Tuesday 9th June 2026 - Somerset Levels.

 

Great Crested Grebe with young - Westhay (Bath Birdwatcher)

 No Bryan this week so David and Tony took the opportunity to visit the Somerset Levels, our 1st stop was going to be Westhay, on the way we spotted a Kestrel and a Red Kite, a good way to start the day. Driving across the levels the list really started to build with Blackbird, Goldfinch, Mute Swans, Canada and Greylag Geese and plenty of Swifts, in fact everywhere we walked or drove swifts were seen in quite large numbers, so if you have no swifts where you are they are on the levels. At Westhay our 1st sighting was a Magpie and as we started the walk up the drove 2 Carrion Crows were on the path. Great Crested Grebe and Coot were found in the pools and we heard the call of a Cuckoo and as we scanned the line of trees that the call was coming from it burst from cover and flew of, we heard the call all morning and had 2 more sightings of it in flight. A pair of Mallard and a distant Marsh Harrier both seen from the Viridor Hide, we continued on the left-hand path and headed for the Tower Hide on the way the song of a Willow Warbler rang out and after some searching it flew onto a branch giving good views, as we watched the warbler we heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker a few paces along the path and again after some searching we found one low in the trees with others calling. We feel they were a family party. From the Tower Hide extra to what we had already seen we spotted a flyover Cormorant and 2 Swallows flying low over the water and House Martins overhead. An adult Moorhen swam in front of the opposite reeds.

Moorhen - Westhay (Bath Birdwatcher)

 On the pond were 3 lots of Coot all with young plus several Gadwall one with 3 ducklings.

Gadwall - Westhay (Bath Birdwatcher)

Heading back to the main path we spotted a female Blackcap close to the Viridor Hide. Continuing our walk along the main drove we found a singing Reed Bunting on a reed head and a Great White Egret on the edge of another pond. It was nearing the time to return to the car and as we scanned the sky David found a Hobby circling, a year tick for us both. Walking back a Painted Lady Butterfly was basking in the sun. As we drove to Ham Wall we added Pied Wagtail and Jackdaw to our days list. At Ham Wall we sat at the picnic tables for lunch where a very friendly Robin was busily searching for scraps. After lunch we set off towards VP1 soon spotting a singing Chiffchaff but a singing Garden Warbler evaded us on more than one occasion. A Song Thrush was on the path breaking into a snail and a Black Headed Gull flew over. David noticed a small bird fly into a bush and when we looked at the bush with our binoculars we found an adult Whitethroat with 3 young all sat in the bush. Our next new sighting for the day was a Lesser Black Back Gull soon followed by a Great Tit. At VP1 were 4 Little Egrets a male Pochard and a flock of Black Tailed Godwits, and for me another year tick a Common Tern. Following the path opposite VP1 a Tufted Duck was on another pond but one of the sights of the day was outside the hide at the end of the path the reeds were covered with Four-Spotted Chaser Dragonfly’s at least 50 and maybe double that. 

Four-Spotted Chaser - Ham Wall
(Bath Birdwatcher)

Time to make our way back to the car adding Chaffinch, Wren and a small flock of Sand Martins. Almost back to the car park we passed a very overgrown pool and here the day ended with a bird we had been hunting all day a Garden Warbler singing just a short distance from where we were standing, another year tick for me. On the drive home we finished the day with a Rook. The conditions during the day were far from perfect with a strong wind blowing making some species almost impossible to find Reed Warbler and Cetti’s Warbler to name but 2 that we could hear calling but were so deep in cover we were unable to see them. Bittern was another species we heard booming but getting a sighting is a different matter,

Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar
Westhay (Bath Birdwatcher)



 

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