Foxcote Reservoir

Foxcote Reservoir nestles in the countryside just east of Buckingham. A small but dedicated band of patch regulars will tell you that Foxcote can be hard work. But this small site has a long and proven track record of attracting excellent birds and county rarities. How about Bufflehead, White-winged Black Tern, Great Skua, Temminck’s Stint, and Rough-legged Buzzard, for example?

If you wantt o stretch your legs, Foxcote isn’t the place for you. The hide is five minutes’ walk from the car. But there are a few PROWs which criss-cross the under-watched grounds of Foscote Manor just to the south.

Winter is the best time to visit Foxcote. At time of writing it’s one of just two sites in Bucks which regularly hold Goldeneye (the other is Willen). Usually half a dozen or so, but occasionally more. Foxcote used to be the site for wintering Goosander too, but the increase in our breeding population along the Ouse valley has conversely led to a decline here.

The last few years have seen a notable decline in Bucks’ wintering wildfowl. But Foxcote still holds excellent numbers of Wigeon, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, and Teal. Pochard are now scarce, a far cry from the days when for several consecutive winters, the Pochard flock was accompanied by a Ring-necked Duck.

Of the larger wildfowl, Whooper Swans are rare visitors, but Shelduck are almost annual in Spring. The Canada/Greylag Goose flock which commutes between here and Hyde Lane has held the odd Brent or Barnacle Goose.

Another attraction in winter used to be a reliable gull roost. Several hundred Lesser Black-backed, and a couple of thousand Black-headeds used to roost here. Caspian, Yellow-legged, and Mediterranean Gulls were seen regularly. Interestingly, the gulls in this area now spend the day loafing about the fields at Leckhampstead Wharf, a mile or two to the south. But very few of them seem to roost at Foxcote, preferring other local waterbodies. Gulls do still roost here, and those scarce species are still seen, just not as regularly as in the past.

Wintering waders are few. A small Lapwing flock on the dam or groups of Snipe seen dropping into the reeds. The odd Green Sandpiper or Dunlin on the dam. Given the extent of the reedbed here, wintering Bittern is definitely possible.

As Spring advances wildfowl disperses pretty quickly, to be replaced by Black-headed Gulls which nest on the tern rafts. This thriving colony provides a constant noisy background to every Spring and summer visit, and the silence after they leave is, for a while, a little unsettling. Common Terns are now irregular here, and certainly don’t nest on the rafts provided for them – no room! But Foxcote is pretty reliable for Black and Arctic Terns, and Little Gulls too, especially in Spring if the weather is favourable. Both Black-necked Grebe and Common Scoter are virtually annual here, usually in Spring.

There’s no mud at Foxcote, not even on the fringes. Wader ‘habitat’ is restricted to the concrete dam. Even so, the odd godwit, Greenshank, Dunlin, or Sanderling can drop in. A pair of Oystercatchers has recently started summering in the area. Marsh Harriers are now annual in Spring (and autumn too). Whinchat and Wheatear sometimes turn up on the dam, although Yellow Wagtail is more likely. The hedges and bushes often hold Redstart.

In terms of likely species, autumn passage is a repeat of Spring. Although there’s no gull roost yet, Mediterranean and Yellow-legged Gulls can appear from August onwards. Sadly Foxcote has recently seemed immune from wind-blown seabirds. But past records include multiple Sabine’s Gulls and Long-tailed Ducks.