Tuesday 30th September 2025 - Chew Valley Lake.

 

Chew Valley Lake has proved to be the place for bird watching this year with the very dry summer the water level is so low and this has made it a haven for wading birds. This past few days another rare wader has been seen, a bird that I have seen twice before once on Scilly and at Goldcliffe but you will have to wait to find out what the bird is.

So, another trip to Chew for me and Bryan, David is still on holiday. Driving to Herriotts we spotted Buzzard, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and Jackdaw. At Herriotts our first sightings were Teal, and Green Sandpiper, then we found the rare wader in fact 2 of them, Pectoral Sandpipers the highlight of the day and we had hardly arrived. Watching the sandpipers we also found Greenshank, Black Headed Gull, Grey Heron and Great White Egret. A Marsh Harrier was seen flying over the main lake and at the same time a Red Kite flew over and disappeared into the distance. Back looking over the pool we were advised that an Osprey was sat in the same tree as last week having flown there before we arrived with a fish we assume it’s the same bird we saw the previous week. Another scan of the low water this time we found Lapwing and a single Wood Sandpiper before walking over the road to view the main lake here we added Carrion Crow, Cormorant and in the channel were 6 Glossy Ibis a Little Egret. 

Glossy Ibis - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

Little Egret - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

As we looked a Kingfisher flew up the channel landing on a reed stem only to fly off being chased by a second. Also in the channel were Moorhen, Common Sandpiper, and Grey Wagtail while out over the lake were 4 Shelduck, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Coot. Nothing more was found so we moved on heading for Stratford adding Rook on the way. At Stratford a flock of Long Tailed Tits flew over the car park and from the hide we added Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall and Pochard plus Canada Geese and Mute Swans. We also found our last new wader species of the day a Ruff and 2 Gulls Greater and Lesser Black Back. Next stop Morton but nothing new was found so we headed for Herons Green for lunch. Here we added House Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Great Crested Grebe and after lunch we crossed the road to look over the pool where we found Little Grebe with a Magpie in the field. Last stop the Lodge for a walk to the dam adding 5 more birds to the days list Great Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Raven, Herring Gull and finally a female Blackbird.

Another great Chew day with 51 species seen and as I type this I learn of 2 more wader species now at Chew that would be year ticks, will they still be there next time we go ????

Common Darter - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)


 

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