Sutton Bingham - Sun 23 Jan

My usual Sunday morning visit after dropping Ellie off at church and I decided to leave the car by the entrance to the car park (which is closed during the winter months). Walking through the car park there were severl small birds flitting around including a Treecreeper and about four Greenfinches.
I followed the path from the car park along the water's edge to the hide. I was surprised by the lack of birds on the water, in fact the only birds of note were three Tufted Ducks and two Pochard from the northern causeway and seven Wigeon off the dam.
A single Snipe flew up from the edge of the water as I walked along. A small flock of seven or eight Long-tailed Tits were feeding with a few Goldfinches and a single Goldcrest.
A steady passage of Black-headed Gulls flew north, with somewhere in the region of two hundred birds flying over.
As I returned to the car a large flock of Fieldfares and Redwings left the trees in the car park and flew east over the reservoir.

Cary Moor and Cheddar Reservoir - Wed 19 Jan

Having been faced with terrible weather during my last two half days I feared the worst today as freezing fog enveloped the area. However, fortunately it cleared as I left work so I drove down to Cary Moor and walked out along the Macmillan Way. After a ten minute walk I reached the set-aside field and there were birds everywhere. Chaffinches were by far the most numerous but there were also lots of Reed Buntings and a few Yellowhammers. However, the pick of the crop were at least ten Tree Sparrows.
A testiment to the healthy bird population was the presence of a couple of Sparrowhawks, both of which had prey. As I returned to the car, the trees along the path were full of Redwings and Fieldfares.
At 3.00pm I left Cary Moor and undertook the drive to Cheddar Reservoir. A diversion due to roadworks cost me about twenty minutes travelling time, so it was gone 4.00pm by the time I parked at the reservoir. I walked round to the southern side ensuring the light was behind me and I scanned across the water at the mass of birds. There were at least twenty Goosander present and I eventually tracked down a female Red-crested Pochard.
A pair of Raven flew overhead and several Pied Wagtails were feeding on the water's edge. Other notable species on the water included hundreds (if not thousands) of Coot and several Common Gulls flew in, presumably to roost. As the light started to fade the temperature dropped quite noticeably, so at 4.45pm I headed on home.

Shapwick Heath NNR and Burtle - Sun 16 Jan

After an early lunch Ellie and I decided to brave the weather and head up on to the Somerset Levels for an afternoon stroll. Rather than our usual walks starting at Ashcott Corner, we instead parked near the Peat Moors Centre and walked out to the Decoy Hide at Shapwick Heath. Due to the drizzle we did not see a lot in the way of birds, but a couple of Lesser Redpolls were feeding in an Alder and a Treecreeper was also seen.
We arrived at the hide and took a look out over the water. Very little in the way of birdlife could be seen, but six Tufted Duck were present and during the quarter of an hour that we were in the hide nearly two hundred Lapwings passed over head, in three flocks. It soon become evident that the rain was here to stay for the rest of the day, so we walked back to the car in what was now pretty heavy rain!
We then took a slight round-a-bout route back home, driving north and taking a look for the Great Grey Shrike that had been seen in the area earlier today, but we failed to see it. We then cut across to the village of Burtle and took the road towards Catcott, stopping on the edge of the village to check the swans. Almost immediately I found the family group of Whooper Swans, with six birds being present amongst Mute Swans.
We then drove on back home, stopping in Yeovil en route to grab a quick look at the small flock of Waxwings that I had seen yesterday, though only seven of the eight birds I saw the day before were present. But they typically showed well, much to Ellie's delight. A wonderful way to end a pleasant if somewhat damp afternoon.
UK list for 2011 now at 121 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 16 Jan

Arriving at the reservoir at 10.00am after dropping Ellie off at church I scanned across the water from the northern causeway. A small herd of six Mute Swans were on the main reservoir along with nineteen Coot. But other than a single Common Gull there was nothing else of interest so I drove down to the southern end of the reservoir.
A long walk in wet and muddy conditions produced a few birds of interest. Five Snipe were flushed from the water's edge and a mixed flock of twenty or so Redwings and Fieldfares were foraging for food. A single Great Spotted Woodpecker was being rather obliging by perching at the top of a small tree calling.
A Peregrine flew in and alighted on one of the pylons before heading off south. This obviously led to the wildfowl being rather flighty and sure enough the mixed flock of Teal, Wigeon and Mallard were not settled. A surprise find, a pair of Pintail, were in with the other duck and a single drake Pochard was present.
Before I knew it, it was 11.00am so I had to head off and collect Ellie. All in all a pretty good morning.

Yeovil - Sat 15 Jan

Third time lucky today as I finally connected with some wintering Waxwings, and they were just down the road in Yeovil. I had been hoping that the small flock that had been present for the past day or two would hang around for the weekend and fortunately they did, so I left work and headed straight for Coronation Road, arriving at about 12.45pm. There were a few birders present, most of which I knew and after parking the car I looked up and saw the flock of eight Waxwings:

These are always such delightful birds to see, and always so tame and obliging. So after having my fill I came on home for lunch!

Axminster and Chard Reservoir - Wed 12 Jan

For the second time in less than a week I missed some Waxwings today. It was my afternoon off and as the weather forecast was dire I didn't travel too far and drove down to Axminster to try and find the small flock of Waxwings that had been present for the last couple of days. Unfortunately the information I had on the location was pretty vague and whilst I thought I was in the right area there was no sign of the birds. I had a good walk around but despite there being loads of Starlings I could not make any of them in to Waxwings. So I gave up and headed off to Chard Reservoir.
As I arrived at the reservoir and walked out to the hide the rain had started to fall a bit more steadily. I then bumped in to the warden who had just locked up! Fortunately I knew the combination so was able to have the hide to myself for half an hour or so. An adult Goosander was the highlight, whilst other duck included three Tufted Ducks and a pair of Teal. By 4.00pm the light was really poor, the rain was coming down, and a mist was gathering on the water, so I headed back to the car. Along the way I passed through a feeding flock of Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, and Long-tailed Tits which also included a couple of Treecreepers and a Nuthatch. A flock of a dozen Redwings were on the top of a tree. A mixed bag this afternoon and more birds missed on the 2011 year list.

Bestwall RSPB and Arne RSPB - Sun 9 Jan

Picking Ellie up from church at 11.00am we drove straight down to Wareham and a quick look over the RSPB reserve at Bestwall. Whilst Ellie sat in the car and had a sandwich I walked down the small path to look over the water meadows. Fortunately, the small flock of Eurasion White-fronted Geese that had been present for the past few days were still showing and I picked out half a dozen birds. There were also a few Greylag Geese about and on a small pool at pair of Shovelers. As I walked back to the car a Siskin flew in to a small tree.
Leaving Wareham we then drove down to Arne and parked. We had our picnic lunch and then took a walk through the reserve and out to Shipstal Point. There were plenty of common woodland birds about and we had soon seen Marsh Tit and Lesser Redpoll amongst others. Out on the water there were several Red-breasted Mergansers and Goldeneye and looking out over the salt marsh there were eight Spoonbills as well as several hundred Shelduck and Curlew and smaller numbers of Avocet and Redshank.
After completing the circular walk, seeing a couple of Mistle Thrushes in one of the large fields, we got back to the car and I left Ellie to read the paper whilst I took a walk around Coombe Heath. I was hoping to see the wintering Great Grey Shrike but after a forty minute search I gave up. There were loads of birds feeding in the Middlebeare channel (including a pair of Black Swans). A large flock of Dark-bellied Brent Geese contained two Pale-bellied Brent Geese. On the heath there were a few Meadow Pipits flying about. So having missed a few good birds at Arne during the afternoon I was in a bit of a stroppy mood when I got back to the car, but we had a lovely afternoon out and about in some wonderful weather.
UK list for 2011 now at 118 species.