Tuesday 10th February 2026 Chew Valley Lake / Blagdon

 

This week the 3 Amigos had planned to spend a day at Chew and Blagdon but in the end Bryan was unable to come with us as his wife was feeling unwell so it was Just David and Tony. As it has been over the whole country the weather has been diabolical, day after day of rain and today was no different with light rain falling as we left. Driving to Chew the day started with a field full of gulls but it was so gloomy we could only identify a Herring  Gull and as we continued a Skylark flew across the road in front of us. Carrion Crow and Jackdaw also flew over and a Starling was seen on a telegraph pole. Approaching Chew a Blackbird flew by. At Herriotts on the pond were Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard and Coot. A Pied Wagtail was walking along the waters edge  and out on the pond were Shelduck, Teal, Moorhen and Tufted Duck. David spotted a Marsh Harrier flying across the main lake. Back on the pond a Grey Heron was on the far side of the lake with a Cormorant drying its wings, a female Goldeneye and a Gadwall were also found. Looking over the main lake David spotted a Reed Bunting at the base of the reed stems. Also seen were 2 species of gull Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed. The weather was by now much brighter so we decided to pop over to Blagdon spotting a Rook on the way. We parked outside the top end of the lake and here a Grey Wagtail was feeding in a very wet and muddy field, and in the surrounding trees we found Blue Tit and Redwing adding a Great Tit as we started to walk down the lakeside road. A Buzzard drifted past and I watched a Great Spotted Woodpecker fly into the top of a tree and luckily managed to get David on it. Long Tailed Tit and Chaffinch were in the hedges and a Great Black Backed Gull flew down the lake. The next new species of the day was Snipe that we must have disturbed and it flew off down the lake never to be seen again. Approaching the hide a Stonechat flew onto a fence but disappeared when we were looking elsewhere, from the hide we added Shoveler, Great White Egret and Little Grebe to our days list, but very little else was on the lake, I guess with all the flooding around there was a lot of other feeding choices around. Walking on down the lake we added 2 more gull species, Common and Lesser Black Back. We then arrived at a spot that we were heading for as an unusual bird had been reported in the area and no sooner had we arrived when we spotted it a Siberian Chiffchaff a sub species of the Common Chiffchaff which we also found 3 of. The Sibe was a beautiful bird almost pure while below and a very washed-out brownish grey above. It would not be counted as a lifer by the purists,  but when you have waited 50 years to see one then it’s a LIFER for me !!! also here we saw at least 3 Goldcrests. We started walking back to the car when I had a call from Bryan his wife was much better and he was at Herriotts so we told him where we were and to drive over and meet us. As we walked back a Wren flew over the road and David spotted a Treecreeper that luckily I found scampering up a tree. Bryan arrived just after we got back to the entrance and after a quick chat he drove us back to the hide where we parked and walked on hoping to find the Sibe again and yes it was still in the same place obviously a lot here for it to eat. A couple of other birders came past who were very excited when we showed them the bird. It was approaching lunch time and the weather was closing in again and as we approached the car the rain started falling. Driving back to Chew we saw a male Pheasant, stopping for lunch at Herons Green we sat in the car while the drizzle came down but we did see 2 Pochard and on the lake below us in with a flock of Canada Geese was a single Greylag Goose and out on the lake were a few Great Crested Grebe. 

Greylag Goose - Chew (Bath Birdwatcher)

After lunch the rain had almost stopped so Bryan got his telescope out the check out the ducks in the corner of the bay where he found the wintering Ring Necked Duck I had difficulty getting a good view of it because as soon as Bryan found it and moved away so I could see it, it had dived, so I set up my telescope and in the end had good views. The rain had started again so we moved on to the lodge hoping to buy our new permits but we were too early as they don’t go on sale until later in the month. Now the rain was getting heavy so we called it a day but did add Collared Dove on the way home.