A family trip out this afternoon and we headed up Ashcott Corner, parking the car and braving light drizzle for a walk out towards Noah's Lake. Reaching the hide we were afforded some excellent views of the two summer-plumaged Whiskered Terns as the hawked for insects with half a dozen or so Arctic Terns. There was little else of note on the water so we returned to the car, adding singing Reed Warbler and Sedge Warblers to the year list (though neither were seen as the skulked in the reed beds), and two Kingfishers were noted as they sped past us. The drained lagoon hosted good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and a couple of Redshank, but there were no other waders. A flock of twenty or so Lesser Redpoll were a surprise this late in year as they fed in alders near the car park before flying east and at least three Bitterns were booming away from deep within the reeds.
Upon reaching the car we decided to take a quick walk out to the first viewing platform at Ham Wall, and before we had even entered the reserve a male Marsh Harrier drifted over at quite some height. Again there were good numbers of warblers, especially Willow Warblers and Blackcaps, and amongst a large flock of hirundines I picked up my first Swift of 2013, rounding off what was a pleasant afternoon and we got back to the car just as it started raining again.
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