Ogston Reservoir lies in the beautiful Amber Valley in Derbyshire, 4 miles east of Matlock. It is owned and managed by Severn Trent Water and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The reservoir and surrounding area, with habitats including wet grassland and

woodland, is one of Derbyshire’s premier bird-watching sites and is home to the charity, Ogston Bird Club. The reservoir and surrounding land is an important site for spring and autumn passage migrating birds and winter wildfowl and is a key inland site for watching and recording gulls when they come to roost during winter evenings. The club started in 1969 and since then an impressive total of 257 different species have been recorded (as of end of 2024).

Visiting Ogston
There are three free car parks (as of Jan 2025) and shown in orange on the map below. Both the North and West Bank car parks offer good views of the northern half of the reservoir and its shoreline. In addition, there are a number of excellent viewpoints around the reservoir labelled in yellow on the Ogston map. These are maintained by club work parties to ensure that all visitors get a good view of the reservoir, its shoreline, its bird life and flora. The roads along both the north and west of the reservoir are fairly quiet so if you don’t want to walk, it’s perfectly possible to park on the road adjacent to any of these spots giving the viewer the opportunity to see most of the site using just binoculars although a scope can be useful.

In addition to these viewpoints, there’s also a hide for all visitors, the ‘Public Hide’, accessed from the West car park (green on the Ogston map).

Species
Ogston Reservoir can be worth visiting at any time during the year. In winter, there are a variety of wildfowl including large numbers of Canada and Greylag Geese, Mallard, Teal Tufted Duck and Cormorants. Other highlights are Goosander which have become increasingly common, Gadwall, Mandarin, Shoveler, Goldeneye and Wigeon which are also regular at this time of year although in smaller numbers. Little and Great Crested Grebes are resident and the rarer grebes are occasionally seen.
Birds of Prey include resident Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. Also seen occasionally are Peregrine, Merlin and Goshawk, Hobbies during the summer and Osprey during spring and summer migrations.
Regarding waders, Lapwing are resident and Snipe over-winter in quite large numbers.
Ogston Reservoir has always been well-known for its winter gull roost with Glaucous and Iceland Gulls seen regularly. In recent years however, and probably as a result of the closure of local landfill sites, the gull roost is now somewhat reduced although there are still Yellow-legged, Caspian and Mediterranean Gulls in addition to the more common species. Common Terns generally breed upon the tern rafts and Arctic Terns are seen during migration. The reedbeds attract breeding Sedge and Reed Warblers during the summer and Water Rail are regular in winter.
There is a heronry at Carr Pond (see reservoir map) which usually supports upwards of 20 nests and is easily observed from the road.

Rarities are too numerous to list but species recorded can be found by clicking the link ALL TIME LIST. However, in recent years a White-tailed Eagle in 2022, a Pacific Golden Plover in 2023 and a Spotted Crake also in 2023 which stayed for a fortnight, are notable.

 

Ogston Bird Club

The club has approximately 700 members. And leases land from Severn Trent Water Ltd upon which it maintains three hides. There is no public access to this land except to members or non-members supervised by the club (such possibilities are listed below). From the hides closeup views can be obtained of the reedbeds, the scrape and the two ponds as well as a closer view of the immediate reservoir shore. The club also organises trips and local birding walks and resources work parties of volunteers for the development and maintenance of the land to which we have access. Communication to and between members is carried out through email, via Whatsapp and the club also supports a Facebook Group.
To investigate joining, click on the HOW TO JOIN link.

Role of Ogston Bird Club
Ogston Bird Club works with Severn Trent Water and Natural England to maintain the Ogston Reservoir site as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This entails maintaining the reedbeds, grassland, woodland, scrapes and wetland areas in good condition so vital for the birds and other wildlife that use the reserve.

Promoting the study of wildlife within the general public. This is written into our constitution and we achieve this in a variety of ways:

• There is a guided walk on the first Saturday of every month and this is open to all. Meet at the gate inside the West car park (see photo below).
• All trips to other birding locations are open for members to bring along non-members. Details are on this website – Trips
• We staff a stall at one of the local country fairs.
  
• We run ‘Open Hide’ days where the general public have supervised access to our hides.
• Our website provides a daily record of the birds seen on site which is accessible to all – Ogston Daily Record.
• We offer supervised visits to community groups and provide expert support.
• We have purchased, and maintain, three rafts, two located at the north end and the other at the south end of the reservoir. These provide nesting opportunities for Common Terns, Oystercatchers and Black-headed Gulls. These are easily viewable from the adjacent roads (see Ogston map).
• We are available to support arranged educational visits.
• Our volunteers maintain the listed viewpoints around the reservoir to help the public connect with nature.

Keeping sighting records and making these available to the public. This is achieved in the following ways:

• Records are sent to our recorder via email or via the Ogston Bird Club WhatsApp Group.
• Daily site records can be accessed by anyone through our website and in addition, when a rare bird is discovered, this is also communicated through the national bird information services. One such example occurred in 2023 when a Spotted Crake stayed for two weeks and drew observers from far and wide. On this occasion, non-members were taken on site to view the bird.
• All sightings are shared with Derbyshire Ornithological Society, Natural England and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
• A comprehensive annual report is produced and this is shared with other wildlife authorities and made available to the public at open events or during our attendance at the local fair. In addition, reports can be accessed on our website – Annual Reports
• Newsletters provide regular updates.

Jim Mart Nature Reserve

In addition to managing the reservoir site, the club also owns and manages a small reserve in the hamlet of Press near Ashover. This is a significant conservation project for all the animal orders and the flora. It is particularly interesting for dragonflies and damselflies and also butterflies and moths, indeed, regular butterfly counts are carried out and contribute towards the national picture.
The reserve is designated as a Local Wildlife Site which as a consequence, benefits from reciprocal co-operation with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

More information about this reserve can be found by clicking the JIM MART NR drop down menu at the top of this page.

For further information on any of the above, contact the Club Secretary (by clicking the link Who’s Who)