"We are now at the bird hide which overlooks the main pond. From here you will see several species of wild fowl in front of you, especially in the wintertime. As well as seeing the normal common mallard duck, with its usual quacking sound that everyone knows about, you may see such things as a widgeon which is a bit smaller than a mallard with a brown head with a yellow stripe. Or you might see a teal which is a similar size to a widgeon, but that's got a yellow bit on its bum, actually. It also has quite a colourful head with quite a nice green stripe going through its eye.
"A common duck all year round here is a tufted duck. The males are black and white. You can see the crest on the top of its head that gives it its name of the tufted duck. The females are usually with them but very much of a duller brown colour. Two notable species of bird that you may spot here are redshank, which are at 12 inches high with a long beak and it has very bright red legs hence the name redshanks and you will see that just on the water edge in the shallow water probing for insects.
"We also have a species of bird here called the little ringed plover, which spends the winter time down in North Africa and will then come up here and we have several breeding pairs usually on sight each year. They like to nest on areas of bare ground or on gravel and are very prone for disturbance that's why the area in front of you is fenced off."