SE 225460
Specialities |
| Coot |
| Great Crested Grebe |
| Gadwall |
| Tufted Duck |
| Little Grebe |
| Wigeon |
| Pochard |
| Coot |
| Kingfisher |
| Yellow Wagtail |
| Sand Martin |
| Tree Sparrow |
| Common Whitethroat |
Since the area has been 'developed' by a local angling club access is very limited and much of the habitat has been destroyed. See more.
| Knotford
- main lake |
Knotford provides an excellent habitat for a good range of ducks during the winter. Coot assemble in large numbers and Great Crested Grebe breed here. Sand Martin and other hirundines feed over the lake and terns can be seen in summer, when conditions are right Black Tern have been recorded.
Notable
Sightings - 2003 |
| 1st January 2003 A female Shoveler. |
| 15th February 2003 34 Goldeneye. |
| 19th – 21st April there were eight Yellow Wagtails here including two males of the race m. f. flava or Blue Headed Wagtail (AJ et al). At least two birds hung around this site throughout the breeding season and while breeding was suspected it was not proven. |
| 20th April 2003 A pair of White Storks passed over and flew down the valley. |
| 25th April 2003 A male Gadwall. |
| 29th April 2003 A Ruddy Duck. |
| 26th August 2003 A Greenshank. |
| 10th October 2003 A pair of Mandarin Ducks was found on and two males on 17th October. |
| 12th October 2003 Two female Ruddy Ducks and on 7th November. |
| 18th October 2003 Two Pintails. |
| 24th October 2003 8 Great Crested Grebes |
| October 2003 138 Mallard. |
| 13th November 2003 Eight Gadwall and again on the 6th December, numbers fluctuated during the final two months. |
| 22nd November 2003 208 Coot |
| November 2003 28 Mute Swans |
| November 2003 135 Wigeon, a group record! |
| November 2003 A Whooper Swan stayed for most of the month. |
| 6th December 2003 A second winter Mediterranean Gull. |
| December 2003 16 Little Grebes |
Notable
Sightings - 2004 |
| 10th January 2004 Six Gadwall |
| 10th January 2004 Greater Scaup |
| March 2004 52 Coot |
| 13th March 2004 Kittiwake |
| 27th March 2004 Two male Garganey |
| 1st & 9th May 2004 Arctic Tern |
| 10th May 2004 Two Yellow wagtails on 10th May and one on 23rd. |
| Summer 2004 Two Pairs of Tree Sparrow reared 16 young from three broods in a nest-box. This was the only definite proof of breeding in the recording area |
| 30th August 2004 Three Shoveler |
| 31st October 2004 A first winter Mediterranean Gull |
| 11th November 2004 355 Coot with 300 still there by the year end. |
| 5th December 2004 5 Gadwall and 9 Little Grebe |
| 7th December 2004 a Scaup was on the lake. |
| 2nd December 2004 84 Wigeon |
| 6th December 2004 Male Scaup |
| 11th December 2004 A first winter Mediterranean Gull |
| 19th December 2004 22 Common Pochard |
| 30th December 2004 Pink-footed Geese in flocks of 130 and 40 passed over. |
Tufted
Duck Numbers 2003 |
|||||||||
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
April |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
2 |
15 |
16 |
30 |
31 |
30 |
34 |
68 |
||
Tufted
Duck Numbers 2004 |
|||||||||
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
April |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
33 |
31 |
26 |
20 |
30 |
23 |
35 |
45 |
38 |
|
.
Knotford Nook was formally probably the best site in the area for water birds. Smew wintered here annually and many other interesting species were regularly recorded.
| Knotford
from Otley Chevin with Almscliffe Crag behind |
Notable
Sightings - 2005 |
| January 2005 - Ten Little Grebe present late in the month. |
| January 2005 - 40 Pochard (maximum for winter period) |
| January 2005 - 57 Tufted Duck (maximum for year) |
| January 2005 - 24 Goldeneye (maximum for year) |
| 9th January 2005 Pintail |
| 13th January 2005 Two female Ruddy Ducks |
| 15th January 2005 80 Wigeon (maximum for winter period) |
January 2005, between two and eight Gadwall were seen during the 2nd to the 28th, with one remaining into the early part of February, and two there on 18th March |
| March 2005 80 Greylag Geese |
| March 2005 60 Coot (maximum for first part of year). |
| March 2005 6 Reed Buntings at the end of the month. |
| 3rd March 2005 100 Redwing. |
| 25th March 2005 A pair of Shoveler |
| 19th May 2005 A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. |
| October 2005 231 Coot (maximum for latter part of the year) |
| 3rd December 2005 A 1st winter Mediterranean Gull |
| 11th December 2005 A pair of Gadwall visited Knotford and by the 24th that number had risen to five. |