Westport Lake: Barnacle Goose

Sunday 16 May 2010

Barnacle Goose

This photo taken by Phil Jones is the recent one day Barnacle Goose that spent the day at Westport with the Canada Geese, unsure where it came from, it arrived approx mid morning on the 10th May but was gone by the next morning.

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About Westport Lake

Westport Lake consists of a large lake formed by the subsidence of an old Port Vale FC Training pitch. The main lake is the largest body of water in the city and is home to a large number of wild animals and birds. It also has a smaller man made pool created for model boat enthusiasts, with an island at the centre.

At one side of the lake there is a nature reserve, consisting of several small pools and a woodland walk. Running through this is Fowlea Brook.

The main lake is open to everyone including Anglers, however the smaller pools in the reserve are not available for fishing.

In 2009 a visitor centre run by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust was opened, with a small cafe and shop, information boards and a viewpoint over the main lake.

The site also has a play area and medium sized grass field, which is normally hijacked by feeding Geese!

Birds Of Westport Lake

Westport Lake is regarded as one of the best birdwatching spots in Stoke on Trent, it regularly attracts scarce and rare birds, below I have listed what you can expect to see depending on the time of year you visit and at the end I have listed just some of the more unusual visitors Westport has attracted over the years.

Resident - Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Willow Tit & Bullfinch.

April - September - Little Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff.

Passage Waders Inc - Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Snipe, Sanderling, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank & Greenshank.

Passage Terns Inc - Common, Arctic & Black Tern on a regular basis

October - March - Little Grebe, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Goldeneye, Siskin, Goldfinch & Redpoll.

Rarities - Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Red-necked Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Ring-necked Duck, Leach's Petrel, Purple Heron, Velvet Scoter, Honey Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Grey Phalarope, Arctic Skua, Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Sabine's Gull, Caspian Tern, Little Auk, Woodlark, Richard's Pipit, Hulme's Leaf Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Siberian Chiffchaff, Great Grey Shrike & Arctic Redpoll.

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Sunday 16 May 2010

Barnacle Goose

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