Meare Heath NR and Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 10 Apr

Ellie and I decided that as it was another wonderful day we would head up to the Somerset Levels for a walk after lunch. Parking as usual at Ashcott Corner we walked out on to Meare Heath, and one of the first birds we saw was a Bittern in flight! We then took a look over the drained lagoon where a drake Green-winged Teal was showing really well (see the really top quality record shot of it feeding below!):

A single Bar-tailed Godwit was present with the Black-tailed Godwits, apparently a rare Meare Heath bird! We then continued on to the hide overlooking Noah's Lake. The hide the packed so I had to stick my head in through the door and a very obliging gentleman set his scope up so that I could first see a Little Tern and then a Cattle Egret, birding does not get much easier than that! Another Bittern also flew across the water.
We then retraced our steps and walked out on to Ham Wall. There were slightly fewer birds this side of the road, but at least three Bitterns were booming. Several warblers were singing away, including at least one Sedge Warbler. There were several butterflies on the wing and we saw loads of Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks, Brimstone, and Orange Tips.

After being out and about for a good couple of hours our stomachs started rumbling and prompted us to head on home for dinner.
UK list for 2011 now at 197 species.