Pastures New 19th April (Swell Wood , Greylake)

Well we thought we'd try somewhere new today and headed off to Swell Wood and Greylake, both RSPB to see what they are like.
Swell Wood:
What a wonderful little place, we parked up in the small car park which had a number of feeders and was really busy: Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long Tail Tit, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Marsh Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

We then walked the 70m to the hide, which is in the woods directly underneath the Heronry, that currently has if I remember correctly 69 occupied nests!! That was pretty amazing:

Just one of the many!

In front of the hide was a small boggy pool, we were treated to a stream of visitors, the time just flew by. We clocked up here, all the tits again, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren, Chaffinch and for Tina at last a Goldcrest! so I can take the +1 off our stats!
Then the spot of the day, a Goshawk winging its way through the Heronry! A lifer! Sadly it didn't hang around and just passed through. So a few mediocre pics, I have to get a better lens!

In addition to the above we were also entertained by some very busy Voles and a cute tiny Dormouse scurrying in front of the hide.

Greylake:
We reluctantly left Swell Wood and headed the few miles up the road to Greylake. It's a short walk to the hide, as we approached the hide we called hear a Cetti's Warbler in the reeds but just couldn't find him even though he was only a couple of feet away.
Anyway we entered the large posh hide and saw nothing! Well that was the first impression, this was then compounded by a dodgy shelf on which Tina had place her bins, which then slid off and landed eye piece first badly damaging it, they are now out of alignment! Any one know of a repairer in the Halesowen/Cradley area? We need them again soon as we are off to Mull!
Then as I was trying to see if I could sort them 2 Peregrines swooped in after something in the short swampy grass just in front of us, they stayed around for a while and landed some distance away, by which time I had given up on Tina's bins and got the camera out:

Just for the record!

At least the Pergrines spooked some of the birds on the flats, so we saw Lapwing, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Swallow, Sand Martin, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard and Gadwall but that was about it.

We had our lunch and left, the Cetti's was still singing away in the reeds and finally we spotted him:

Obviously playing I Spy!

By the car we added a Buzzard and some Goldfinch and Chaffinch. So back in the car, I was just setting the Sat Nav to go by Ham Wall on the way back to the caravan when this landed next to us:

Only Sparrowhawk of the week

So after that we did drop by Ham Wall and added another couple of ticks for the week, a Great White Egret and a Kingfisher.

All Over the Place! 18th April

The Wednesday weather looked terrible, so we decided to have a drive around, possibly go to Dunster Castle and grab a pub lunch somewhere, but it didn't work out that way for various reasons!
We went to Brean Downs to have a look, when we got there the weather was lovely so we thought we might walk to the point after a wander on the beach (Tide was out as always!)

Nothing to exciting was seen, just Herring & LBB Gulls, Crows, Jackdaws, a Buzzard and 2 Shelducks waddling around in the mud!. Behind the cafe in the field were Linnet, Goldfinch & House Sparrows. We then thought we will walk up the point so went to the loo first, by the time we came out the sun had gone and the sky had turned black, shortly after the heavens opened and that was it for the day! So in the car and headed for Dunster. Anyway to cut a long story short by the time we found anywhere decent all the pubs had stopped serving so we grabbed the last 2 hot pasties from a village shop and drove to Kilve Beach and had a picnic in the car (Still belting down!) We decided to brave the weather and walk along the rocks and cliffs to see if anything was being blown in, but not a sausage, until we saw our first (Very brave) Rock Pipit of the year, but we enjoyed the walk.

We then drove to Minehead as it was now to late for Dunster Castle (picked up some hot chickens for our tea from Morrison's and used the facilities!) the drove to Dunster Beach and parked up for afternoon tea! Again we saw Shelducks (4), Linnet (30), Goldfinch and Mallard plus all the usual suspects.

We headed back stopping at Lilstock to see if any Sea Birds were about. Taking advantage of our Freelander we drove right to the shore line along some rough tracks, nothing to be seen though. Getting out the car was fun as the wind was so fierce we could hardly open the doors. On the way back we along the tracks we did see Pheasant and Buzzards.

That's it for this one!

Cheddar Reservoir, Shapwick Heath & Ham Wall 17th April

Day 3 was a non birding day, so on to day 4.
Doing some research on the interweb before going away we decided to look at:
Cheddar Reservoir as it was en route to Shapwick and Ham Wall. It was a very windy day and when we got there the heavens opened so we hung about in the car as there is no shelter and its a 3.5 mile walk to do the circuit.
We set out once the rain had stopped, but the although the views were nice the wind took the fun out of the walk, but we plodded on just in case.
At first it seemed a waste of time, but were treated to more Pied Wagtails then I have ever seen in one place before. We lost count! Initially on the water there was nothing much to see, just loads of Gulls (not a fan!) mainly LBBs and some Herring and a couple of Great Crested Grebes. There were some cute sheep about:

One we had got about two thirds of the way around it did pick up, with 3 Common Sandpiper picking there way around the edges. But the we got a year tick! A delightful female Wheatear who stayed with us for about 15 minutes as we walked on, teasing us by letting us get withing 15 feet or so then flying on and waiting for us to catch up then flying on again, here she is:

Just as she left us we came across some Canada Geese and about 10 more Great Crested Grebe, then the heavens opened and we were left with a 10 minute stride through torrential rain, hail and howling wind, at least it was on our back for the last bit. So time for coffee!

Shapwick Heath: 
Even though we had been to Ham Wall a few times we had never gone the other way from the car park into Shapwick Heath NR, so as we had heard there was a pair of Lon Billed Dowitchers around we gave it ago. We first went to the 3 hides not far down the path. Picking up this lovely Blackcap singing his heart out on the way:

We started with Meare Heath and settled in, but apart from a couple of Mallard and swooping Swallows, there was nothing to see, so we had a bite to eat as the weather looked decidedly inclement! Good job we did as two Bitterns flew across to our left! But that was all there. We left that hide and went across to the next 2 not far away. Nothing to set the world on fire, but we did get the best ever views of a Great Crested Grebe fishing in front of the hide as he dived the fish were jumping out of the water to get away. First time we have ever heard a Grebe fishing! This is the chap:

Some distance in front of this hide were a number of Cormorant nesting in dead trees, we hadn't seen this before:

So we left the hides and walked back towards the car park, this time we paid full attention to the scrape on the left as the sun was now out.
We scanned the 20 or so Black Tailed Godwits that were there, then found the Dowitchers our first lifers of the week, no decent photos though.. sorry!

Two Godwits and a Dowitcher

In addition to these there were also some Spotted Redshank a year tick.

We carried on through the car park and over to Ham Wall, just in case..
Here we manged to see the Cetti's Warbler again, plus our first Willow Warbler for the year, no more Bitterns though! The best here was a small stretch of path just past the Railway Bridge where there are a number of bushes and trees, the songbirds where in full voice, we just stood for about 15 minutes and listened it was magnificent.

The lists:
Cheddar Reservoir:
Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, House Sparrow, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Pied Wagtail, Swallow, Wheatear and Woodpigeon.
Shapwick Heath:
Bittern (2), Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot,
Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Lapwing, Little Egret, Long-billed Dowitcher, Mallard, Mute Swan, Robin, Rook, Shoveler, Spotted Redshank, Swallow, Teal and Woodpigeon.
Ham Wall:
Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Cetti's Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall,
Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Egret,
Mallard, Pochard, Sand Martin, Shoveler, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler and Woodpigeon.

Ham Wall RSPB 15th April

So day 2. We decided that we would go to Ham Wall and stay most of the day. (I have to add that we are late starters, we like to have a lie in when we are on holiday) So we arrived at Ham Wall about 1pm, with our flasks of Coffee and snacks!

We stayed primarily at the first viewing platform, the wind blowing across was bitter and even though the sun was shining I had to go back to the car at one point and get an extra layer!

But what about the Birds, well our main objective was to see the Bitterns. We could hear that wonderful booming as we walked from the car park to the reserve and before long we weren't disappointed. Two bitterns appeared, I decided to watch rather than get the camera up, sometimes its just better to enjoy and not stress about getting a decent photo. These two were quickly followed by a third, marvelous!!

It was just after this that I went back to the car, as I was walking back a Bittern came low straight overhead, it would have been a fantastic photo, but I'd left the camera with Tina! Oh well never mind, the sighting was probably the best ever!

After the Bitterns we were treated to a Marsh Harrier, ranging over the fields another wonderful sight. We then retreated to the nearby hides just to get out of the wind and warm up a bit. Whilst in there I got chatting to a chap about cameras and lenses, then he said he got a good shot of a Garganey from the platform, which he showed us, then mentioned that he didn't think anyone else had noticed it and he hadn't told anyone! So we popped back duly found it and let everyone know! The distance though was to much for my lens.

So to keep it brief our full list for the day at Ham Wall:

Bittern (4), Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler (1), Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Garganey (1m), Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Kestrel, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pochard, Robin, Sand Martin, Shoveler, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat (2) and Woodpigeon

No lifers, but the Bittern, Blackcap, Cetti's Warbler, Garganey, Marsh Harrier and Whitethroat were all firsts for 2012.

So a few photos for the day:

Dunnock in Song

Pochard

Touchdown!

Hooray the Sun has come out!

Glastonbury Tor Behind the Reeds

Little Egret on the Prowl

We decided to have a run into Cheddar after Ham Wall, to see if the Peregrines were about but no luck, we did stop in the village to see if the Water Voles were out and one did oblige for us:

Burnham on Sea 14th April

We were staying in a Haven Caravan Park by the River Brue (Other Caravan Parks are Available!) so decided to wander around the park as it has 2 lakes and then go for a walk out onto the beach and along the river.
The park grounds around the lakes are nice and quiet (apart from the Canada Geese, belting it out!) with lots of fishing going on. The bird life on the water is limited to Mallard, Canada Geese, Coots and quite a few pairs of nesting Great Crested Grebe,

Other park residents were the Gulls, (Common, Herring & Lesser Black Back) which particularly liked to run along the caravan roof in the morning, just in case we weren't already awake.

The park perimeter (trees and bushes) provided quite a range of small birds, Greenfinch, Blue & Great Tit, Blackcap, Goldfinch, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Magpie and of course Woodpigeon.

We then ventured out of the park onto the beach, of course the tide was way out as it always seems to be whenever we are on the coast down here, the only bird visible was a solitary Redshank, so we carried on along the river where we added a couple of Oystercatchers, before finding the Redshank's mates!

We carried on along the river, only adding some Pied Wagtail, so we diverted into Apex Park and picked up some Greylag, but the star of the show was a Hobby that flew straight over our heads as we were heading back.

So that was day 1, more walking than bird watching!

On the Level in Somerset!

Well my first post for what seems ages. We have been away down in a wet and windy Somerset for the week. Thankfully we dodged the rain most of the time but when we didn't we had all the gear on, so we kept mostly dry.

So where do I start? We traveled around a fair bit visiting various Reserves and places of Birding Interest, if I go through them all in detail in one post, it would be huge, and you will get bored and switch off! So I think I'll do a post for each day then you can pick and choose!

But in total we saw 89 species, 3 lifers and 15 year firsts

Upton Warren - Avocets Galore

Well after a week without birding, we got out on Tuesday afternoon. (I had to work Good Friday, so had Tuesday off instead) As the weather was going to be unpredictable we decided on  a short trip with plenty of hides so that we could stay out the rain!
So we decided on Upton and what a great time we had! We parked in the pools car park and were immediately greeted by our first Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins, picking off all the insects that were up after the recent rain! 3 Firsts for 2012!

On the walk to the first hide we picked up a Chiffchaff in the tree over the path, then continued on to the end hide on the path.

The feeding station to the left of the hide gave us a good show:
Great Tit, Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Pheasant (f), Canada Goose. Mallard and a Hobby that came in at speed across the front of the hide!

She just wouldn't turn around, too shy!

On the pool visible from this hide were:
Great Crested Grebe (at least 7), Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Coot, Moorhen (Nesting), Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan (Nesting) and some really cute farmyard ducks turned up! Then just in a bush a little way in front of the hide, our first Reed Warbler of the year!

Cute!

Spot the Moorhen nest

I know its fuzzy but it was worth the shot!

We could see a fair amount of activity over the far side of the pool on the islands, so we decided to walk around to the Lapwing Hide, we just got in when the heavens opened, torrential rain and hail for about 10 minutes. Once that had cleared and we could see, we added:
Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Greylag (1), Teal (2 Pairs), Gadwall (1 pair), Shoveler, Shelduck, Cormorant and the best of the day (so far) a Kingfisher.

I do like BHGs in Summer Colours

A pair of the many Tufties on the Pool

Mrs Teal was just out of shot!

Not a great photo, but I think this Cormorant had taken on a bit to much!

We stayed in the Lapwing hide quite a while as there was so much going on, but we did head over to the scrapes to check out the new Avocet Hide and hopefully see some birds of the same name!

I have to say we are really impressed with the new double-decker hide. Well done WWT!! So impressed we have now joined! Well the cheques in the post! We also had a great chat with the volunteer on duty, he was most helpful and friendly (Thanks John)
So we finished off with half an hour here (we had to get back as we were going to the flicks with our daughter who is home from Edinburgh for Easter) and added:
Avocets (John told us there are 12 on the scrapes, I only managed to find 8!), Green Sandpiper (1), Little Ringed Plovers and a Linnet! All firsts (except the Linnet) for the year.

Our tally for the day was 45! A record for us at Upton, this included 7 firsts for the year. A few hours well spent. So a happy walk back to the car, with a rabbit to finish off!

Haden Hill Revisited!

We managed to spend an hour or so at Haden Hill this afternoon in the hope of Tina seeing the Goldcrest. But no luck, the Nuthatches had disappeared as well, it was a very dull and chilly afternoon, perhaps it was that. A very meagre list:
Mallard, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Starling, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Bullfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Crow, Robin. We heard a Chiff Chaff and a Woodpecker but couldn't find them.
So we'll just have to try again when the weather is a bit brighter and warmer!

Haden Hill 29/03

After being stuck in the house, I managed to get out at lunch time and have a walk through Haden Hill and and Corngreaves NR. The weather was fabulous and the bird song was amazing, but as always when walking through trees its finding them!

The pools are pretty empty now, all the Gulls have gone, so all that was on the lower pool were Mallards

and a couple of Canada Geese who have decided to nest. Not even a sign of a coot or moorhen!

So on past the pool and into Corngreaves..

First sighting were a few Nuthatches, quite high up but a decent view:

I watched them for a while then spotted one disappearing into one of the trees, so looks like a nest as he/she was constantly going in and out.

So after that carried on along the path by the river, lots of Blue and Great Tits about as well as the usual Magpies and Woodpigeons, however I did come across a pair of Stock Doves so that was a first for the year.

As I went further along a small bird flew across the path and landed in a bush about 10 feet away, so stopped and got the bins on him thinking it was a Blue Tit, but much to my delight it was a Goldcrest. (No photo missed him!) Now believe it or not this is a first, it's one of those birds that has eluded us. However I'm not adding it to the totals as Tina still hasn't seen it.. Them's the rules! (We might get time Saturday to get down there for an hour, but we have a busy weekend planned so who knows)

Just after this I heard a Robin singing his little heart out and he obligingly posed for a while:

Multi Tasking! Singing and Scratching!

So headed on added Blackbird, Song Thrush, Jackdaw, Crow, Rook, nothing to exciting.

As I was coming up through the last part of the NR before back into the park spotted another 3 Nuthatches, then a Jay on the ground, trying to hide from me! But managed a photo:

Of course lots of butterflies about, none of whom would pose apart from this Peacock:

So that was it, walked back via the canal, where I did see the missing Coots and Moorhens (as well as more Mallard & Canada Geese) and one last Robin who wanted his photo taken (He told me!)

TTFN

Sandwell Valley 25/03

Well the weather was just to nice, so we had to pop out for a quick spin around the RSPB reserve at Sandwell Valley. We didn't stop long as we had other things to do. Again the weather was great and again the sunshine had brought loads of people out cycling and walking (wonder where they all are when its freezing and wet, like most sensible people tucked up by the fire.)

So what was to see:

Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Cormorant, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Rook, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Goosander (2), Mallard, Mute Swan, Pochard, Shoveler (2), Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Robin, Oystercatcher (2), Woodpigeon, Lapwing, Coot, Moorhen, Redshank (1), Bullfinch and Starling.
The Redshank was the surprise we hadn't expected to see that, I have added a photo , not great quality as he was fairly distant from the hide and its hard to keep the camera still with my dodgy shoulder:

The pair of Oystercatchers were nice to see, they appear to be nesting on the island in front of the hide. The 30 or so Lapwings were giving good displays. They are one of my favourite birds (of many!) they always look magnificent and are a real pleasure to watch flying.

We were hoping to see the Snipe again, but with the influx of some of the other birds, they apparently have moved off the island into the marsh, so we will have to see if they are about still about at Upton.

Eymore Wood 24/03

We managed a quick trip down to Eymore on Saturday, this was the first time I had driven since my Skiing mishap, thankfully we have an automatic, so no gear changing.
The weather was glorious lots of people about, especially with noisy dogs, shouldn't be allowed when you are trying to find birds in the trees! Only joking. We hoped to see Goldcrests and of course always looking for our first English Crossbills, but drew a blank on both counts! We did see our first Chiffchaff of the year in the trees between the reservoir and the river, he was 'Chiff-Chaffing' beautifully! There were a pair of Great Crested Grebes on the first lake by the railway crossing, who displayed briefly, but the majority of the time they were diving.

Apart from those our full list:

Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Canada Goose, Goosander, Mallard,

Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Buzzard, Chiffchaff, Robin, Rock Dove, Woodpigeon, Coot, Goldfinch, Siskin, Blackbird and Pied Wagtail.
Oh and add some boats, steam engine and a frog or two!

There's Always a Sunnyside!

Well, we are back from Italy, I have been to Hospital and my shoulder isn't as bad as the Italian doctors made out. There are no broken bones "just" snapped ligaments which will heal given time. So back to work tomorrow.

Now for the Sunnyside.... As I was not able to ski on the last two days and my legs were intact I had arranged to go out and get the cable car up the mountain and meet Tina & Jo for lunch up the top. So I set out early with my mini bins and digital bridge camera for the 20 minute walk from the hotel up to the cable car. I had only been walking a few minutes when........

Yes after driving to Scotland to various 'guaranteed' Crossbill sites, visiting  Eymore Woods etc. Purely by accident there they were. For two days on the trot, this is a photo from the second time. I even took Tina and Jo later on, on the Saturday and they were still about, but not as close. So if I hadn't done my shoulder, I wouldn't have got the Crossbills. Having said that I think I would swap the pain for no Crossbills!!

So what else: I have identified the mystery bird from my previous post, a Nutcracker, lifer no 1 for the trip.

The swift we saw was an ordinary swift as it was all black, Alpine have a white belly, I can only think this was passing through the Alps on its way north for Spring as we never saw any more swifts. The martins were House Martins as we saw these daily and got good sightings.

On the way home on Sunday, Tina spotted a crow with a yellow beak, so that must be an Alpine Chough. So lifer No 2.
Down in the Aosta Valley on the way to Turin Airport a Great White Egret was spotted in a field near the river.

Now its get my shoulder healed and sorted so we can spend some time in Somerset next month.

Pila Italy

Well here I am sitting in the hotel with a broken clavicle! Happened on day 4, just a silly tumble but came down heavily on my left shoulder. Got a ride on a Police skidoo with blue lights and siren to the nearest cable car, not quite worth it but, a bit of fun out of something that is now really painful. The doc says I will have to have it pinned when I get back to the UK. So A&E on Monday.

On the birding front we are at 6000 feet so few birds around, although we can here plenty when we are on the chairlifts in trees around us. We did spot some Crested Tits on one of our runs, have also seen Raven, a wood pecker but couldn't identify it. Around the hotel, I am surprised to see Swift and Martins, considering the snow although the weather is fabulous with temperatures up at 14 in Pila.

I have seen a bird I can't identify, so if anyone can help, (left the field guide at home!) it was slightly larger than a blackbird, black, with a white rump and white tips on tail feathers.it was in the pines at about 7000 ft.

That'll do for now

Tufted Duck and Eurofighter Typhoon

Went for a walk again lunch time and in a moment of madness carried on all the way to Merry Hill and collected my lens from Jessops. Hurrah!

This entailed walking along the canal from Old Hill, through Netherton, past Netherton Reservoir, down the Through Saltwells LNR and out the otherside at Merry Hill. Was walking at a pace so didnt have much time to look around.
Huge numbers of Canada Geese along the route, these all seem to be pairing off and making lots of noise. Anyway picked my lens up and headed back, allowed myself a few moments at the reservoir to look for the Great Crested Grebe, couldn't see it any where, but was surprised by a solitary Tufted Duck amongst the Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, then a thunderous roar as an RAF Eurofighter came in low from over Dudley. In addition to Birding I'm also a bit of an aeroplane nut! So was well pleased if somewhat puzzled as the Eurofighter hung around. I could hear it all the way home, circling Dudley! Actually whilst I was out yesterday, I could hear a low flying high performance jet, so I guess it was doing it yesterday as well.

Apart from that just the usual along the canal.

Not much.....but......

As we were going up to visit family in Cheshire for a do on Sunday evening, we had toyed with the idea of going to Martin Mere, but when we saw the weather, we decided to give it a miss.

We arrived at our Nieces late afternoon for a cuppa before going out for a meal in Holmes Chapel. As the do was for our fellow birder and my sister in law Jo, we naturally got down to talking birds. Our niece (Jo's daughter, hope you are keeping up with this) then piped in about the starlings over Holmes Chapel in the evening and that we should see them on the way to the pub.

So when we set out there they were, this video is from my phone (which doesn't have much of a camera):

Today I managed to fit a 20 minute walk in at lunch just down to the canal and the Powke Lane POS, just to see what was about, the weather was glorious and the birds were in good voice. Nothing exciting but the singing was tremendous. Seen were:

Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Magpie and Woodpigeon. Down at the canal, just 2 Canada Geese and some Black Headed Gulls whirling around. Not a Mallard, Coot or Moorhen to be seen!

But a big bonus was a vixen who walked calmly past me in the copse just at the end of our road, not more than 10 feet away, she wasn't bothered by me one bit!

Oh and some good news! My 300mm lens is back and waiting to be collected from Jessops!