Tuesday 12th December 2023 - Chew Valley Lake

 

Great Crested Grebe in front of Stratford Hide - (Bath Birdwatcher)

After yet another wet weekend and a very wet Monday it was again, where can we go, with fields and muddy footpaths out of the question, it needs to be made up footpaths so yet again good old Chew Valley Lake came to the rescue for the 3 Amigos.

Starting at Herriotts we had already logged Jackdaw and Pheasant on the way. On the pond were Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck, Shelduck, Teal and Cormorant, plus Pied Wagtail and 4 species of gull, Great and Lesser Black Back, Black Headed and Common. Jay, Little Egret and a small flock of Starlings all flew over. On the main lake we added Great Crested Grebe and Pochard with fly over Blue Tit, Carrion Crow and Great White Egret. We walked to the left hand end of the pond and here we were treated to a lovely view of a bird you hear more often than see a Cetti’s Warbler which was on the edge of the reedbed we also added Moorhen, Canada Goose and Grey Wagtail. Back on the lake side of the road talking to a guy we see on most visits to Chew a flock of Redwings flew past as did 2 Buzzards. As it was dry we decided to drive to the lodge and do the walk to the dam and after a detour due to a lorry blocking one of the roads we needed to use to drove into the Lodge adding Woodpigeon and Magpie. Fieldfare  were in the orchard and at the entrance to the lodge and Blackbird were by the roadside. As we parked we found Robin, Chaffinch and Great Tit in the car park. On the walk to the dam we were hoping for lots of small birds that we had found in the past including a Firecrest that has been seen several times in the area but decided to shy away from us on the day. The walk started very quietly with just a Kestrel seen but we could hear Bullfinches calling and after a bit of a search Bryan found a female and they melted away so no male was seen. The next bird was also located by sound a Chiffchaff not its chiff chaff summer call but a much softer single note. Looking out over the lake a female Goosander flew by but as we got closer to the dam both male and female were seen. 

Female Goosander CVL - (Bath Birdwatcher)
As we reached the dam we could see from the overflow that the lake was even higher that the previous week. Here we also saw a male Goldeneye splendid in its black and white plumage. Walking back to the car a Dunnock in the car park was new for the day. Next stop Stratford for lunch in the hide. On the way Rooks were seen and on the feeders at Stratford we added  Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long Tailed and Coal Tit. In the hide while eating lunch a Marsh Harrier flew by and a little later c70 Lapwing flew over as dis a Raven. On the lake the only new day tick was a Little Grebe, and while I was scanning the far side of the lake hoping to find the Lesser Scaup which proved impossible I did find a Grey Heron in one of the trees. This proved to be the 50th and last new sighting of the day.
Great White Egret CVL - (Bath Birdwatcher)

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