Tuesday 17th February 2026 - Saltford

 

Saltford Weir - (Bath Birdwatcher)

Saltford was chosen for this Tuesdays 3 Amigos birding trip as we only had a half day to spare. Another reason for choosing Saltford was 3 species had been reported that would be year ticks for Bryan and 2 for David and Tony. We parked in the car park by the river Avon and started walking towards the Jolly Sailor with Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Mistle Thrush, Robin and Jackdaw soon found, we arrived at a spot where the 1st species  we hoped to find a Little Owl is regularly seen but even after a wait it was not showing but we did see House Sparrow and Goldfinch. We moved on  and a Blackbird, Magpie and a singing Song Thrush were seen. Across the river Carrion Crows were in the fields along with a single Black Headed Gull, a Cormorant and a Grey Heron flew upriver the heron landing on the opposite bank, and as we looked at it 2 Moorhens swam across the river. As we continued a Dunnock was spotted and Herring Gull and Collared Dove flew over. We then heard the distinctive wheezy call of a Greenfinch and found several in the top of a tree. At the Jolly Sailor in a field on the opposite side of the road Bryan found a group of Redwings feeding in the grass. We then took a footpath that went towards the sewerage works where the 1st of 6 or more Chiffchaffs  were found along with a few Long-Tailed Tits. David spotted 2 Stock Doves that flew into a tree and while walking past a pond that was inside the works we found Mallard, Canada Goose and Coot. We were now in the area where another of the hoped for species had been seen Black Redstart but the only new species for the day we found was a Great Tit. After spending far to long trying to locate the Redstart we had no time to go and look for the White Fronted Geese the 3rd species so had hoped to find but had to retrace our steps. On reaching the Jolly Sailor we bumped into Dave and Wayne fellow birders who told us that the Little Owl in fact 2 were showing well, and yes when we arrived there they were and what a relief getting one of the hoped for species a year tick for us all, at the time I didn’t realise that the Greenfinch we saw earlier was also a tick. 

Little Owl - Saltford (Bath Birdwatcher)

As we walked back to the car we spotted Common Gull which proved to be our last sighting of the day.

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