A Week in Somerset - Pastures New 1

Following the relaxation in rules we took the opportunity to book a weeks self-catering in Somerset just 15 minutes from RSPB Ham Wall and the Avalon Marshes. We were out and about a fair bit, visiting old haunts; RSPB Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath and Cheddar Gorge, but we also visited a couple of new places that we had never been to in the last 9 years since making Somerset one of our favourite birding places.

In this post I'll concentrate on those two, of course getting in to the second half of July the birding is a lot quieter as most of the birds are not singing so much and the adults are trying to regain some strength after looking after the young ones. So they are much more difficult to spot and find with some exceptions of course.

So I'll start with a visit to the Hawk and Owl trust reserve at Shapwick Moor, adjacent to Shapwick Heath. It's a cracking little reserve with two hides, the first is tiny overlooking the heath, the second much bigger with plenty of bird feeders and shrubbery. We saw very little from the first hide; Buzzard, Kestrel, Grey Heron, Tits, Robin and Dunnock, but it was a good spot on a hot day to have a coffee. There you go, third paragraph before I mentioned coffee! Of course at this time of year there were plenty of butterflies and dragonflies about, but not always the easiest thing to photograph.
Starting with butterflies; a Comma,

 Ringlet,

 a couple of Swallows,

a Speckled Wood,

 Meadow Brown,

 the view from the small hide, with a Buzzard perched on the tree stump and a Grey Heron to the left of the woodpile

 and a Red Admiral

 We talk the longest way around to the next hide through a flower meadow, this was quite good for Dragonflies and Poppies.

 Black-tailed Skimmer,

 Emperor,

 Gatekeeper,

 this could be a Ruddy Darter, but I'm not sure.

There was much more bird life at the second hide because of the feeder;
A female Pheasant hiding under a bush,

 Chaffinch,

 Chiffchaff,

  Wren,

 and Willow Warbler.

In addition we saw a couple of Great Spotted Woodpecker flying through, plus Blue and Great Tits. There were plenty of Brimstone butterflies and no people!

On the walk back to the car, we had a great sighting of a Grass Snake:

The highlight of the day!
Finally a few Whitethroat turned up while we had a bench stop. (No coffee!)

Back at our 'cottage' we sat outside enjoying the Sunshine, a glass of Wine for Tina and a cracking pint (or two)  of Swords & Sandals (IPA) from Spartan Brewery! (Took a 5 litre minikeg with us.

The garden was quite busy with Swift,

House Martins, Swallows, Buzzard, flying over and regular visits from Pied Wagtail,

and aircraft of all sorts!
P51D Mustang,

 Airbus A400,

 and a DHC Chipmunk!

A few Days on the Somerset Levels

So with being retired and a week free, we booked a last minute cottage down in Somerset near RSPB Ham Wall and all the other fantastic reserves down there. Our main focus was Ham Wall but we also visited RSPB Greylake, SWT Catcott and SWT Shapwick Heath, (SWT = Somerset Wildlife Trust)

We only had 3 full days and visited Ham Wall each day, the first day was just Ham Wall. The weather was kind to us in that we were always in a hide when it rained! We did start with a bit of a hiccup though, I left one of the food bags in the house before we set off, so instead of putting our feet up when we got there on the Monday afternoon, it was a quick shopping run to Lidl near Glastonbury. Mia Culpa!

So day one at Ham Wall...
Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Visitor Centre,

Sparrowhawk,

 Coot,

 Great Crested Grebe,

 Tufted Duck,

 Rain!!,

 Great Crested Grebe and Chicks in the rain!,

 Cormorant & Mallard having a dry out after the downpour!

 Lapwing,

 Crow,

 Glastonbury Tor,

 Great White Egret,

 Pochard and ducklings,

 Reed Warbler,

 Great Crested Grebe again!

 Gadwall,

 Garden Warbler

Of course more were seen with a glimpse of Cuckoo and Bittern to add but no decent pics.

Day 2 we popped to Catcott First before going to Ham Wall and were rewarded with some
Cattle Egrets,

 Whitethroat,

 Reed Warbler,

 Grey Heron and

 Willow Warbler.

 A Bittern and Goldcrest were seen too, but both were too quick and flighty for me to get a picture. Calcott is a lovely reserve, with great walks and good hides, well worth a visit. So after a couple of hours there we spent the rest of the day back at Ham Wall.
Marsh Harrier,

 Pterodactyl, I mean Grey Heron!

 Great Crested Grebelet!

 Cygnets,

 Marsh Harrier,

 angry Coot,

 Reed Warbler,

 a snapshot of a retreating Bittern,

 Canada Geese.

 Great Crested Grebe (again!!)

 Black-tailed Godwit,

So day three took us to RSPB Greylake firsst, it's been as few years since we last visited, and to be honest we were a bit disappointed. The fields in front of the hides were a bit overgrown, I remember watching Lapwings and some waders here, but not a sign this time, although we did see a Cetti's Warbler from the path.

The only other bird of note was a distant Marsh Harrier.

So we headed back to Ham Wall, but parked first at the opposite car park for Shapwick Heath and just had a shortish walk to the first tower hide, what we thought would be overlooking the muddy shores of the pool, but the water level was high and no mud, so no waders which was again disappointing! Having said that we did get a Bittern flying across,

in addition there were plenty of Damsel and Dragonflies about,
Blue Azure Damselfly,

 Black-tailed Skimmer? (not good at Dragonfly id!)

 Great White Egret,

 Marsh Harrier.

 Four Spotted Chaser,

 and ?

We stayed about an hour then went back over to Ham Wall for the rest of the afternoon.
?

 Marsh Harriers passing lunch

 Bittern fly by,

 Grey Heron

 and a Chinook to round off the day!

So that's a round up of three days in somerset, 60 species of bird in all.