety) from the recently constructed viewing platform in the London Wildlife Trust Community Garden.
Hackney Wildlife's contributors have recorded many highlights in the last few years, including Golden Oriole, Black-tailed Godwit, Osprey, Black-necked Grebe, Goldeneye, Garganey, Tree Sparrow, Yellow-legged & Mediterranean Gulls, Whimbrel and Whinchat, as well as regular Red Kites and Common Buzzards (especially in spring), frequent Hobbys over during the spring and summer, and local scarcities including Ring Ouzels, Rock Pipits and Rooks in autumn. Regular waders at the site include Green & Common Sandpipers, Common Snipe and Lapwing; breeding birds include Common Pochard, Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, and a healthy population of Reed Warblers; guaranteed wintering species include Water Rails, Kingfishers and good numbers of wildfowl. Over 130 species have been recorded at the site.
2008 was another memorable year for Hackney Wildlife Group's observers at the site, with Iceland Gull, Honey-buzzard, Stonechat, Pied Flycatchers, Goldeneye and Arctic Terns all good rewards for our contributors. So far, 2009 has proved that even the most modest of urban patches can pay out fantastically for many hundreds of hour's study - Siberian Chiffchaff, Great Northern Diver, Black Kite, Red-rumped Swallow, Little Gull, Short-eared Owl, Greenshank, Jack Snipe, Arctic Terns, Redshank, Little Ringed Plover, Water Pipit and even Red-legged Partridge (!) have all visited the reservoirs so far this year.
The site is also recommended for visible migration, having a raised panorama, with committed observation throughout the spring and (especially) autumn producing quality and quantity. Watching from first light invariably produces most of the activity.
Other local sites worth watching include Abney Park Cemetery (an excellent mixed woodland off Stoke Newington High Street) and Clissold Park (an over-manicured but large park off Green Lanes/Stoke Newington Church St).
'Hackney Wildlife Group'
Getting there: Manor House, on the Piccadilly Line, is five minutes walk via Green Lanes (or 106, 141, 341 buses).
