Avalon Marshes - Sat 3 Jan

In what seems to have become somewhat of a tradition, myself and four of my oldest birding friends headed off for a trip to the Somerset Levels to start the year off. Always good fun and great company the birds are almost secondary!

We started the day at Wet Moor where despite the bitter cold we managed to connect with some good birds, with a flock of around thirty or so Russian White-fronted Geese on the deck, and another sixty seen in flight overhead. A lone Bewick's Swan was eventually picked out in the distance and a spectacular site of thirty-five Common Crane flying over was something to see and hear.

On then to Greylake RSPB which proved to be pointless so we didn't linger, instead heading to Catcott where we failed to connect with the recent Glossy Ibis but had great views of a hunting Marsh Harrier.

Another miss at Meare as we didn't see the elusive and mobile Whooper Swans and Long Drove also drew a blank as we missed the two Ring-necked Duck.

We then spent some time at Shapwick Heath, walking out to view Noah's Lake. Again, lot's of duck but nothing out of the ordinary...it was interesting that there was not actually that much variety in the birds we were seeing. Lots of wildfowl and little else.

We finished the day back at Wet Moor after a brief stop just north of Muchelney where five Bewick's Swans were showing really well.

Whereas we missed a few things today, it was a wonderful day out with good friends and that more than made up for the somewhat low total of species recorded.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 2 Jan

A quick stop before work failed to produce yesterday's Brent Goose but a Shoveler was present with the Wigeon flock. Three Tufted Ducks were on the main reservoir (there were ten yesterday) and a Great White Egret was again on West Pool.

A brief return visit late afternoon produced a Cattle Egret in trees below the car park and a flock of seventeen Lapwing flew through.

Arne RSPB - Thu 1 Jan

A family trip out today but a few little highlights before we got to our destination with a Firecrest in the garden, a quick stop at Sutton Bingham to see a Brent Goose and an equally quick stop just outside Dorchester for a Tundra Bean Goose!

We arrived at Arne RSPB in time for a picnic lunch before taking a walk out to Shipstal Point. The tide was out and this resulted in lots of exposed mud and an equally high number of birds feeding on them, with lots of Avocets in particular but a supporting cast of Redshanks, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwits and Oystercatchers.

Out in Poole Harbour there was very little to see other than a few Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers.

A walk across Combe Heath wasn't overly productive but Middlebeare Channel did host a couple of Spoonbill and a Marsh Harrier flew through.

All in all a lovely day out which ended up with us being joined by a party of nine pigs as we walked back to the car!

Happy New Year to you all.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 29 Dec

An early afternoon visit to the reservoir today and I spent the best part of three hours covering just about every area I could and with very little reward. A Great White Egret was on West Pool and a lone Stonechat was observed. On the water there were three Gadwall and at least forty Wigeon, plus a small number of Teal present at the southern end. I also heard a squealing Water Rail but that was that for 2025 on the patch.

All in all a pretty good year, with my final total being 121 species recorded, with a self found Glossy Ibis being the pick, what with it being a patch tick, and a self-found Yellow-browed Warbler being a good find. As is always the case, I missed a number of birds over the course of the year, all of which were very brief visitors or fly-through migrants. And it all starts again on 1 January 2026! Happy New Year!

Sutton Bingham - Sat 27 Dec

In what was to be the penultimate birding visit to the reservoir this year I finally managed to get an addition to the year list, meaning I managed at least one species added to the list each month this year. Today's find was a Jack Snipe flushed from the edge of West Pool along with some thirty or so Snipe.

The only other birds of note today were three Mediterranean Gulls and a Common Gull amongst a small number of Black-headed Gulls. 

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 121 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 22 Dec

I've not spent much time at the reservoir this month, and to be honest I don't think I've missed much. A couple of Tufted Ducks were present briefly one day last week along with two Snipe but there has been very little else, just small numbers of Wigeon and Teal. Today a Great White Egret was on West Pool, so a little bit of interest at last.

Dawlish Warren (Cockwood) - Thu 4 Dec

News broke yesterday of a rare tern off Dawlish Warren which was eventually identified as a Lesser Crested Tern, and as it decided to linger overnight I made the decision late morning to head down on my afternoon off work to try and see it.

A drive of nearly two hours meant I arrived at Cockwood just before 3pm and decided to stop here and check for the bird, this was a good decision as there were a small number of birders present who very kindly got me on to the bird within a minute or two. OK, it was a bit distant, but I got some great views through my scope of it in flight on perched on a distant buoy.

After a while it took flight again and eventually settled a little closer, still too far away for a decent photo though.

Knowing that the light would be against me, I decided to not to drive round to Dawlish Warren and make the thirty minute hike across the dunes to the hide. I might have got closer views, but by the time I got there I knew I wouldn't have long so decided to just enjoy the views from Cockwood, even if they were a little distant.

So, Lesser Crested Tern is the latest addition to my life list, and what a great bird it was.

Obviously, I didn't really spend any time looking for other birds, but there was a good number of Brent Geese present and I did have four Bar-tailed Godwits fly by.