Shipley Country Park - Osborne's Pond 2025
w/e 12 January 2025
All of this week's
pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300
We knew, with the cold spell
at the start of the year and the freezing temperatures, that
the wildlife would also be in need of help so, armed with a box
full of corn, we set off for Osborne's Pond to feed the birds.

We reached the pond from the Marlpool estate and crossed over
the Nutbrook Trail to enter the Country Park.
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Dropping down from the Nutbrook Trail took us to the overflow
channel and the dam wall at the end of the pond.
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I've often wondered how big does a pond have to be before it
becomes a lake but the "pond" here is larger than Swan
"Lake" at Straw's Bridge Nature Reserve. Osborne's
Pond was actually constructed as a reservoir in 1791 to supply
water to the now defunct Nutbrook Canal. Pond, lake or reservoir,
the birds we had come to feed were at the far end of the stretch
of water.
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We continued over the overflow channel and along Shipley Lane
across the dam wall.
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The pond was covered with ice and frost visible through the trees
as we crossed the dam had turned the green grass white.
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Swans can sometimes be seen nesting in the corner of the dam
in the shelter of the rushes but there was no sign of them or
a nest.
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As we turned to follow the path by the pond we were alerted to
the presence of a robin by the fluttering of its wings. Before
we could open the box to throw it some food, it disappeared into
the trees.
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We made our way along the footpath carefully avoiding the tree
roots and several icy patches.
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There are several places where there are views from the path
across the pond which revealed fishing platforms on both sides
of the water.
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At the end of the pond is an area where people come to feed the
birds and they usually flock to consume whatever is on offer.
We were surprised this time though as we were totally ignored.
The birds had congregated in and around a break in the ice and
seemed reluctant to leave it. They were too far away for any
thrown corn to reach them so we left several piles near the water's
edge which we hoped they would eat later.

There was no point standing about in the cold so we continued
around the pod and returned to our starting point along the Nutbrook
Trail.
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