Tuesday 31st October 2023 - Chew Valley Lake & Brean.

 

Quite unbelievably another week has passed, and this week just David and Tony were available for a birding trip and after talking to David we decided to head for Brean Down stopping at Chew, as we had to pass it on the way. Herriotts was the 1^st stop and on the pond were Coot, Black Headed Gulls, Canada Geese, Shelduck, Lesser Black Back and Herring Gulls. A pair of Pintails were upending and some Teal were around the edges of the pond. On the main lake Great White Egrets were on the far bank and Great Crested Grebe were seen much closer with Tufted Ducks. Down the inlet channel were 2 Little Egrets perched in the tree on the right, but they soon flew off as we approached, while watching I spotted a Kingfisher that flew across the channel and in behind the tree, unfortunately David missed it but caught it back later in the day. David then spotted a bird on the top of a pole by the ringing station which was hard to identify (we were telescope less today as it would have been awkward to carry at Brean) but we thought it was a Stonechat so we moved closer where our identification was confirmed. Jay, Magpie, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Carrion Crow all flew over before we headed off to Brean. On the way we added a Pheasant stood on the top of a roadside 5 bar gate also Jackdaw, Woodpigeon and a Buzzard that was sat on the top of a telegraph pole. On arriving at Brean we decided not to carry lunch but to walk on the lower level to where the River Axe runs into the Bristol Channel then return to the car for lunch before walking up to Brean Down and this proved the correct decision as you will see later, From the car park Pied Wagtail and Starling were seen and looking out over the Bristol Channel where the tide was going out Oystercatcher, Curlew and Little Egret were seen, and as we headed for the river a Peregrine flew over and did a fast stoop before disappearing behind farm buildings. 2 Kestrels hovered overhead seeming to be there each time we looked up. A small flock of Goldfinch flew over and a Skylark was seen on the roof of one of the farm buildings. On reaching the point where you overlooked the river outlet a Wren was in a bush to our left and on the river bank was lots of different birds but again without a telescope some were difficult to identify but Redshank and Lapwing were easy to see as were more Curlew, Oystercatcher and Shelduck along with some of the gull species already seen but I did manage to add Great Black Back Gull to my list. A footpath runs alongside the river which is possible to walk to Weston Super Mare but the 7 ½ miles were rather off putting, we did wander for a few 100myards finding a Robin and Dunnock in the same bush and 2 flyover Ravens which alerted us to there presence by calling. Meadow Pipits flew past and landed in the grass by the river. It was now approaching lunch time so we started making our way back and in an area of trees found our only Chiffchaff of the day plus I found a Chaffinch that I had missed earlier. For most of the morning although we had enjoyed sunshine the surrounding hills were cloud covered especially in the Exmoor direction. Well it was too good to last as we started to feel rain and by the time we reached the car it was a lot heavier even after lunch it was still threatening and we thought a walk on Brean Down would be silly so we hatched a plan to drive back to Chew and visit Stratford Hide where we would keep dry. Driving back we added Collared Dove and Rook. As we drove away it was still raining but as we got more inland the rain went off and although it didn’t rain again we did drive through places where the rain had been quite heavy judging by how wet the ground was. Back at Chew we headed for Stratford and walking from the car park to the hide we added Blackbird and Blue Tit to the days list. From the hide we spotted Pochard, Gadwall and Common Gull plus many hundreds of Coot and to the right on a spit amongst some of the Coots were a few Teal and Cormorants.

Teal - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

Coot & Cormorant - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

A female Marsh Harrier was quartering the reeds on the opposite bank flying right and was joined by a second but soon went out of sight only for a few minutes later flying towards us causing panic as it flew by and so doing caused a Snipe to appear. Also in the hide were 2 other spotters and one pointed out a male Goldeneye just the one on view from the hide.

Goldeneye - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

 A Kingfisher flew past enabling David to catch up, as he had missed the earlier one. Last stop was Herons Green and here we added House Sparrow and Little Grebe giving us a day’s total of 55 species.