Tuesday 25th October 2023 - Somerset Levels

 

The weather for Tuesday didn’t look very good so the three of us decided that Chew was the best bet as firstly the weather didn’t look very good and secondly nothing exciting had been found by Wayne or Robert locally. On the morning there was a late change of plan as the local weather was much better than expected and a Squacco Heron had been found near Ham Wall on the Somerset Levels so we decided that we would see if we could find it. It had been seen from Sharpham Drove so we checked Google Maps so we knew where we had to go so we set off heading for Meare and I decided not to spot in transit and wait till we reached the levels but a Red Kite seen in transit had to be logged as the chance of seeing another was very remote. When we arrived at Sharpham Drove we were unsure of where the Heron had been seen so we decided to look around finding a 2 Reed Buntings clinging to the top of a reed stem, a Buzzard was seen sat in a bush and a Robin flew into another bush. We could hear the call of a Stonechat coming from our left and the right, in the end we found at least 6 individuals. We were the only people spotting from this point with only dog walkers seen so guessed were not in the right place so I put out a message on our WhatsApp group, and I received a call from Dave Hughes who explained where we needed to be. Before we moved we looked around and found in the open water Mute Swan, Mallard and Little Grebe, Pied Wagtails were flying about and Carrion Crows over. A Marsh Harrier flew by quartering the reed beds and before we moved I found a Dunnock in the weeds. The area we needed was much further along the Drove by the bridge over South Drain and had to park on the corner and walk to the bridge. As we walked Long Tailed Tits we in the tree to our left and 2 Magpies were on our right. Cormorant and Blackbird were ticked off, a small family group of Swallows were seen with 2 young still being fed by the parents. Bryan then spotted a Tern flying towards us and as it got close we could see it was a Common Tern, also seen on the water were a few Wigeon and a Great Crested Grebe with a flock of Starlings flying past. Reaching the area that the Heron had been seen only one person was there looking and he said he had been there for a couple of hours and had not seen it, so hope faded but we decided to hang around for an hour and hope it showed, he told us where it tended to show and it was very distant from our viewing point with no chance to get closer. While we looked we added Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, Grey Heron, Linnet and Jay. Time was quickly passing with no show from the heron but a Great White Egret and a Kingfisher on a fence post added some interest as did a Sparrowhawk that flew low over the field in front of us. You needed a telescope to give you any chance to see the Heron and as I scanned the favored area one more I could see something very light moving in the bankside vegetation then a head appeared got it I shouted as it crept towards the edge of the water, I moved aside so Bryan and David could see the bird which then flew across the drain showing well on the opposite bank but soon flew back to where I had found it, it flew once again slightly closed to us and disappeared into the vegetation. By this time there were 7 of us looking and all managed some sort of view.

Glastonbury Tor from Sharpham Drove (Bath Birdwatcher)

It was now lunch time so we moved on to Ham Wall for lunch where we sat at the picnic tables and while eating it started to rain not hard enough for us to move but the sky looked full of it, Having finished and returning the bags to the car we set off for viewing platform 1 and had only done a few yard before the rain came down heavily so we sheltered under a bush and decided should we stay or should we go, well the rain stopped so we continued adding a Wren to the days list. Reaching the viewing platform it was apparent that water birds were few and far between but 50+ Canada Geese made up the majority of the numbers with a Coot new for the day. Some seed had been scattered on the wooden surround and Blue and Great Tits were feeding along with a male Chaffinch.

Chaffinch - Ham Wall (Bath Birdwatcher)

I then found a Snipe in some cut reed stems and a few Teal were also found. Behind us in another pond were a male Shoveler and a few Gadwall. Nothing more of note so we decided to call it a day and while walking back to the car we noted a male Pheasant driving back to Bath we added Jackdaw and Lesser Black Back Gull.

Mute Swan & Coot - Ham Wall (Bath Birdwatcher)

A great day with obviously the Squacco Heron being the highlight as it was a UK tick with the only other I have seen being in France in 2003.

Mallards - Ham Wall (Bath Birdwatcher)

Gadwall & Coot - Ham Wall (Bath Birdwatcher)