Somerset.... mainly Ham Wall RSPB

 So still catching up with stuff from June! We booked a week in Somerset in between visits to Birmingham. Ham Wall is one of our favourite reserves in the UK, mind you we do have lots of favourites 😂

Ham Wall:

Marsh Harrier

Dragonfly, not sure of species,

Growing up fast! A young Great Crested Grebe,

Great White Egret,

Broad-bodied Chaser,

Glastonbury Tor,

Dragonfly (species?),

At Westhay Moor, Great Crested Grebe, with chicks,

Dad bringing lunch home 

that was way too big! Eventually 'mom' had to eat it

Marsh Harrier back at Ham Wall,

Tufted Duck,

Little Grebe with two youngsters,

Merlin!

Black-tailed Skimmer (female),

Swans on one of the channels.

Black-tailed Skimmer (male),

Plenty of female Mallard, theres a few Gadwall in there too.

Grey Heron,

Mallard young at Chew Valley.

Gatekeeper Butterfly,

Common Blue Damselfly,

Broad-bodied Chaser,

Little Egret,

and a very distant blurred shot of a Bittern! We had quite a few Bittern sightings at Ham Wall but this is the only photo that is vaguely identifiable 😌

Catch up! - Loch Leven

 We have made a couple of visits to Loch Leven recently, one to the RSPB reserve and one to Burleigh Sands.

The highlight at the RSPB (Vane Farm) was our first sighting there of Red Squirrels, we have looked every time we have been there with no luck, but this time they were just there and weren't that bothered by us. Unfortunatley it was a very dull day and quite dark under the trees, so the photos aren't great!

Most of the other sightings at the RSPB were a bit distant, but here's a couple of the Pink-footed Geese:

and as Little Grebe

We also saw a couple of Marsh Harriers, plus the usual ducks; Mallard, Tufted, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal and Pochard. A Black-tailed Godwit showed well, but my photos were rubbish, so haven't put them on the blog.

A couple of days later we went to Burleigh Sands on the Loch, and wandered down to the hide, it was brilliant! The best birding we have had from there:

Black-tailed Godwits,

Cormorants,

Pink-footed Geese,

Greylag Geese,

Mute Swan,

Mute Swan, Goosanders and Crows,

more Pink foots,

Tufted Duck.

Great-crested Grebe,

Black-tailed Godwit,

and a Barnacle Goose.

There was a second Barnacle Goose, but it was tucked down behind the Pinks most of the time. There were also Goldeneye around, but they didn't come anywhere near the hide.

We just love Loch Leven! We have three favourite spots around the Loch, so we must go for the hat trick and take a walk at Findatie. But before that we want to head to Kircaldy and take in the sea walk at Seafield. Hopefully the Purple Sandpipers will have turned up, Plus it would be nice to see some Long-tailed Ducks if they are around yet.

A Walk at Lochore Meadows

 With the snow disappearing we ventured out to our really local patch Lochore Meadows, the paths though were still very icy and dangerous in places, but we made it down to the hide, although there wasn't much about, but plenty of Teal, Mallard and a Gadwall (our first of the year);

We took a walk from there over the bridge and along the burn to a seat by the gate, for a sit and a coffee, we have seen Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest here, but nothing showed today and the fields were empty too. We walked back down to the Loch and watched there for a little while and finished our coffee off. There was plenty of activity:

Little Grebe

Mute Swans

Male Goosander

Little Grebe

Mute Swans

Mute Swan

Mute Swan, touchdown!

Tufted Duck & Coot

The Goosander again

Tufted Duck and Coot Melee!

Tufted Ducks

Black-headed Gulls and a Coot

Tufted Duck

Female Goldeneye

Common Gull

a Distant Yellowhammer