3rd October 2023 – Chew Valley Lake, North Somerset

I spent most part of the day in the Stratford hide at Chew Valley Lake and managed to narrowly miss 5 spoonbills and an osprey: the spoonbills minutes before I arrived and the osprey when I went for my picnic lunch and a quick visit to Herriots Bridge. I’m clearly not dedicated enough!

The lake was teeming with coots (c 1900 according to someone who counts). I could pick out small numbers of shoveler and pintails, a juvenile garganey and a kingfisher hovering over the reeds. Most of my effort was spent trying to photograph the larger birds including a female marsh harrier, a juvenile great crested grebe, 3 great white egrets, 3 grey herons and lots of cormorants.

For some reason or another I found the photography difficult and today I had no excuse with the light.

Slideshow of photos from today: