Tuesday 5th December 2023 - Barrow Tanks & Chew Valley Lake.

 

Another dilemma for the 3 Amigos due to the constant rain we seen to get most weeks, we had about 67mm of rain on Monday, we were unsure of where to go one thought had been Oldbury Power Station but there, is a lot of walking on grass so possibly very muddy and Portbury Wharf but the same would apply there so it had to be the old favorite Chew Valley Lake at least here most walking is on made up footpaths. While driving to Chew I happened to mention that a Great Northern Diver was at Barrow Tanks the previous day, and those of you who follow these blogs will have read that we visited the tanks a few weeks ago for the diver that was there then, and a Long Tailed Duck but the duck was seen well but not the diver. So at that moment Bryan who was driving suggested we should try again for the diver as it would be a year tick for him and me, David had seen one at Ferrybridge. We arrived at the car park by Tank 3 and as we drove in a Magpie was seen. Walking towards the tank David spotted a charm of Goldfinches in the top of a tree and there was also a Carrion Crow feeding on the ground along with our 1^st Robin of the day, we were to see many during the rest of the day. A Woodpigeon was in a tree and a Wren was at the bottom of the overflow, Blue Tit and Blackbird were also logged. Looking over an almost lifeless tank a Coot was close in to our left and a Mistle Thrush was calling from a tree behind us and 2 Shelduck flew over up the tank but kept going. Through the telescope we added Herring Gull and Mallard plus the usual Cormorants. As we continued scanning we found a Great Black Back Gull and a Great Crested Grebe, David spotted a flock of Starlings in a field of cows and 2 Canada Geese flew in. Nothing else so we headed off towards Tank 2 spotting Great Tit and Goldcrest on the way. On the tank we were delighted to spot many Little Grebes at least 10 together  plus another 6 later. Also seen were Pochard, Tufted Duck, Teal, Common and Black Headed Gull but no sign of the diver so we moved on towards Tank 1 hoping it was there, but for some reason David looked back and BINGO there was the Great Northern Diver, we have no idea how 3 of us could scan a relatively small body of water and miss the diver. It was feeding and did not spend much time on the surface so that’s how we managed to miss it initially. On Tank 1 a Grey Heron was on the tank wall a Lesser Black Back Gull on a buoy  with the Long Tailed Duck alone in the middle of the tank and not with the Pochard and Tufted Ducks as it was when we saw it last time we visited. Walking back to the car a Meadow Pipit flew over and a Mute Swan which I had omitted to log previously. As we approached the steps a Grey Wagtail flew by and a Kingfisher that David spotted landed on the concrete surrounds and Bryan found a Little Egret in one of the fields overlooking the tanks. New for the day a flock of 20+ Fieldfares flew over. Back at the car we headed back to Chew adding Jackdaw and Chaffinch. We stopped at the lay-by close to the Lodge where there is an orchard and wow the numbers of winter thrushes and Starlings were huge with Redwing new for the day plus at least 2 female Pheasants. Aiming for Stratford Hide we stopped at Herons Green and saw for ourselves what the amount of rain we have had,  has done to the surroundings, the small pound had overflowed onto the farmland making a small lake, in all my years of visiting Chew I have never seen it as bad. Back to birds we added Great White Egret before moving on to Stratford for lunch. Walking to the hide we added Long Tailed and Coal Tits  and Great Spotted Woodpecker. While having lunch 2 Marsh Harriers and a Sparrowhawk flew by even more surprising was 2 flocks of Lapwing the 1^st 28 birds and the second 40+. After we finished our lunch we scanned the lake with our telescopes but only found a female Goldeneye extra to what we had already seen during the day, but a Kingfisher was sat on a branch that had in the past been put there to enable a good photo to be taken, but before I could focus in on the bird it flew into the reeds to our left making it difficult to get a decent picture but luckily it did fly to another reed where I could get a picture. 

Kingfisher - Chew (Bath Birdwatcher)

Kingfisher - Chew (Bath Birdwatcher)

Back at the car David found Linnets and Meadow Pipits in the field with the sheep. Final stop of the day was Woodford Lodge and here we were going to walk the footpath to the dam and back. The walk started poorly with a Song Thrush for our troubles but flyover Rooks and a Jay were new for the day. Next a Dunnock flew over the footpath and landed on the wooden rail and David found a female Goosander close to the bank with Tufted Ducks. As we continued we came across a mixed tit flock which contained at least 2 Marsh Tits and towards the end of the footpath a Chiffchaff catching insects at the bottom of the hedgerow. At the dam a male Goldeneye was close to the bank diving for food, trying to get a photo was hard as it only stayed on the surface for about 5 seconds but I persevered and managed to get this picture.

Male Goldeneye - Chew (Bath Birdwatcher)

I mentioned before that we had been inundated with rain just recently so much so that Chew Valley Lake was full to overflowing as these pictures show.

Chew Valley Lake overflow (Bath Birdwatcher)

 Walking back to the car  a flock of 8 Goosander were close enough to the bank enabling me to photograph this magnificent male.

Male Goosander - Chew (Bath Birdwatcher)

Driving back to Bath we added Collared Dove to the days total making 59 species and I have always said if I was 1 short of a significant total then I would add Feral Pigeon but we had not seen one during the day but as we drove along the Lower Bristol Road a flock of Feral Pigeons were on a roof close to Marks & Spencer’s making the total to a nice round 60.