Bath Birdwatcher

  Library Picture by Sergey Yeliseev. Hume's Warbler A very rare Hume’s Warbler was found about 10 days ago at Compton Dando sewerage treatment works, a lifetime 1 st if we could find it, and yesterday the 3 Amigos had the opportunity to go and look for it as its location is only about 15min drive from Bath. Quite a lot of the drive was through country lanes that must have been ice bound at times judging by the amount of ice at the side of the road, but the roads were passable with care. On the journey   a Green Woodpecker flew in front of the car a year tick. When we arrived we saw that a few people were looking for the bird so hopes were high that it was still around and when we reached the spot they were looking from, we were told that 2 minutes ago the bird was on a bramble bush, As we waited for it to reappear we saw Blackbird Dunnock, Robin and Pied Wagtail, Then the Hume’s appeared from deep in the bush showing well even flying onto the filter beds before returning t...

  This week’s trip took the 3 Amigos to the Forest of Dean on a recce for the upcoming Bath RSPB’s field trip. As we left Bath via Lansdown a flock of Golden Plover were in a field opposite the golf course. 1 st stop Parkend and here by the cricket field is a good birding spot. Hoping for our 1 st target species, as we parked, people were already bird spotting and from the car Blackbird and Chaffinch could already be seen, joining the other birders we soon found the target species Hawfinch at least 6 birds, a great start to the day also seen were Magpie and Blue Tit. We decided to walk to the stream hoping for a Dipper but no luck with that one but we did find Nuthatch, Great Tit, Song Thrush, Stock Dove, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Coal Tit, Robin, and Wren. We then moved on to RSPB Nags Head for a short walk to see the state of the footpaths which were frozen solid in most places but in the sun the top was starting to thaw. During the walk we added Redwing a sm...

  Our 1 st trip in July was a walk along the river Avon from Newbridge towards Saltford most of the birds seen were expected although a singing Reed Warbler was I nice find as was a Kingfisher, An Essex Skipper butterfly was unexpected as was a Scarce Chaser Dragonfly. On the 9 th of July was the Bath RSPB monthly field trip to Wentwood/Newport Wetlands, a Spotted Flycatcher at Wentwood was our only year tick at Wentwood and nothing new seen at Newport Wetlands but when we moved to Goldcliffe Green Sandpiper, Ringed and Little Ringed Plover were all new year sightings. At Newport Wetlands we were entertained by a Bittern which flew from one reedbed over open water to disappear in another. On Monday 11 th July Mary and I joined David and his wife Hazel for a few days in their caravan at Weymouth we had a fabulous few days , with brilliant weather and 4-year ticks, Common and Little Tern at Ferrybridge plus Guillemot and Kittiwake at Portland. In the Portland quarries we found 9 ...

  Only 2 of the 3 Amigos were able to get out today as Bryan had taken a week’s holiday and was in Devon, so it was left to David and Tony. As the weather had been so atrocious we decided that we needed to go where we could walk on roads and not through wet and muddy fields and we chose Marshfield where a walk along Rushmead Lane and back would take up the 3 hours that we had. On our way we did find Blackbird and Carrion Crow. We parked at the west end of Marshfield and before we set off we logged, Magpie, Starling, Goldfinch and Woodpigeon. Walking down Bond’s Lane David spotted a Mistle Thrush in the top of a tree which took a while to identify as we were looking into the sun. In the lane we found Jackdaw in a field, Redwing in a hedge and a flyover Skylark the 1 st of many we saw during the morning. As we turned into Castle Lane House Sparrows and Blue Tits were seen. Continuing Herring Gull and Collared Dove were ticked. Now in Rushmead Lane again David spotted 3 Red Legged Pa...

  Today the 3 Amigos were due to do a Recce at Nags Head in preparation for our RSPB field trip next Saturday, but because of the weather this had to be postponed so we decided to spend the day at Slimbridge. We did not do much spotting on the way, but a Pheasant caught our eye, so it was sighting no1. Driving down the road from the village to the car park Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, and Mute Swan were all seen, and in the car park Jackdaw, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Shelduck and 2 Cranes flew over. Once in the grounds Moorhen, Rook and flyover Skylark, Curlew and Woodpigeon were soon ticked. 1st top was the Peng Observatory here were plenty of Bewick’s Swans and it was great to see so many with cygnets something that had not been so obvious in the past. Also seen here were Pochard, Tufted Duck, Canada Geese, Feral Pigeon, and Greylag Geese. We also saw Magpie , Coot, Mallard, Teal, and Pintail. Pintail - Bath Birdwatcher As we sat drinking coffee a flock of 100+ Starlings flew...

  Today the 3 Amigos for our 1 st trip out for the year chose Chew Valley Lake as the weather was horrendous and at least we had the hides to shelter in while we spotted. We did stop at Herriotts but the rain was too hard to let us get out of the car, so it was birding through the window and these were only opened for a bit before we had to close them again so we didn’t get wet. We did manage to see the following Jackdaw, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Black Headed Gull, Canada Goose, Shoveler, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Teal, Great Black Back Gull, Magpie and Cormorant. As the rain was incessant we moved on to Herons Green as even though it was raining it was from a direction that allowed us to open the windows, so here we added Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Great White Egret, Lesser Black Back, Herring and Common Gull all day ticks.  LBB Gull (archive photo) - Bath Birdwatcher The rain abated a little so we took the chance to move on to Stratford here on the feeder were Gr...

  Overflow from the bottom lake into Corston Brook - Bath Birdwatcher For my 1 st outing of the year my wife and I went to Newton St Loe for a walk and obviously some birding. We parked by the church and walked through the churchyard and into the fields beyond where our first sightings were fly over Rooks, and as we continued through the field a Blackbird flew along the hedgerow to our left. On the bottom road in the hedge were House Sparrows, and in trees to our right were a few Jackdaws. Goldfinch were on the wires by the cottages and 2 Robins were at the top of the footpath. Nothing else until the bottom lake where 4 Mallard were seen. Lots of anglers which maybe why we saw nothing else here. More action on the top lake with a minimum count of 42 Mallard but with the sun in our eyes and a lot of the ducks up the bank an exact count was difficult. Also on the lake were 8 Moorhen, 3 Coot, the resident pair of Mute Swans, 3 Little Grebe and 9 Teal. Approaching the Temple I found a...