Meare Heath NR - Mon 26 Aug

A Glossy Ibis had been seen at Meare Heath and then Ham Wall RSPB yesterday, but despite the bird being first seen at 12 noon news was not in the public domain until 3.00pm for some reason (I guess the finders had no access to mobile services as happens sometimes), hence I didn't know about it when I headed down to Black Hole Marsh yesterday afternoon. Never mind, no harm done as I arrived at Meare Heath at 9.30am and soon connected with the Glossy Ibis as it fed on the drained lagoon. There were plenty of other birds of interest too, with a Greenshank frequenting the back of the lagoon, a Ringed Plover on the small island area, and a Great White Egret. A Garganey was also present, but seemed to spend most of it's time sleeping, and another wader which someone told me was a Curlew Sandpiper was in fact a Ruff!
Carrying on to Noah's Lake I eventually tracked down the Osprey that's been present for a few days as it loafed around on a dead tree and another Great White Egret was seen. Two Raven harassed a Lesser Black-backed Gull before heading west.
Back towards the car park then, and as I neared the lagoon all the waders took to the air. Fortunately this made it easy to pick out the one with a white rump and as they all landed I had some very nice views of the real Curlew Sandpiper...in the company of two Ruff!
The supporting cast today consisted of several Black-tailed Godwits on the lagoon, a couple of Kingfishers and some pinging Bearded Tits which decided to stay in the reeds! So all in all a really good couple of hours out.

Black Hole Marsh - Sun 25 Aug

Down to Devon this afternoon and a visit to Black Hole Marsh to try and connect with a couple of migrant waders. As it happens it was not too difficult as within five minutes of being in the island hide I had added Curlew Sandpiper (see below) and Little Stint to the year list, a partially summer-plumaged former and two of the latter.

There were plenty of other waders present too, with half a dozen or so Common Sandpipers, a similar number of Green Sandpipers and Dunlin and a handful or Ringed Plover. A Greenshank was also present and a Yellow Wagtail was heard as it flew over south.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to hang around this afternoon, so after less than an hour on site it was back home!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Aug

Another morning visit to Sutton Bingham today and again all the action (what little there was) was at the southern end of the reservoir. The highlight was a Green Sandpiper that flew south calling, but with nowhere to feed due to the continued high water levels the bird simply kept going!
A Raven also flew over, whilst the remaining interest was found in common birds flocking together in a large flock moving through the trees feeding. This flock seemed to contain loads of Chiffchaffs along with a few Willow Warblers and four species of tit. A Nuthatch and Treecreeper were heard, as was a Bullfinch.
There wasn't anything of note at all from the northern end of the reservoir.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 24 Aug

A quick visit today and it didn't really produce anything different from yesterday. The female Tufted Duck was again seen at the southern end, where up to five Ravens were seen (one or two pairs and a single bird). There were lots of hirundines feeding over the water, including a few Sand Martins. The only other interest came in the form of two Reed Buntings near the Canoe Club and a couple of Little Egrets seen in flight off the northern causeway.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 23 Aug

I spent about ninety minutes this afternoon at the reservoir, concentrating on the southern end of the site. A couple of Raven were seen sat on the top of one of the pylons an piqued my interest. However, it was pretty much routine fair for the rest of the day, with the exception of a couple of juvenile-type Mandarin and a female Tufted Duck!
As I continued around the bottom end of the reservoir I came across a large flock of feeding birds consisting of tits and warblers, with some thirty or so birds flitting through the trees and feasting on insects...but try as I might I couldn't find any scarce migrants among the common species.
A Kingfisher was heard a couple of times but failed to show itself, and a Little Egret was on the shore opposite the Sailing Club.

Arne RSPB & Studland - Thu 22 Aug

A family day today, and as we had arranged to meet "The In-Laws" at Studland in the afternoon we spent the morning at Arne RSPB Reserve. A walk around Arne was not overly productive on the bird front, a small number of Sandwich Terns and Common Terns off Shipstal Point. A walk around Combe Heath was slightly more interesting with at least three Spotted Flycatchers feeding with a couple of Treecreepers and a smart looking Willow Warbler contrasting nicely with a grotty Chiffchaff! On the heath proper a Dartford Warbler was heard calling but failed to show itself and a family of Stonechats was being rather vocal. There were also several Graylings on the wing.
Leaving Arne we drove round to Studland and met up with the rest of the family for a chilled out afternoon on the beach...not really my thing at all, but I did see a Clouded Yellow fly past and at least a dozen Mediterranean Gulls flew south. Interestingly there seemed to be a fairly constant passage, albeit small numbers, of Woodpigeons heading north for the three hours we were on the beach. Despite the close proximity of the Ring-necked Parakeet site, I felt I couldn't really vanish for a while to hunt them out!

Porthgwarra - Sun 18 Aug

I had planned to partake in a pelagic trip from Penzance this morning with four friends, but a call from the Skipper of the boat on Friday morning put pay to that due to a forecast 3 metre swell. So not to be put off we still main the trip down to Cornwall. We arrived at Porthgwarra before 9.00am and started our sea watching vigil soon afterwards...and there we stayed until 2.00pm!
As was to be expected given the weather conditions it was a fairly slow day (with the exception of a constant stream of Gannets and Manx Shearwaters). That being said during the five hours I did see singles of Balearic Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, and Great Skua (that had a bit of fun harassing a juvenile Herring Gull for a few minutes). I was also lucky enough to pick out three Storm Petrels, though trying to get anyone else on to them proved an impossible task. More routine fair was provided by a few Kittiwakes and a single Mediterranean Gull.
There was little to see on the land itself other than a few Rock Pipits, Meadow Pipits and Linnets, but we did get lucky when a pair of Choughs decided to spend a bit of time on the rocks near our sea watching spot.
We were also treated to a host of butterfly activity, with around ten species seen. I must have seen at least seven Clouded Yellows and there were also lots of Wall Browns, Graylings and Common Blues. A single Painted Lady was also seen as well as many of the commoner species.
A brief stop on the way home at the Hayle Estuary amounted to nothing as the tide was in so we headed straight back home after an enjoyable day out.