Back in Scotland! Fife Ness

 We managed a day out last week to Fife Ness, Lobster Rolls were on the menu from the Lobster Hut at Crail, which we took down to the hide at Fife Ness for Lunch. Lovely it was too!

We did also pop into Kilminning NR and had a coffee there, where this Yellowhammer sang distantly:

there were some lovely Orchids about,

and a lovely Whitethroat added to the chorus,

Down at the hide, we had a lovely time eating our Lobster and watching the Gannets wheel by over the waves:

Other than the Gannet, there were plenty of Eider and Cormorant about. With a few Sandwich Terns, Guillemot and very distant Razorbill putting in an appearance.

Our next trip will be a double, Orkney and Shetland. So lets hope all the migrants that are popping up there at the moment stay put!

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!

Monday at RSPB Ham Wall

With most of our local reserves still closed and being huge fans of Ham Wall, which is open, we decided to take advantage of the last of the good weather and go for a drive down.

We had a fabulous day, we arrived about 12:30 so not the best time of day for the heat but you have to do what you have to do!

We parked in the RSPB car park and walked slowly to the first platform and were rewarded very quickly with a Bittern flying over the reeds, it was fairly distant, so I didn't bother take any snaps, just watched and enjoyed. You don't get one of those down Old Hill Canal!

There were plenty of Egrets about, both Great White and Little...

So With hides and screens closed we wandered around and made the best of what presented itself;
Willow Warbler,

 Marsh Harrier,

 Hobby,

 Mute Swan with Cygnets,

 Damselflies,

 Cygnet,

 Whitethroat,

 Dragonflies,

Very distant Cuckoo!

It was a lovely day, we had a great chat with Paul a chap from Costa Rica, but originally from Rotherham! Who is stuck here and can't get home. We chatted about Costa Rica as we were there a few years back and various other things, it all felt quite normal. With social distancing rules of course.
I have now added his blog to those we follow, on the right hand menus. But if you can't see it go to: https://birdsforbeer.com/ for some great photos of what you can see over there and more.

We saw a total of 41 species at Ham Wall and our year list crawled up to 113.

An afternoon at Upton Warren

We had a few hours free last Thursday so popped down the M5 to spend some time at Upton. We started at the Moors, going to the 'new' hide at the North Moors first, where we joyfully watched a female Great Spotted Woodpecker collecting food from the feeders and feeding her 'young lad' up in a nearby tree.
Waiting patiently....

 Food delivered (behind the branch of course!)

A Chiffchaff showed well for us, the first we have seen this year, although we have heard many!

Also at the North Moors a Common Tern was perched for a while,

with a Grey heron wandering past in the background.

As we left the hide a Buzzard did a fly over.

We walked on up to the Lapwing Hide, where a Great Crested Grebe was paddling around,

and a Whitethroat paused for a moment with a snack before taking it to its youngsters.

There were plenty of Tufted Duck, Mallard and Black-headed Gull, a couple of Terns were seen on the rafts, also two Oystercatchers showed on one of the islands, along with the usual suspects but unusually no Cormorants were seen.

We stayed here about an hour before walking back to the car and driving over to the Flashes, this was to get our Avocet fix:

There is a huge age range in the Avocet chicks, from pretty much adult to recently hatched a good year we think.

It was nice to see some Shelduck ducklings too..

Even the Black-headed Gull young were interesting, although Tina can't stand the noise that the BHGs constantly make.

There were plenty of other young around, with the Oystercatcher 'family' coming reasonably close to the hide:

So that will do for now. Another wonderful time at Upton, with plenty going on, lots of little dramas being played out. All it needs is a bit of patience and a great reserve managed by a great Wildlife Trust.