In autumn, Britain & Ireland receive vast numbers of wigeon from the breeding grounds located further north and this wintering population has increased significantly since 1983/84. The Wetland Bird Survey reveals a few widespread locations holding over 30,000 birds in winter.
The vast majority of them must have been at Catcott today; or that’s how it seemed. Most of them seemed to be asleep when I arrived and not much disturbed them. There was the occasional distinctive whistle from them but not even a marsh harrier sent them up in a flock. Perhaps their tactic for survival was to remain still
Eurasian wigeonEurasian wigeonEurasian wigeonMarsh harrierMarsh harrierMarsh harrierHad the marsh harrier spotted its prey or was this its resting place?Marsh harrierMarsh harrierGreat egret and marsh harrierThe great white egret found plenty to eat
The only other spot from the hide was a common snipe which was visible for only a few moments before disappearing.
Common snipeCommon snipeHowever, the robin was not too secretiveA deer watched on as the great white egret arrivedGreat white egret landingTeal in flightAnother robin – posing againAnother great white egret fishing in a ditch as I leftMeadow pipit avoiding the danger of the barbed wire
The sun was the star of our walk around the park this morning; although it was a very cold day it was a joy to feel its rays.
Very few leaves but still lots of colourA dramatic range of light
The tawny owl was visible in its box on the island in the middle of the lake but its features were not too easy to see. The cormorants in the trees were clearly enjoying the sun too.
Tawny owlGreat cormorant
A grey heron looked quite dramatic too in the sun; it seemed more intent on posing and showed little interest in feeding.
Grey heronPerhaps it was on sentry duty?Even the black-headed gulls looked attractive in the sunThey looked demure …… and then wanted to show off.
However, we felt the best poser was the robin. No surprise there, then.
RobinHowever, the squirrel didn’t want to be outstaged
Although there was snow forecast for north of Bristol and reasonable weather forecast for mid Somerset, I was disappointed to set off in rain and sleet. It didn’t rain all day but it was pretty miserable throughout; it was quite testing seeing birds and even more challenging photographing them.
I headed for Catcott Lows as there is a hide where you can park close by; but when I arrived I found it was closed as they were “managing” the trees on the lane leading to the hide. I continued further south to RSPB Greylake, a small reserve where, again, I wasn’t going to get drenched reaching the hides.
There were big numbers of lapwing, wigeon and teal. Best of all there were quite a few snipe close to the hide, a water rail and an occasional marsh harrier.
WigeonTealLapwingCommon snipeSnipeMarsh harrierMarsh harrierMarsh harrierLapwingCommon snipeWater railTeal and snipeWigeon
On the way home I saw large numbers of little egrets and cattle egrets in the fields. Also, large numbers of starling were congregating and I thought it was a shame I couldn’t stay later to see the magnificent sight of the murmurations before they roost. But there again, I don’t think the views would have been too wonderful as the bad weather set in again and the light would have been very poor.
Cattle egret
I stopped very briefly at Cheddar Reservoir where I saw large numbers of pochard. I certainly didn’t stay long as it was only 2 degrees centigrade and definitely felt much colder with the wind blowing off the water.
PochardMeadow pipitGrey wagtail looking as cold as I felt
There were the first glimpses of the sun for over a week as we started our walk around the park this morning. However, it was only a teaser and it didn’t last long. We are promised better tomorrow.
No sun maybe, but there were flashes of brightness throughout our walk as we had several sightings of the magnificent kingfisher. Firstly, we saw one flying along the River Frome west to east, and then two together flying from east to west. Then closer to the park there was one perching and posing.
KingfisherKingfisherKingfisher… and away.
There was a newcomer to the lake as a northern shoveler seems to have taken up residence.
Northern shovelerNorthern shoveler
However there are always plenty of gulls resident and today we saw lesser black-backed and black-headed.
Lesser black-backed gullBlack-headed gull
There always seem to be plenty of cormorants at the lake. The fish stocks must be pretty low by now.
CormorantCormorant drying its wings ready for take offThe tawny owl was visible ut not so easy to see today
Other birds were available …
Carrion crowNo sunshine but the colours of the magpie were still apparent
We have spent the last few days in North Devon. It wasn’t a birding trip but on our visit to RHS Garden Rosemoor I did get to see siskins which are not very common where I live in Bristol.
I share a few of the other “garden” birds we saw as well as a few photographs from this wonderful garden in Devon.
RHS Garden RosemoorSiskinDunnockMale chaffinchSiskinsSiskins and female chaffinchThe azaleas were a pictureIt has been very wet and windy but the tulips were survivingFritillariesRobinA lot of colour in the bamboosYou don’t have to go to Japan for cherry blossomA very vocal peacockQuite a scruffy blackbirdFormal and informal gardens at RosemoorFormal sculptures… and informal sculpturesColours starting to appear in most of the treesApples are “big” in DevonCamellias would look better with some sunshineRhododendronsWater features tooMagnoliasMagnolias losing their bloom
En route we stopped off at Tawstock to visit St Peter’s Church. You are most welcome to have a look if you like that sort of thing:
Another break in the rain and so we make a dash for Slimbridge. There’s not much doubt that these are currently wetlands.
Northern lapwings and golden plover clearly enjoying the wet conditions
There were a few rarities there today (spoonbill, dark-bellied Brent goose) but the only rarity (for Slimbridge) which we managed to see amongst the thousands of birds on view were two Whooper swans who have joined the visiting Bewick swans and the native mute swans.
Bewick swanWhooper swanMute swanNorthern pintailA ruff and a shelduck either side of a pair of wigeon Black-tailed godwits were easier to pick out when they took to the airLapwingsEven the chaffinch had to negotiate the wet conditionsWe heard the curlews way before we saw themI only saw two oystercatchersThere were rather a lot more golden ploverThe golden plovers regularly made splendid displays over the wetlandsNorthern shovelersWigeonWhooper swan up closeThe Bewick swans are much smaller than the Whoopers (and the mute swans) and have proportionally more black and less yellow on their billsMale and female tufted duck
