Bath Birdwatcher

  This week’s birding trip was a return to Chew Valley Lake as our Bristol Water permits that give us access to the hides and free car parking in the picnic areas are due to run out at the end of the month. Heading for Herriotts we spotted a Red Kite, Buzzard, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow. On arrival before getting out of the car Mute Swan, Moorhen, Mallard and Coot were seen. As we set up the telescopes Tufted Duck, Black Headed, Common and Herring Gulls were all logged. As we scanned the pool Shelduck, Teal, Cormorant, Shoveler and Canada Goose were all day ticks. On the main lake we added Great Crested Grebe and a Chaffinch that was on the waters edge. Nothing extra seen here so we moved on to Stratford, and in the lane were Dunnock, Robin and Redwing.  Redwing - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher) In the car park a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into the top of a tree. At the feeders Coal, Blue and Great Tits were all seen plus Blackbird and Song Thrush. As we approached the hid...

  Last Friday was Bath RSPB’s monthly field trip to The Forest of Dean and we were to meet at Speech House at 10am. The 3 Amigos plus 1 (Kirsty) all travelled together but due to the local council rubbish collections it took over 30 minutes just to get out of Bath. Once out of Bath we made good time. At Lydney we take the Parkend road and on this road at a set of traffic lights we made our first sightings with Blue, Coal and Great Tits all feeding on the ground close to the roadside. At Parkend we had a few minutes to stop by the cricket field hoping for Hawfinch but today we were out of luck with none showing but we did see Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Nuthatch. We arrived at our destination with just a few minutes to spare but need not to have worried as it was another 20 minutes before we set off. While waiting for late arrivals we added Carrion Crow, Blackbird and Song Thrush this was the first of several we were to see during the day and great to know they are thriving here. ...

  This week the 3 Amigos changed their bird spotting day to Monday as we were invited to join Tom on a recce to the Forest of Dean before the Bath RSPB’s trip later in the month. We all met at David's for an 8.30 start. Tom drove and we started off via Lansdown and here the Golden Plover were in their usual field. We continued on over the 1 st Severn Crossing to our 1 st stop at Parkend. On arrival several birders were already here looking. Lots of small birds were in the Yew trees or on the ground underneath Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch and Great Tit were all found. A Carrion Crow flew over and a Greenfinch could be heard singing and a lovely male was found in the top of one of the Yew’s, close by a Blackbird was eating berries. The main reason for the stop here was because its one of the most reliable places to see Hawfinch and talking to other birders they had been seen before we arrived so we were very hopeful that they would appear and they did when David spotted ...

  This week the 3 Amigos didn’t decide where to go until Tuesday morning and after discussing a few places we decided to visit the Somerset Levels as we had not been there for a few weeks, and we also knew that 2 rare ducks had been found at Greylake so that was going to be our fist port of call. I decided not to start a day list until we arrived and so the first sightings of the day were Mute Swans in a field behind the car park, also in the car park visiting the feeders were lots of House Sparrows plus a few Chaffinches. Walking towards the hides we had a very close encounter with a Wren allowing us to approach within a few feet, we also spotted Lapwing and Snipe as they flew over. In the bottom hide I was amazed at the sheer mass of birds mostly ducks the majority being Shoveler, Wigeon and Teal plus hundreds of Lapwing and Snipe. One of the birders in the hide asked if we were here to see the 2 rare ducks and told us we would get a better view from the top hide so we moved ther...

  My garden long and narrow. Friday the 26 th to Sunday the 27 th was allotted as the RSPB Garden Birdwatch dates. This year the Friday and Saturday were out for me and Sunday I only had an hour between 11.30 and 12.30pm and as it turned out a very poor hour for me. Most years I can normally see 15+ house Sparrows, about 4 Blue Tits, 3 Blackbirds, a Robin, Dunnock, Jackdaw, Magpie and Woodpigeon. And maybe every other day Collared Dove and Great Tit also seen this year but never regular Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Coal Tit and Wren. BUT since early December I have had a male Blackcap who is a real bully and chases off most of the smaller birds that visit even its own species both male and female. So my list for this year reads:- Magpie 2 Jackdaw 2 Dunnock 1 Blackbird 5 Woodpigeon 2 Blackcap (m) 1 House Sparrow 2 Great Tit 1 The 5 Blackbird was the only highlight with a record garden count, but 8 species and 16 birds was a very poor count as usually House Sparrows a...