Tuesday 29th October 2024 - Chew Valley Lake

 

The 3 Amigos back together this week and as always where shall we go, looking at the local birding sights nothing special had been reported so we decided on Chew Valley Lake as there is always a chance that something out of the ordinary can turn up. On the way to our 1st stop at Herriotts we started our days list with Starling, Jackdaw, Pheasant and Carrion Crow. On arrival I noticed the large number of Mute Swans although I didn’t count them, there seemed to be many more than you would normally see. Also on the pool were Pintail, Teal, Gadwall, Cormorant and Mallard, and of note was the quantity of Great White and Little Egrets not only in the water but in surrounding trees. Grey Heron was also present. 

Grey Heron - Moreton (Bath Birdwatcher)

5 species of gull were also seen with Black Headed, Herring, Great and Lesser Black Back plus many Common Gulls. A single Moorhen was in with the gull flock and a few Shovelers were also seen. Blackbird, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and Buzzard were all seen in flight. On the main lake Great Crested Grebe and Coot were added. Bryan spotted a flock of 30+ Lapwing circled around before drifting away and 3 Canada Geese flew over and landed on the pool. Time to move on and Stratford was our next stop where House Sparrow was seen driving down the lane. Walking to the hide we stopped where we had seen a Tawny Owl the previous week and were surprised to find two owls together a year tick for David. Once in the hide I found a Common Sandpiper working its way through cut reed stems. 


The Common Sandpiper at Stratford (Bath Birdwatcher)

A Robin was in the reeds to our right and a Meadow Pipit was spotted in the same place as the sandpiper.  Also 6 or 7 Snipe in the same area but due to their cryptic plumage were hard to find until they moved. Walking back to the car there was only 1 owl that we could see, and it was now out in the open offering great views, we also found a flock of Long Tailed Tits that contained at least 1 Great Tit. We decided to walk to Moreton through the farm lanes and added Kestrel, Jay and Woodpigeon to the days list. Very little seen from the hide, but we did find a Little Grebe out in the lake and a Wren and Coal Tit  in the bushes, on leaving the hide a Goldcrest was in a fir tree. Walking back to the car the only new bird for the day that we saw was a Magpie. Next stop was Herons Green where we had lunch but here the only new birds for the day was Pied Wagtail and Marsh Harrier. Lunch finished we continued to the Lodge and here we were going to walk to the dam and back and we surprisingly added quite a few more sightings to the days list starting with Song Thrush eating berries, a Dunnock was on the fence and in a flock of Long Tailed Tits were Blue Tits a single male Chaffinch a Chiffchaff and a Treecreeper. Driving home we ended the day with Collared Dove and Rook. A good day for the number of different species I managed 55, but I did miss a couple the others saw.

Great White Egret - Moreton (Bath Birdwatcher)

Grey Heron - Dam (Bath Birdwatcher)


 

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