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Winter visitors to Brough Park

There are some notable bird species visiting Brough Park (Leek) at present. If you are relatively new to birding and/or want to see some relatively uncommon bird species at an accessible site it is worth going to the Brough Park Fields Nature Reserve. Recently a Wildlife From Your Doorstep volunteer has seen flocks of Brambling (amongst the Beech trees), and Wigeon and Goosander on the pool.

Bramblings are finches which don't breed in Britian, however they visit our islands in winter to feed on seeds such as Beech mast. So look for flocks of this species in and under Beech trees. They have also been seen at Rudyard Lake (near the Sailing Club) and at Tittesworth, along the road that forms part of the way marked trail around the reservoir.

Wigeon are brightly coloured ducks that breed on British uplands, and then overwinter on warmer, sheltered waters such as the one in Brough Park. recently they have also been spotted at Tittesworth and in temporary flooded pools near Longsdon.

Goosander or Common Merganser are fish-eating wildlfowl that breed in the British Isles, mainly in the north and west. We are not sure yet if they breed in the  Churnet Valley, however they do overwinter here. They can be seen in Brough Park NR, Deep Hayes Country Park, on the Churnet itself at times and probably other pools in our area.

Brough Park Fields Nature Reserve is located next to the park itself https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=Brough+Park&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=brou....