Author: martintayler

Earlier in the year I was looking for a female smew on the lake on Chipping Sodbury Common and couldn’t even find the lake, so today I was extremely pleased to find the juvenile woodchat shrike that many local birders seemed to have spotted.

I thought that I was bound to see a gang of birders twitching but initially was disappointed to see only two dog walkers on the whole common. However, I was lucky enough to find a solitary birder (Ken from Suffolk!) who beckoned me over and pointed out the shrike.

Woodchat shrike

There were also whinchats darting about. I felt very anxious for the shrike when a kestrel appeared, especially when it dived and didn’t appear again. Fortunately I saw the shrike again later.

Whinchat

Kestrel

The woodchat shrike

Whinchat

On the way back to the car a saw a dozen long-tailed tits and then a small flock of yellow wagtails. I  hung around by the cows and got some distant shots.

A yellow wagtail beneath the bovine creature

Yellow wagtail

A very satisfying morning.

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning.

It was a beautiful morning and I was hoping to catch the tide before it was too low but I had misjudged it and arrived too late to see the waders on the estuary. I walked towards the wetlands hoping to see the waders there and perhaps some yellow wagtails, wheatears or whinchats but all I saw was a swallow and some distant (very brownish) starlings.

However, I did meet a chap walking along the coastal path (with his dog Koda), and had a very interesting conversation with him. His name was Wayne Dixon and he had walked over 7,000 miles in aid of the charity “Mind” and was litter picking along his route. He has collected over 42 tonnes of rubbish in 6,000 bags as he walks across the UK. His motto : “Clean Minds, Clean Streets, Clean Life” really appealed to me. You can read about him on his Facebook page

I carried on for a while but had lost interest in the birds and returned to the car. On my way home I did stop at Aust Warth for a while and had good views of a pair of kestrels.

We thought we would have a look on the other side of the Severn Estuary. It was a beautiful day: we started at Goldcliff saline lagoons near Newport with loads of waders (particularly ringed plovers) ; then had a picnic lunch (accompanied by long-tailed tits) on the estuary straight across from Portishead (see photo of the old Nautical School below); then walked around RSPB Newport Wetlands (where we saw very little).

Back in time to see Arsenal slaughtered by Liverpool (should have stayed out later!).

Loads of waders at Goldcliff

Ringed plovers 

Lapwing

Dunlin in flight

Long-tailed tit

Portishead “Nautical School”

Grey Heron at Newport Wetands

Little Grebe at Newport Wetlands

Click below for gallery of photos from today:

I saw a rich variety of waders at New Passage this morning aided by Mr “Severnside” Paul Bowerman.

There were flocks of dunlin, redshanks, black-tailed godwits, turnstones and a 3 greenshank. Paul also pointed out yellow wagtails (but I was not up to getting a photo). I also saw a curlew, 3 little egrets and 6 oystercatchers. On the Pilning Wetlands I also saw a flock of 12 goldfinch, lots of swallows, 2 little grebes, big flocks of starlings, a grey heron and at least a dozen lapwing.

Dunlin

Turnstone

Black-tailed godwits

Black-tailed godwits

Little grebe

Little egret

2 greenshank behind the black-headed gulls

Curlew

Curlew, black-tailed godwits, redshank and dunlin

Black-tailed godwit and oystercatcher

Goldfinches

Lapwings

Swallow

Starlings

Grey heron

In the evening we walked from Shepperdine to Oldbury and then had supper in the Anchor. On the estuary we saw 4 curlew, 2 flyover oystercatchers and a little egret.

Curlew

Oystercatchers fly over a curlew

Oystercatchers

Little egret

Gallery of photos from today:

A brief visit to Chew Valley Lake this afternoon before the rain came in.

2 great white egrets, 1 little egret and a grey heron at Herriot’s End; 1 common sandpiper, 3 great crested grebes, a grey heron and loads of mallards, coots and moorhens and a deer at Villice Bay. Not terribly exciting but we got out and we didn’t get wet!

Great white egret

Grey heron

Common sandpiper

Great crested grebe

Deer

It was a disappointing start to our trip to Slimbridge as, although a bright day was forecast, the skies were very grey and the light was very poor for photography. I was hoping to see a wood sandpiper but I only saw a green sandpiper.

From the Holden hide we could see a peregrine on the edge of the estuary but it was too distant for a photo.

Just as we had given up and were heading off for some lunch we made one last stop and were treated to a wonderful display by a male kingfisher. Lunch was most enjoyable after that.

Click below for gallery of photos from today:

Locally we have had poor weather for the last week but on Sunday we enjoyed a very pleasant walk on the Cleveland Lakes circuit of the Cotswold Water Park.

There was not much bird life but their food store was building up nicely in the countryside with an abundance of berries.

The most interesting of the birds were great crested grebe with juveniles, a jay and red-crested pochard.

We spotted 7 species of butterly (Large White, Small White, Brimstone, Holly Blue, Peacock, Red Admiral, and Speckled Wood) and lots of dragonfly and damselfly but most escaped my camera.

Click below for gallery of my photos of the day

My birdwatching activities have been restricted recently but I have had a few quick trips out in the last week but there is not an awful lot of bird activity at present.

Saturday 5th August at Chew Valley Lake:

Barnacle goose

Great crested grebe

Grey heron

Lesser black-backed gull

Wednesday 9th August 2017 at Chew Valley Lake

Egyptian Goose

Brent goose

Little grebe

Thursday 10th August at RSPB Ham Wall

Little Grebe

Marsh harrier

Great crested grebe

Friday 11th August at Chew Valley Lake

Great white egret

Black tailed godwit

Very dull and drizzly day – not really a birding session to Chew Valley Lake, as little ones in tow, but just happened to have a camera with me so couldn’t resist.

Lesser black-backed gulls, house martins, swallows and swifts. Pied wagtail and a yellow-legged gull (2nd summer juvenile according to Ian Stapp who I was pleased to meet for the first time) and a common sandpiper. Flyover Canada geese, little egret and grey heron. Pleased that the older of the little ones could recognise most of these – younger of the little ones did well on recognition too.

Yellow-legged Gull

     Lesser black-backed Gull and Common Sandpiper

Swift

Pied Wagtail

 LBB Gull, Grey Heron, and Little Egret

LBB Gull

Not quite like East Anglia but very enjoyable all the same

At the end of another beautiful day we enjoyed a very brief visit early evening to Duchess Park, Stoke Park; we saw the resident grey heron, a few coot chicks, several broods of ducklings, a brood of 7 Canada geese and 2 swallows.

Our first ever visit to Newton St Loe: such a pretty village and a beautiful walk around Bath Spa University and its lakes.

We saw a swan and its cygnets, three grey herons and a little egret on the lake and a deer and a hare on the edges. As we walked close to the university there were loads of jackdaws and crows and a flock of a dozen long-tailed tits. On the way back we enjoyed watching the swallows and house martins collecting flies over the fields.

A spot of nature watching is always uplifting even on a gloomy day and the Somerset Levels (as always) didn’t disappoint.

Great white egrets, little egrets, a bittern in flight and a glossy ibis were the stars, but marsh harriers, great crested grebes, lapwings and a variety of butterflies and bugs presented a challenge to photograph and were well worth seeing.

Click below for a gallery of photos from today