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Pitsford Water Update: Winter 2026

Read on for seasonal updates on what we are up to at Pitsford Water nature reserve and to see our wildlife highlights.

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It took a long time, but the reservoir is now full again - the drawdown and it's migrant waders a distant memory now, replaced by rafts of tufted ducks, squabbling coots and whistling wigeon. After the dusting of snow at the start of the year making the site look crisp and clean, it has reverted back to it's more typical wet and muddy winter aspect. Unfortunately we have not finished the planned path improvements in the Scaldwell Bay due to delays in purchasing equipment, but these will be completed once the paths dry out again in spring.  The site is still accessible all the way around, but please be aware that after heavy rain, the area at the top of the Scaldwell Bay can flood - please do not enter floodwater as it can contain hidden dangers.

A muddy patch with wet tracks going through it on a nature reserve

'The Serpentine'

Regular visitors may have noticed apparently random excavations appearing around the site last year. These are part of our ongoing mission to improve the condition of the paths around site. The site is littered with old land drains that block or break and cause waterlogging. 

a channel of water through a reserve

Wet flushes are actually a fantastic habitat for all sorts of flora and fauna, but when they pop up on the path, they just cause all sorts of problems! The team here have - through necessity- become very skilled at bending water to our will. The primary function of the drainage work we are carrying out is to keep the paths accessible and safe, but why not add some habitat features while we are at it! Where we have the space, we like to leave the water holding area open and create deep areas within it to act as ephemeral ponds - or if the drainage issue is really bad, permanent ponds. We then divert the water under the path and into either the woodland or reservoir to continue to do it's thing unhindered. The one pictured here we have nicknamed 'The Serpentine' and Kev Rowley, county recorder for aquatic bugs, has recorded several species from it already!

Spring Pond Scrub

At the end of last year, the stars aligned and we were able to carry out some work at Spring Pond Scrub that has been waiting in the pipeline for some years now. This is a shallow promontory opposite the Fishing Lodge. The plan is to clear the willows from it to expose a large area of shallow, muddy, marginal habitat without the need for the reservoir water level to drop significantly. 

As the drought last year and the seemingly constant rainfall recently is proving, rainfall and reservoir water levels are unpredictable! When the reservoir was first created, we had more reliable seasons. The reservoir would recede in autumn and fill up in winter and the water supply was relatively stable. But now with a higher demand of water resources and much more erratic and unreliable climate and weather, Anglian Water have to take steps to ensure we all have a reliable water supply. One of the ways they do this is to maintain high reservoir water levels whenever possible. The drawback is that we now don't get reliable exposure of the muddy marginal habitat. 

This Spring Pond Scrub project relies on a drop of only around 15% capacity of the reservoir before this area is exposed, therefore creating a large area of valuable mud. Management is required to keep vegetation low, which will be done with grazing animals or mechanically in the future.

Approximately one third of the proposed area has been cleared and the stumps are proving very popular with herons, cormorants, lapwing, gulls and even a green sandpiper was around there recently. The Lagoon Hide has great views of the newly cleared area. It can also be seen from the Lodge. When the work is completed, it will also be seen from the new Goosander Hide.

Pitsford scrub covered in snow

Credit: Mischa Cross

LiDAR showing the contours of the Spring Pond Scrub area, indicating which areas will stay muddy and which will form temporary islands.

Map: LiDAR showing the contours of the Spring Pond Scrub area, indicating which areas will stay muddy and which will form temporary islands.

Plans showing the new wheelchair-friendly hide

The New Goosander Hide

An exciting new feature for the reserve is currently in development, referred to as 'the new Goosander Hide' although it will have a new name soon. The aim is to create a fully accessible and inclusive area for people of all ages and abilities

to have close encounters with wildlife. The team have been working with Peter Lau, a wheelchair user and fantastic nature photographer who has developed a great guide to accessible nature spots around the UK; and local accessibility advocate Nick Wilson AKA The Disabled Adventurer who does amazing work raising awareness to help people of all abilities get out and about. Their input into the design of the hide, as well as numerous considerations that often get overlooked, has been invaluable. The hide itself will be able to comfortably have four wheelchair users in it at once. We also plan to build screening either side and behind the hide to allow larger groups of wheelchair users use the space at the same time. The aim is to have it installed by Autumn 2026.

A view of a hide on the water front, from the top of a boardwalk leading down to it.

The current Goosander Hide is quite a feature of the reservoir landscape, looking like a pagoda floating on the water. It was designed and built by the Rotary Club of Northampton in 2004 but has sadly come to the end of it's safe, usable life - for people that is!  It is regularly used by roosting barn owls, has rare lichen on the cedar shingle roof, has birds nesting inside and bats roost in the eaves. As a result, when the new Goosander Hide is installed, this hide will be left to the wildlife and who knows... maybe the barn owl might even nest in there.

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