Thursday 24th April 2025 - Chew Valley Lake

 

Mute Swan - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

Bryan is slowly recovering from his operation but is still unable to do a lot of walking at the moment, so on most occasions bird watching is out but on Thursday his wife Yvonne drove him to Chew Valley Lake, Mary and Tony were asked if they would like to go as well. We took coffee and were going to have fish and chips for lunch at Salt and Malt in the picnic area. Driving to Herriotts we spotted Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Kestrel and Rook. On the pond at Herriotts were Mute Swans, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Shelduck with a Carrion Crow on the exposed mud, but no waders !! A few species of gull were present Herring, Black Headed, Greater and Lesser Black Back, also seen was a single Moorhen. We walked over the road to view the main lake and a fly past Grey Heron was our 1st sighting with Cormorants in trees around the lake. We were alerted to a Hobby flying along the reed bed on the far side of the lake and while looking a second was seen. We could hear Reed Warblers singing in the reeds, but we only spotted one when it flew from one part of the reed bed to another. A Great White Egret flew past then we were told by other birders that a pair of Lesser Scaup were showing just in front of the near reeds, but we needed to move to the far left to view them. They were busy feeding so took a while to find them, a great sighting and a year tick in fact it’s been many years since we last saw one. The Scaup were feeding along with Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebe. 

Tufted Duck - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

Having seen all that was showing we moved on to Herons Green adding a Blackbird and Swallows on the way. 2 Pied Wagtails were on the wall and a Little Egret was on the opposite bank. We then crossed the road to look for Little Grebe on the pond and 1 showed very quickly. Next we could hear the call of a Reed Bunting which we found in a shrub but could also hear the call of a Sedge Warbler away to our left, we kept seeing birds moving but these proved to be Dunnocks, eventually I saw movement in a patch if reed stems and a guy who had joined us found them in his telescope and was able to confirm they were Sedge Warblers which we viewed through his scope. Time for lunch so off to the picnic area for fish and chips. A Buzzard  circled around but a Red Kite was an excellent find by Bryan, also seen here was a male Chaffinch.  Several  Canada Geese were also seen. 

Canada Goose - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

After lunch we drove to the Lodge for a short walk towards the dam An Orange Tip Butterfly was our first of the year and we found a female Blackcap, we had heard many singing during the morning, but this was our 1st sighting, later we found a singing male, a Song Thrush was on the footpath. I then could hear a song similar to a Blackcap but when you get to know the song quite different a Garden Warbler a good find as some years we fail to see one. Robins were singing from cover, but we managed to find one and a beautiful male Brimstone Butterfly fluttered past. In a small shrub and treelined area we found 3 tit species, Blue, Great and Long Tailed. The girls had set off back to the lodge to order tea and coffee and as we walked back I found a male Bullfinch eating tree buds, a Goldcrest showed at close range. Time for a drink and a rest before it was time to leave but we did still have time for Bryan to find a Coal Tit at the back of the car park and a Speckled Wood Butterfly to fly past. On the way home I spotted a Pheasant that I had missed earlier in the day. As usual Chew gave us a good day with 5-year ticks for me putting me on 128 species for the year.

Mallard - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

Carrion Crow - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)


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