Northamptonshire - Titchmarsh

This is one of the Wildlife Trust’s oldest nature reserves and it supports large numbers of wintering birds and the largest heron colony in the county. The reserve is a patchwork of lakes, ponds, woodland and grassland providing a great range of habitats and therefore a wide range of plants and animals. Around 50 pairs of herons begin nesting during February and there is plenty of posturing and squabbling as birds establish mates and bicker over the best nests. The sheer size and noise of the heronry is impressive and has even prompted young bird watchers to exclaim “Pterodactyls!”
Otters, kingfishers, badgers and a wide selection of wildfowl and waders can all be spotted from a choice of hides. In February the most entertaining of all water birds must be the great crested grebe. This is when they perform their elaborate and bewildering courtship display. It includes a choreographed ritual called the ‘penguin dance‘ where the male and female rise out of the water facing each other and paddling furiously while shaking their heads and offering a symbolic beak full of pond weed. A truly odd but pleasing sight.