| Byfield Pool | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Nature reserve |
| Location | Byfield, Northamptonshire |
| OS grid | SP 501 527 |
| Area | 4 hectares |
| Managed by | Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire |
Byfield Pool is a 4 hectare nature reserve west of Byfield in Northamptonshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. [1]
Byfield is a village and civil parish forming part of the Daventry district in Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,277.
Northamptonshire, archaically known as the County of Northampton, is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015 it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and by seven non-metropolitan district councils. It is known as "The Rose of the Shires".
The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN) is a registered charity which manages 126 nature reserves covering 3,945 hectares. It has over 35,000 members, and 95% of people in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire live within five miles of a reserve. In the year to 31 March 2016 it employed 105 people and had an income of £5.1 million. It aims to conserve wildlife, inspire people to take action for wildlife, offer advice and share knowledge. The WTBCN is one of 36 wildlife trusts covering England, and 47 covering the whole of the United Kingdom.
This secluded pool, which is adjacent to the Boddington Reservoir, was constructed in the 1790s to supply water to the Oxford Canal. Water rails and tufted ducks breed on the pond, and there are many frogs and other amphibians. A wide range of other birds nest in the adjacent scrub and woods. Mammals include rabbits and red foxes. [1]
The Oxford Canal is a 78-mile (126 km) narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Bedworth via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thames at Oxford and is integrated with the Grand Union Canal — combined for 5 miles close to the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, a canal which soon after construction superseded much of its traffic.
The water rail is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is 23–28 cm (9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature birds are generally similar in appearance to the adults, but the blue-grey in the plumage is replaced by buff. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The former subspecies R. indicus, has distinctive markings and a call that is very different from the pig-like squeal of the western races, and is now usually split as a separate species, the brown-cheeked rail.
The tufted duck is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek aithuia an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin, fuligo "soot" and gula "throat".
There is access by a footpath from Boddington Road east of Boddington Reservoir, and by a footpath from Byfield.
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