About my local patch

Leamington Spa is an attractive, largely Regency, town in mid-Warwickshire, England. To the north lies the city of Coventry and the major industrial conurbations of the West Midlands. To the south lies Stratford, with Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds beyond, and to the west is Worcestershire, with plenty of open countryside running across to the Welsh borders.



It is to the north and east, however, on a mixture of farmland, woods, reservoirs, rivers and a canal, that I do most of my birding. This is my 'patch', that local bit of turf that many if not most birders have. The map above shows the extent of this patch, including some of the key birding sites. My patch list, here, provides an updated list of all the birds I have seen on the patch.

The patch brings together four contrasting but closely connected landscapes, all within roughly 10 miles or 25 minutes’ drive: the Leam Valley and surrounding farmland; the ancient woodlands and hedgerow network of Dunsmore; the post-industrial wetlands and regenerating habitats around Brandon; and the reservoirs, hills and open farmland around Draycote, Napton and Ufton. To look at it another way, the area is broadly defined by three key waterways: the River Avon coming down from the north; the River Leam from the north-east; and the Grand Union Canal from the east. 

Together they create a dynamic and varied area, combining river valleys, farmland, ancient woodland, reservoirs, scrub, wet grassland and former mineral workings within a relatively compact area.

01 Leam Valley & Farmland

A gently rolling agricultural landscape centred on the River Leam and its tributaries, with arable fields and pasture around Radford Semele falling towards Whitnash Brook and the river corridor. Closer to Leamington, the landscape opens into the Leam Valley, Welches Meadow and Newbold Comyn, where river, wet grassland, scrub, mature trees and parkland create a more varied mosaic. For birding, it combines everyday farmland habitat with a strong riparian corridor, providing opportunities for woodland-edge species, wintering birds, passage migrants and birds moving along the river.

02 Dunsmore Ancient Woodlands

The Dunsmore ‘living landscape’ area to the north-east of Leamington is a wooded agricultural landscape centred on Warwickshire’s most important concentrations of ancient woodland. This mosaic of long-established woods, hedgerows, pasture, meadows and arable fields includes sites such as Bubbenhall Wood, Ryton Wood and Wappenbury Wood, which together form the core of a much wider habitat network. This is primarily woodland and farmland country, with mature trees, scrubby edges, old hedgelines and grassland supporting woodland specialists as well as birds of more open countryside. The upper Leam and restored gravel workings add important open-water and wetland habitat, including at Ryton Pools and Bubbenhall Meadow.

03 Post-Industrial Warwickshire

The Brandon Marsh, Brandon Reach and Claybrooke area forms a broad post-industrial wetland landscape, shaped by former mineral workings and other human activity but now characterised by pools, reedbeds, wet grassland, scrub and young woodland. Interwoven with the River Avon, smaller watercourses, farmland and rough ground, it creates a varied mosaic of habitats – particularly strong for wetland birds, passage migrants and species favouring scrubby, lightly disturbed edges.

04 Eastern Reservoirs & Hills

An open, rolling landscape of farmland, reservoirs and prominent hills to the east and north-east of Leamington. Draycote Water and Napton Reservoir provide the major wetland habitats, while Napton Hill and the higher ground around Ufton add scrub, pasture, hedgerows and broad views across the surrounding countryside. For birding, it is a particularly varied area, combining large open water for wildfowl, gulls and passage migrants with farmland, woodland edge and elevated ground that can concentrate or reveal movement through the landscape.