A wander around the formal gravel pits that are now an

The reserve is about an hour's drive from St Albans so we will aim to meet there at 10am.

These are the what3words for the car park: ///pampering.abandons.traffic

This large, ex-gravel pit is made up of a main lake with gently sloping banks, shallow areas of water and ponds, low lying islands, a large scrape and a fringe of reeds surrounded by grassland and wet woodland. This is ideal habitat for wintering birds: goosander, wigeon and gadwall reach nationally important numbers, joined by large numbers of roosting lapwing and golden plover.

Entry to the reserve is free but there is a car parking charge, believed to be £6 for the period that we will be there.

There are two hides, a visitor centre offering basic rereshments and toilets and trails that are pretty good under foot.

The event is free but a voluntary donation of £2 per person is suggested.

Please try and car share. If you would like to do that but are not sure who else is attending, feel free to email the organiser, Rob Blythe, on rbblythe@hotmail.com. Give him your phone number, your address, whether you would prefer to drive, be a passenger or either of those, and whether you intend staying for lunch. By doing so, you are giving him permission to pass on your contact details to others attending the event to see whether car sharing is viable.

All welcome, whatever your level of birdwatching knowledge. It will go ahead if it is raining. Call Rob on 07512 704744 for further details.

We might take photos of the event to publicise future events. If you do not wish to appear in them, please let the leader know.

Afterwards, you will be welcome to join us for lunch in a nearby pub, but being close to Christmas, I will be checking to find one that can accommodate us.

Description supplied by the event organiser.