Periods of cold and stormy weather often cause birds to move about the country in search of shelter, upland birds may descend to lower altitudes and coastal birds may travel inland to escape icy winds.
Many species habitually visit the same sites whenever conditions turn for the worse, with some relying upon our reservoirs as safe bolt-holes to ride things out.
One such reservoir is Stocks, at the head of the Hodder valley in the Forest of Bowland, (read this article for a history of the reservoir) and considering that the weather’s turned quite cold right now, it’s a perfect place go and to visit yourself and spot some of these species, I recommend bringing a decent bird-book, a good pair of binoculars and a hot flask of tea!
Directions
Stocks reservoir is approachable by several routes but the most straight-forward way of getting there is to take the B6478 between Tosside and Slaidburn and turn off at Stephen Moor Crossroads (SD748543).
Once in Gisburn forest park at School lane car park, which is clearly signposted, then follow the gravel footpath past the old walled garden on your left and up to where it turns 90 degrees to the right, the first bird hide, which is wheelchair accessible, is just down a little path there on the left, the second bird hide is about 100 yards further up the main path and is down a little path hidden in the trees to the left.
You can walk there from Slaidburn which is quite a pleasant 1 hour stroll and there is a very popular Circular Walk around the reservoir too.
Panoramic views
The second hide is the most comfortable, it’s basically a wooden garden shed with hatches at eye height but it has benches and seats with cushions, a notebook for keeping records in, lots of notice boards with information about the different wildlife you can see there and, most importantly, is situated in a very good location for observing what’s going on.
The sweeping, panoramic views from the hide make it worth a visit in its own right, looking over the Hodder inlet to the reservoir and the fells beyond. This is also a part of the reservoir where birds tend to shelter in bad weather, at the moment you could see Great Crested Grebes, Whooper swans, Merganser, Hen Harrier, Red-breasted geese, Otters, a Stoat in its winter coat hunting along the far shore or even an Osprey passing over!
For more details about Stocks reservoir, how to get there and recent bird sightings why not check out East Lancashire Ornithologists Clubs website.
A B-H
Northwest Nature and History 
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