Meare Heath NNR - Sat 25 Apr

I had just arrived at work when the pager went off with a *Mega Alert* alerting me of a Hudsonian Godwit just up the road at Meare heath NNR on the Somerset Levels. What followed was the longest four hours I had ever spent sat at my desk, with a constant eye on Twitter and the RBA website keeping me abreast of the birds presence I finally set off and arrived on site soon after 1pm. The new car park was packed to capacity but fortunately I managed to squeeze in to the old car park at Ashcott Corner and walked out to view the drained lagoon, along with around 500 other birders!

When I first got on the bird it was fast asleep, though it did do a little preening before settling down again. So I walked on to take a look over Noah's Lake where I added Common Tern to the year list, with two birds flying around. A couple of Hobbies overhead were also new for the year and the now expected Great White Egrets, Bitterns and Marsh Harriers were all noted.
I then returned to the throng and the Hudsonian Godwit was now feeding but was working its way in to the left hand corner of the lagoon and was for the most part obscured from view. However, with a little patience I got some great views and was able to see all the distinguishing features, including the dark underwing when it had a go at a Black-tailed Godwit. I did try and get a couple of record shots, but was more interested in seeing the bird and appreciating this third for Britain.

 

 

The only other bird of note that I saw this afternoon was a Greenshank, there were loads of other quality birds around, but I didn't actually connect with any of them...not that I minded, I saw the important one!