Saturday 11th November 2023 - Newton St Loe.

 


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 26th 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 3rd calling from further up the lake. A Raven was calling from the top of the tallest tree above the right hand corner of the lake but until it flew I was unable to see it. 3 Mallards were the only thing swimming on the lake but flew in the direction of the top lake were I counted 46 when having coffee in the temple. Also seen on the top lake were 4 Coot, 4 Little Grebe, the resident Mute Swan, 3 Teal and the female Tufted Duck. Also on the lake were 12 Black Headed Gulls the only gull species seen all morning. 2 Moorhen were at the top end of the lake along with a 2nd Grey Heron. Where the stream flows into the lake was a Grey Wagtail and in the Yew to the left of the stream were 2 Mistle Thrushes and it seemed one of them was displaying to the other fluttering its partly closed wings similar to what I have seen Dunnocks doing. We walked back to the car via the University and drive but only added a single Buzzard to the mornings list, But the trees that line the drive were showing their Autumn colour’s nicely.

Signs of Autumn - Bath Birdwatcher

NSL Village from the drive - Bath Birdwatcher


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