Meare Heath NR - Sun 29 Apr

Despite the continuous rain, Ellie decided we should all try and get out and get a bit of fresh air this afternoon. So we packed the waterproofs and headed up to Meare Heath. We placed Tristan in his pram and made sure all the wet weather accessories were fitted before heading off for a walk. In fact, whilst he stayed nice and dry and warm, we got pretty wet!

The long-staying Long-billed Dowitchers were still present and were looking rather smart in their summer plumage. A Little Ringed Plover, single Common Sandpiper and three Redshank were also present on the drained lagoon.

Several Swallows and House Martins were whizzing around and a few Swifts were also seen. A Sedge Warbler was singing away as were a couple of Whitethroats. We walked halfway along the path to Shapwick before returned to the car, hearing a booming Bittern, and then just as we approached the car park, two Whimbrel flew over heading north...so a year tick at last!

Catcott NR - Sat 28 Apr

A break in the rain so I took Tristan up on to the Somerset Levels for an hour or so. We made straight for Catcott Lows in the hope of picking up some summer migrants, but on arrival the wind was pretty strong and there was not much variety in the way of birds. Hundreds of hirundines were whizzing across the reserve and several Swifts were also present. On the water there were several Gadwall but nothing else and a single Little Egret was also seen. However, we did not linger and came back home after another pretty unproductive afternoon.

Tealham Moor - Sun 22 Apr

A trip with Tristan up on the the Levels this afternoon. I had decided to take the boy out and give Ellie a break despite continuous showers, and when we arrived at Tealham Moor the weather was actually rather pleasant, until I got out of the car and was nearly blown away! Despite the wind I remained positive and started scanning the fields looking for Yellow Wagtails and my recent run of missing year ticks continued with a Kestrel and Little Egret pretty much the only birds I saw (apart from loads of Mute Swans). I decided against stopping off anywhere else and simply headed back home for a restful evening.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 22 Apr

Back to a bit of routine today and I dropped Ellie off at church and took Tristan up to the reservoir for an hour. The northern end of the reservoir produced nothing, so I drove down to the southern end and had a good walk. A pair of Tufted Ducks were seen and I saw my first Sutton Bingham House Martins of 2012, with half a dozen birds flying over. A Skylark was heard singing but could not be seen. Other than that, again there was little to report!

Sutton Bingham - Sat 21 Apr

A fairly brief hour-long visit dodging showers produced a single Common Sandpiper and nothing else worth reporting, so I won't bother trying to pad out this blog entry!

Briantspuddle - Sat 21 Apr

A morning trip with Tristan down to some Dorset heathlands in the hope of adding Dartford Warbler to the year list with a visit to a site that produced this species on two visits last summer. Luck was not with us today though and we drew a blank. However, several Siskin were seen, including a very smart male.

A couple of Yellowhammers flew over and a Stonechat was also seen. The "usual" warblers were about and in song and three Linnets were also present. After a forty minute walk the rain started to fall so we hot-footed it back to the car and headed back home for lunch.

Ham Wall RSPB & Meare Heath NR - Mon 16 Apr

I was lucky enough to get driven around today again as my car was in the garage getting new brake disks and pads. Ellie took Tristan and I up to the Somerset Levels where we attempted a walk around Ham Wall RSPB reserve. However, Tristan seemed to have other plans and despite being nice and snug in his pram cried continually for the duration of the walk. That being said, there were not really any birds of note at Ham Wall anyway...so we didn't miss anything.
After a feed back at the car we tried again and this time headed out to Meare Heath where we had a bit more luck with both the birds and the baby! The long-staying Long-billed Dowitchers were still present, as was a Great White Egret, but a reported drake Garganey was nowhere to be seen. A large mixed flock of hirundines passed overhead.
Believe it or not the bird of the day was a Common Whitethroat seen singing in the car park, my only year tick of the day!
UK list for 2012 now at 172 species.