Belvide Reservoir Claimed

Belvide Reservoir a reservoir in South Staffordshire, built in 1833 to supply the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and has been managed as a nature reserve since 1977. It has been used to study the effect of water level changes on bird populations. Owned by the Canal & River Trust, the reservoir was constructed to feed the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, which became part of the Shropshire Union Canal in 1846. Work began on it in 1832, and the canal opened in early 1835. It is the site of a nature reserve which has been operated by the West Midland Bird Club since January 1977, and is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The reserve is not open to the general public, and a permit is required to visit it.

The site has attracted interest from bird-watchers since the 1920s when the ornithologist Arnold Boyd began visiting it and publishing reports in the magazine British Birds, although he did not reveal its location, as he called it "Bellfields" in the articles. The reservoir has been visited by many scarce and rare migrant birds, including white-winged black tern (1970, 1974, 1992, 1999), whiskered tern (1969), Caspian tern (1968, 1992),