Saturday 20th January 2024 - West Sedgemoor & Greylake.

 

Marsh Harrier - Greylake (Bath Birdwatcher)

On Saturday Bath RSPB ran a trip to West Sedgemoor which was led by David, assisted by the remaining 2 Amigos Bryan and Tony. West Sedgemoor is an RSPB reserve on the Somerset Levels and you can only visit if you have arranged it with the RSPB prior to your visit. On the way to the rendezvous we spotted Kestrel, Red Kite and Song Thrush. On arrival 2 volunteers were there to meet us and guide us for the morning. Just a short walk from the meeting point we were shown 2 Cranes in the distance, we were to see another 7 during the morning. Back at the meeting point waiting for more people to arrive we ticked Robin, Wren and flyover Starlings. Before we set off the volunteer gave a short talk explaining that the RSPB owned 18,000 acres of land BUT due to the freezing cold weather none of the 45,000 species of wildfowl were on site as they had moved away to open water where they could feed. However the walk went ahead and we were led up a hill to a spot that overlooked the whole reserve and it is massive. From this point we could see a few Mute Swans and Lapwings. We continued our walk through fields adding Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit and Stock Dove to the days list. As we continued some of the group spotted a Green Woodpecker but not me but I did see Redwing, Great White Egret, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Dunnock, Fieldfare and Grey Heron. The main reason for the visit was that on site is a hay barn that has been converted to a hide which overlooks the flooded fields which in normal conditions hold all the wildfowl well today all that was visible over and above what we had already seen was a single male Reed Bunting a few flyover Mallards a Marsh Harrier and a lovely male Pied Wagtail. A few of us in the group had telescopes and another bird we were able to find was a single Snipe. Our visit was to end at 12.30 and as the time was rapidly approaching we set off back to the cars adding Little Egret and Great Spotted Woodpecker to the mornings list. After saying our thanks to our guides we moved on to Greylake another RSPB reserve and here we sat in the car and had lunch. After lunch as we prepared to walk to one of the hides House Sparrow and Chaffinch we seen visiting the feeders and a flock of Rooks flew over. From the hide we could see a mass of duck identifying Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler, I would say the majority of the ducks say 200+ were Teal with 10+ of the other species. A few Magpies were also about along with a pair of Marsh Harriers and a guy who was also in the hide had seen a Hen Harrier a couple of hours before we arrived but did not show again during our visit. Time to head for home but not the end of new day sightings with Collared Dove, Buzzard, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Sparrowhawk and Pheasant all seen. It was a pity that the cold weather spoilt the spectacle of 45,000 wildfowl so next time we visit we must try and arrange to visit when the weather is a little warmer, but all in all it was a good day with some members seeing things that they had never seen before which always makes these trips so worthwhile.

Teal - Greylake (Bath Birdwatcher)

Marsh Harrier - Greylake (Bath Birdwatcher)


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