Bath Birdwatcher

  After our trip to Slimbridge Bryan and myself found ourselves on 99 species for the month so close to the 100 but what chance have we got to get that illusive extra species to reach the magic 3 figures as the chance of seeing something in the garden or local would be improbable and there is no chance of a day out until next Tuesday which is the 1 st of February. BUT today the chance arose for an hour or so, but where shall we go needs to be fairly local due to the time restraints. Stanton Prior about a 15min drive from Bath would give us a chance of a Yellowhammer so it was there that we headed for. On the way a single Rook was in the rookery by the Globe and a Pheasant was in one of the fields. Driving into Stanton Prior a large mixed flock of Starlings and Redwings flew from tree to tree as we drove towards them. Carrion Crows were well represented. Parking by the farm we found a very large flock of perhaps as many as 300 Chaffinch with a double figure count of House Sparrows ...

  Todays day trip for the 3 Amigos was going to be too Oldbury Power Station, but late in the day it was decided to change the venue to Slimbridge as the weather forecast was for it to be cold and Slimbridge has lots of hides 2 of which are heated so its possible to arrange the day so if we get too cold we can visit a heated hide to warm up but as it transpired we didn’t need to make these visits to keep warm, just to see what birds were about. We set off at 9am and saw the following on the way, Cormorant, Common Gull, Carrion Crow, and Magpie. Bird spotting started in earnest as we turned onto the minor road leading to Slimbridge, here we noted Collared Dove and Starling. And in the fields as we approached the centre were Lapwing, Greylag Geese, Curlew, White Fronted Geese, Black Headed Gull, Woodpigeon, and Rook. Walking from the car park Blackbird, Coot, Great Tit, Mute Swan and Mallard were all logged. In the grounds as we walked towards Peng a Pied Wagtail was on the buildin...

  My wife and myself decided to visit Newton St Loe for a walk as the weather was cold but sunny. We packed a coffee and headed for the church where we parked. Walking through the churchyard birds were all around with Great Tit in large numbers as were House Sparrows, also seen were Robin, Greenfinch and Chaffinch. As we entered the field through the churchyard a Blackbird flew past, and a few Woodpigeons were in the field. As we approached Send a Cow a Carrion Crow flew over down through the woods where Blue Tit and Jackdaw were seen. From Butterfly Alley 6 Grey Heron and 3 Moorhen were in the field by the stream and a pair of Mallards were on the stream. Walking on towards the bottom lake 2 Magpie flew across the field. On the bottom lake was a Black Headed Gull plus another 10 Mallard and 2 Moorhen, 4 Cormorants were in the trees to the left of the lake. Cormorants-NSL(Bath Birdwatcher) On the top lake were more Mallard 18no. and 2 more Moorhen. Teal numbers were slightly higher...

  I have been a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) for over 40 years and the local bath branch for about 10 years. Every month we run field trips and today it was too the Forest of Dean, where we were to meet at a car park close to Speech House. The 3 Amigos set off together at 0800 to be sure to make the 0930 rendezvous. On the way Kestrel and Collared Dove were seen. As we approached the Forest of Dean we realised as we were early, there was enough time to call in at Parkend where a piece of land surrounded by Yew trees is always worth a look. On arriving it didn’t look very hopeful due to the large gathering of bikers and dog walkers, but we decided to stop and have a look, we are so glad we did as we soon saw Great Tit, Nuthatch and Chaffinch flying in and out of the Yews. On the far side of the open grassed area, we noticed birds dropping to the ground and on looking more Chaffinch were noted then I picked up the movement of a slightly larger finch,...

  This week the 3 Amigos made their first visit of the year to Newton St Loe, on the way the days list started with Black Headed Gull and Rook. Parking in the usual place by the Farm Shop we headed for the lanes just outside the village. On the way we found Blue Tit, Robin, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Magpie and Common Gull. Walking up the Lane a flock of about 26 Starlings flew by and a Pheasant running through one of the fields. Next a few Skylark were seen then a few more they all formed a flock of about 12 birds. The lanes were very quiet, but on the way back towards the village we came across a flock of birds which contained a single Song Thrush a small quantity of Fieldfare and c30 Redwings. A flock of Long Tailed Tits passed through, 3 Stock Doves and a Jay plus the odd Carrion Crow flew past. As we approached the main road 6 Chaffinch were in the top of the trees. Back in the village 2 Collared Doves were seen in flight and a Blackbird was seen eating ivy berries. We reached the C...

  The start of a new year and the hope that 2022 will be a better year than 2021. To start the new year the 3 Amigos decided to go on a twitch to Weston Super Mare and try to find the 3 Penduline Tits that had been reported there, a European species that is a fairly rare winter visitor to these isles, but in saying that they were reported at the same site last year, covid restrictions prevented us visiting. They had been reported on local bird sights for a few weeks so were confident they were still there. The way to WSM took us past Chew Valley Lake, But, as we drove through Marksbury having already logged Rooks Bryan spotted a Red Kite flying towards us. Also, while driving we also noted Carrion Crow and Jackdaw . We stopped at Herriotts and here we saw Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck, Pintail, Gadwall, Black Headed Gull, Great White Egret, Shelduck, Wigeon, Herring, Common and Great Black Back Gulls. Driving on to Weston we added Magpie, Pheasant, Starling ...