This water-supply reservoir covers 46 hectares and has uninviting concrete banks surrounded by short grass. This fits in with the image, given in Bill Oddie's book Gone Birding, of a bird-free site. Bill spent his formative years birdwatching here, and his regular attendance actually produced a fine selection of birds, as shown when we published his first ever ornithological article, Birds in the Bartley Reservoir area, 1931–1962.
Bartley Reservoir is in South Birmingham, bordered by Genners Lane, Scotland Lane and Frankley Lane (grid reference: SP0081 
).
Most of the land occupied by Bartley Reservoir was in the parish of Northfield, originally in Worcestershire. It was transferred to Warwickshire when Northfield became part of Birmingham in November, 1911, and thus became part of the West Midlands county when the latter was formed, in 1974.
However, the south-west end of the reservoir overlapped into the parish of Frankley, in Worcestershire (Hereford and Worcester, from 1974). In April 1995 part of Frankley (including the south-west part of Bartley Reservoir) was transferred to Birmingham and became part of the West Midlands county.
Nearby roads offer easy viewing from well-made pavements.
Buses numbered 22 serve Genners Lane, from Birmingham City Centre.
Despite usually being a generally unproductive site, particularly in summer, the reservoir continues to occasionally produce birds not usually seen elsewhere in the county. These often appear during hard weather, due to the reservoir being much deeper than other bodies of water in the area.
Mallard, Kestrel, Stock Dove, Little Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Treecreeper.
Common waders and terns on passage, including Black Tern. Common warblers.
Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Shelduck (scarce), Wigeon (scarce), Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye. Roosting gulls. Passerines may include Redpoll.
All three British divers have appeared since 1985, as has Red-necked Grebe. The gull roost occasionally contains rarities such as Iceland and Glaucous Gull. Other birds which passed through in the 1990s included Fulmar, Leach's Petrel, Honey Buzzard, Stone Curlew, Great Skua, Laughing Gull, Richard's Pipit and Snow Bunting.
Ornithology in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire & the West Midlands county, since 1929.
Fetched from http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/westmidlands/bartley.htm on Saturday 04 February 2012 10:16:40
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