Wednesday 16th September 2026 - Chew Valley Lake.
Well, what a
day, sometimes you go out hoping to find birds that have been seen where you
are going, but they never seem to appear although you do see things that are totally
unexpected. Today was one of those days as you will see later. David was away
so it was Bryan and Tony and yet again it was Chew Valley Lake as a Lesser
Yellowlegs had been reported up to yesterday so hopes were high it might still
be present along with the Glossy Ibis that we have searched for on our last 2
visits to Chew but on both occasions have failed to find it. As usual 1st
stop Herriotts on the way spotting a Red Kite which
although we see them fairly regularly they are not as common as in some parts
of the country. At Herriotts were a lot more birders than usual so we had high
hopes that the Yellowlegs was about as we readied ourselves we noted Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and Teal along with Shoveler
and Gadwall. Telescope set up I started
searching for waders and soon spotted a couple of Green
Sandpipers, Lapwings were in amongst the Black
Headed Gulls and at the far end of the island 2 Snipe,
but no sigh of the Yellowlegs and on chatting to other birders they all
had drawn a blank as well. A flock of Canada Geese flew
in, but nothing different was about so we crossed the road to look over the
main lake here the water level was a lot lower that the previous week and in
almost perfect light conditions Great White Egrets stood
out like shining beacons. Grey Herons and
lots of Pintail were feeding by the edge of
the lake and with the telescope we were able to pick out 2 Black Tailed Godwits. A large flock of mainly Coot and Tufted Ducks were
out on the lake along with a few Great Crested
Grebes, before moving on we also found 2 Pochard
and a Little Grebe. We next headed
for Stratford Hide on the way adding Rook and
Jackdaw to the days list. Once in the hide
we met Andy Davis a fellow birder who immediately said that the birding from
here was poor although the Yellowlegs had been seen at Herons Green a stop we
would be making later. Hobby was the 1st
new sighting and Andy pointed out a small flock of Ringed
Plover and Dunlin by the waters edge.
A Raven flew by and lots of Cormorant were stood on Denny Island. Then Andy
got very excited when he thought he was following a Hobby flying low over the
water only for it to dive into the lake (was it a kamikaze Hobby I asked ) it
was a long time before Andy found the culprit way out in the lake and he was
able to explain where the bird was so I could find it in the telescope and wow
a bird dark cap and back with white undersides a Manx
Shearwater, what was a seabird like this doing at Chew Valley Lake in all
my years of birding I have never seen one inland, but Andy said they had been
seen at Chew previously but not for many years. Such an exciting moment which
will live long in the memory. The Manx moved way to our left so we decided
Moreton would give better views and so it proved and there we added Long Tailed Tit and Great
Black Back Gull. Being so
preoccupied with this bird time had run away and it was lunch time which we
take at Herons Green, but first a look for the Yellowlegs but it had gone AWOL. Lots
of Pied Wagtails were running over the mud
and a female Pheasant was at the far end of
the now exposed old roadway. A Little Egret was
with its much larger cousins and Magpies were
in the bay. Lesser Black Gulls and a Herring Gull were our next new sightings of the
day followed by Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon both I had seen earlier but omitted to
make a note of. Almost time to make our way home but we had enough time to pop
back to Stratford in the hope that the Yellowlegs and Glossy might be there but
again NO. but I did find a female Goldeneye and
another species that will remain hush hush for reasons only local birders know.
But while looking at this thing I did find a female Scaup.
Time to get back with a quick stop at Herriotts but again the birds we
longed to see were not showing for us although we learned later that they were
both seen during the day. Oh well they will have to wait for another day. With
a Chew 1st for us both it had to be a great day. Driving back to
Bath we added Buzzard and Blue Tit to
finish the day.
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| Canada Goose (Library picture 180826) (Bath Birdwatcher) |
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