A visit after work today and it was pretty much more of the same. The southern end of the reservoir held four Tufted Ducks (three males and a female), which were all new arrivals, and a pair of Teal. A flock of around fifty Sand Martins were feeding overhead. At the northern end of the reservoir a Peregrine flew through heading south...and that was it!
PS: A couple of very brief visits over the weekend failed to produce anything much, so I won't waste too much time writing about it! Seven Canada Geese were seen on Sun 30 Mar as well as a pair of Tufted Duck.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Monday, 24 March 2014
Sutton Bingham - Sun 23 Mar
The only birding I managed to get in this weekend was on patch and despite a fair amount of hard work checking out Sutton Bingham for migrants, etc. I failed to find much at all really, and adding insult to injury a 1st-winter Little Gull was on West Pool for at least an hour late Saturday afternoon (my mobile phone was playing up so I missed the call)!
Sunday morning prior to 9.00 produced just twenty or so Sand Martins over West Pool and were the only birds of note early in the day. A return visit later in the morning did produce some gulls, with 156 Herring Gulls present as well as five Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A Kingfisher put in a brief appearance and there were still some Sand Martins hanging around.
My final visit came much later in the day and I concentrated my efforts on the southern end of the reservoir. Again there was very little to see, though a total of seventeen Snipe were flushed from the water's edge, eight Teal were still present and further thirty Sand Martins were feeding. There were still only a handful of Chiffchaffs in, with just three heard singing. So it's been a very quiet March so far...let's see what the final week of the month can produce!
Sunday morning prior to 9.00 produced just twenty or so Sand Martins over West Pool and were the only birds of note early in the day. A return visit later in the morning did produce some gulls, with 156 Herring Gulls present as well as five Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A Kingfisher put in a brief appearance and there were still some Sand Martins hanging around.
My final visit came much later in the day and I concentrated my efforts on the southern end of the reservoir. Again there was very little to see, though a total of seventeen Snipe were flushed from the water's edge, eight Teal were still present and further thirty Sand Martins were feeding. There were still only a handful of Chiffchaffs in, with just three heard singing. So it's been a very quiet March so far...let's see what the final week of the month can produce!
Monday, 17 March 2014
Meare Heath NR & Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 16 Mar
A trip up on to the "Avalon Marshes" this afternoon and I after parking at the Ashcott Corner car park I started off by walking out towards Meare Heath as far as Noah's Lake. Despite the sun it was pretty windy so I didn't hold out much hope of seeing much. A couple of Bitterns were heard booming from deep in the reeds and a female Marsh Harrier was seen hunting, and that was pretty much it other than a few duck!
Back to the car park and out on to Ham Wall. I only went as far as the first viewing platform and then out to look at the new hide. There seemed to be even less on this side, but a couple of drake Garganey did liven up the afternoon, even if they did spend most of the time with their butts in the air as the fed.
And that was the end to another trip out and another weekend over!
Back to the car park and out on to Ham Wall. I only went as far as the first viewing platform and then out to look at the new hide. There seemed to be even less on this side, but a couple of drake Garganey did liven up the afternoon, even if they did spend most of the time with their butts in the air as the fed.
Sutton Bingham - Sun 16 Mar
A lovely Spring morning but a visit to Sutton Bingham produced very little in the way of birds. The clear blue skies did bring out good numbers of Buzzards, with at least a dozen seen soaring over the reservoir, I was hoping that something else may join them, but a Sparrowhawk was not quite what I was after!
I did get one new bird for the year list, a single Sand Martin flew through heading north. This is probably the earliest Sand Martin I've had at the reservoir, with birds usually being recorded in the last week of March.
A walk from the car park as far as the southern causeway and then back again failed to produce much more than a couple of singing Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, and a calling Bullfinch. Though a male Reed Bunting did put in an appearance and two Snipe were flushed form the water's edge.
But Spring seems to be well and truly on it's way (famous last words!), so hopefully a few more migrants will start passing through soon.
I did get one new bird for the year list, a single Sand Martin flew through heading north. This is probably the earliest Sand Martin I've had at the reservoir, with birds usually being recorded in the last week of March.
A walk from the car park as far as the southern causeway and then back again failed to produce much more than a couple of singing Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, and a calling Bullfinch. Though a male Reed Bunting did put in an appearance and two Snipe were flushed form the water's edge.
But Spring seems to be well and truly on it's way (famous last words!), so hopefully a few more migrants will start passing through soon.
Thursday, 13 March 2014
Sutton Bingham - Wed 12 Mar
This afternoon I decided against travelling too far and spent a couple of hours at Sutton Bingham instead, this was my first chance to visit the patch this month, and it turned out to be a pretty good visit.
From the northern causeway a pair of Tufted Duck were on West Pool and a Green Woodpecker could be heard "yaffling" from the trees near the railway line (though didn't actually show itself!). There was not much else on the reservoir so I headed down to the site where the hide was located and walked along the water's edge as far as the Canoe Club and then back again. A total of ten Snipe were flushed from the vegetation (though only five were seen together so there is a possibility that I flushed the same birds twice).
Scanning the fields on the opposite side of the reservoir I had a massive surprise when I located a Red-legged Partridge! I have this species on my patch life list but had only ever heard one bird, and that was years ago, so to actually see one was as good as a patch tick really. I even managed to get this hi-res image of it:
Popping back to the car I then carried on and took a walk around the southern end of the reservoir. There were still a few Teal around, with twenty-four birds being counted. A pair of Mandarin Ducks flew in from the south and appeared to land somewhere. It was reassuring to hear and then see a Marsh Tit, this species seems to just about be hanging on at Sutton Bingham. There followed another surprise as I spotted a Mink, a first for me here and not a welcome one!
Returning to the car three Great Spotted Woodpeckers were making heck of a din as they chased each other through the trees and a Raven passed overhead. Other new patch ticks for the year came in the form of a male Kestrel flying south and at least two Jays screaming at each other from the trees opposite "the hide".
So all in all a pretty good time at Sutton Bingham this afternoon, just waiting for the Spring migrants to start passing through now!
Sutton Bingham year list for 2014 now at 70 species.
From the northern causeway a pair of Tufted Duck were on West Pool and a Green Woodpecker could be heard "yaffling" from the trees near the railway line (though didn't actually show itself!). There was not much else on the reservoir so I headed down to the site where the hide was located and walked along the water's edge as far as the Canoe Club and then back again. A total of ten Snipe were flushed from the vegetation (though only five were seen together so there is a possibility that I flushed the same birds twice).
Scanning the fields on the opposite side of the reservoir I had a massive surprise when I located a Red-legged Partridge! I have this species on my patch life list but had only ever heard one bird, and that was years ago, so to actually see one was as good as a patch tick really. I even managed to get this hi-res image of it:
Returning to the car three Great Spotted Woodpeckers were making heck of a din as they chased each other through the trees and a Raven passed overhead. Other new patch ticks for the year came in the form of a male Kestrel flying south and at least two Jays screaming at each other from the trees opposite "the hide".
So all in all a pretty good time at Sutton Bingham this afternoon, just waiting for the Spring migrants to start passing through now!
Sutton Bingham year list for 2014 now at 70 species.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 9 Mar
A couple of hours up on the Somerset Levels after breakfast in lovely sunshine was most enjoyable today. Despite not being able to locate a Firecrest that had been present for nearly a week I still had a rewarding visit, with the highlight being a small group of about four Bearded Tits, of which at least one male and a female showed really well. The usual duck species were still present out on the water and Spring felt as if it was well and truly in the air with at least four Chiffchaff singing. As I returned to the car a Bittern was booming away and rounded off a fairly short but pleasant trip out.
Year list for 2014 now at 141 species.
Year list for 2014 now at 141 species.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Marshfield - Sat 8 Mar
Heading down the M4 from our morning over the River Severn we made for a small valley just to the north of the village of Marshfield in South Gloucestershire. A brisk walk along the stream and within twenty minutes of parking the car we were watching the long-staying Red-flanked Bluetail, and what a bird. Only my second ever and much more obliging than the previous one I'd seen.
We probably spent at least quarter of an hour admiring this little gem what a great bird. A Grey Wagtail was also seen as it flitted around the stream.
Back to the car and a five minute drive down the road before pulling over to scan the countryside. Before long we found what we were looking for, a flock of at least fifty Corn Buntings as well as ten plus Yellowhammers and about twenty Linnet. And that rounded off an absolutely excellent day's birding as we jumped back in the car and drove home.
Back to the car and a five minute drive down the road before pulling over to scan the countryside. Before long we found what we were looking for, a flock of at least fifty Corn Buntings as well as ten plus Yellowhammers and about twenty Linnet. And that rounded off an absolutely excellent day's birding as we jumped back in the car and drove home.
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