Saturday 3rd June 2023 - Stockhill

 


Today was this months Bath RSPB field trip to Stockhill in the Mendips, and those of you who follow my blogs will have read that the 3Amigos did a recce on Tuesday and with the knowledge we gained we used this to show people some of the birds butterflies and dragonfly’s we encountered. Just 3 bird species were seen on the way being Swift, Collared Dove and House Sparrow. 19 members arrived by 10am and as on Tuesday we crossed the road to explore the open area at Stockhill, and as we were hoping out 1st sighting of the walk was a Tree Pipit in exactly the same area as before. As we all took turns to view the bird through Tom’s telescope a Buzzard was in the distance and Skylarks were singing, Carrion Crow was our next sighting then our 1st and 2nd Butterflies of the day Small Heath and 2 Green Hairstreaks. A Whitethroat sang from the top of a bush joined by a single Linnet. As we reached the pond a Woodpigeon flew past and House Martins swooped down to drink. A Stonechat flew by landing on the top of a bush and a Reed Bunting flew on top of another bush, Swallows arrived at the pond also to drink. As we continued a Wren flew over the reeds and 2 Ravens silently flew over also a few Jackdaws. One of the group spotted a dragonfly and on investigation it was a female type Broad-Bodied Chaser I also saw a male later in the walk. 

Broad Bodied Chaser (note the missing wing) Bath Birdwatcher

Male Broad Bodied Chaser - Bath Birdwatcher

A Pied Wagtail was on a house roof and 2 Willow Warblers were playing chase in a tree. Orange Tip, Beautiful Demoiselle plus a Forester Moth were next on the list.

Forester moth record shot - Bath Birdwatcher

 Back at the car park it was time for a rest and a bite to eat. After lunch we headed for the woods Chaffinch and Coal Tit were soon ticked along with Speckled Wood Butterfly and a Brimstone Moth. Long Tailed Tit, Magpie and Lesser Black Back Gull were seen and our last butterfly of the day a Green Veined White was also noted. Blackcap and Siskin were the last sightings of the day. The afternoon proved to be slightly underwhelming but overall a very good day.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday 11th November 2023 - Newton St Loe.

Image
  NSL Boathouse with the lonely Mute Swan - Bath Birdwatcher When we woke up on Saturday it was such a beautiful day we decided to go for a walk at Newton St Loe as we have not visited since the 26 th of October and we were interested not only in the bird life but the autumn colour’s of the trees. We arrived parking as usual by the church where in the field beyond the church we found our first sightings Magpie, Jackdaw and Rooks all flyover. In the hedgerow opposite the cottages were Blue Tits and Woodpigeons and Long Tailed Tits were in the trees by Ripple Effect. On the footpath were Blackbird and Robin and on reaching Butterfly Alley a Grey Heron was in the trees above the stream, and a Wren flew into the hedge to our right. The lake outlet was a real torrent over the waterfall which was expected due to the amount of rain we have had recently. Waterfall NSL (Bath Birdwatcher)  Up to the bottom lake where 2 Kingfishers were playing chase and I thought I heard a possible 3...
Read more

Sunday 19th January 2025 - Blagdon Lake

Image
  The first, Bath RSPB’s field trip of the year was a visit to Blagdon lake where Nigel Milbourne the site warden led our group of 14 members. When we arrived having seen a Red Kite on the way we were waiting for others to arrive, so I scanned the lake and found Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and Black Headed Gull. As others arrived we all got together, and David introduced us all to Nigel and we set off to walk the length of the dam looking for an overwintering Common Sandpiper but unfortunately it didn’t show but we did find Mute Swan, Cormorant, Common Gull, Great Black Back Gull, Pied Wagtail and Herring Gull. Walking back to the cars we added flyover Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Starling plus our 1 st Great Crested Grebe of the day. We then drove inside the confines of the lake where we parked and from here our 1 st new bird of the day was a calling Chaffinch and on the lake in front of us were Teal, Pochard and Gadwall. We also looked at a strange duck which had caused...
Read more

Tuesday 4th March 2025 - Marshfield

Image
  A bit f a last-minute decision was to go to Marshfield for this week’s birding trip mainly as we could only spare a half day. Parking at the Bath end of Marshfield we set off towards Bond’s Lane spotting Robin, House Sparrow and Goldfinch. Crossing the A420 we set off down the lane where Jackdaw and Woodpigeon flew past and in a field to our left were 2 Ravens feeding on something unknown in the grass, they flew away and a Carrion Crow flew in taking their place. As we continued David spotted movement in a hedge to our right but looking into the sun made it difficult to identify the birds but one flew up into a bush to our right enabling up to identify it as a lovely male Yellowhammer, a year tick.  Yellowhammer - Marshfield (Bath Birdwatcher) A Dunnock flew down onto the side of the road and a flock of Rooks flew past. A Skylark was singing in the sky above us but hard to find against the blue sky but with binoculars I did find it year tick no2. A Blue Tit and a few Linnets...
Read more