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.

Park Sign

We reached the pond from the Marlpool estate and crossed over the Nutbrook Trail to enter the Country Park.
Dam Wall

Dropping down from the Nutbrook Trail took us to the overflow channel and the dam wall at the end of the pond.
Osborne's Pond

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.
Shipley Lane

We continued over the overflow channel and along Shipley Lane across the dam wall.
Frost

The pond was covered with ice and frost visible through the trees as we crossed the dam had turned the green grass white.
Rushes

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.

Robin

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.
Footpath

We made our way along the footpath carefully avoiding the tree roots and several icy patches.
Fishing Platforms

There are several places where there are views from the path across the pond which revealed fishing platforms on both sides of the water.
Stubborn Birds

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.

Nutbrook Trail

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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