Tuesday 3rd November 2026 - Chew Valley Lake.

 

Great White Egrets - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher)

Should we visit Slimbridge or Chew Valley Lake that was the question, well it answered itself when we looked at the previous day’s sightings at both places, and the opinion was we were more likely to see something different at Chew than Slimbridge. So, David and Tony set off for Chew and the 1st 2 sightings of the day were both birds of prey with a Buzzard in a tree followed by a fly over Red Kite we also saw Woodpigeon and Jackdaw all before we arrived at Chew and our 1st stop Herriotts. On arrival we started to chat to a guy who had already been here for a couple of hours and said it was very quiet, but  in the channel the Water Rail had been showing so we decided to go there first. Lots of Teal feeding along with plenty of Moorhens that were having fun chasing each other. Also, there were a few Mallard and David spotted a Marsh Harrier on the far side of the lake. Back over by the pool were lots of different birds Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Pied Wagtails and Black Headed Gulls. After a while nothing new was found so we headed for Stratford picking up Blackbird as we drove down the lane. All was quiet as we made our way to the hide where Andy and Ian we already there so after a short chat I set up the scope and the 1st new bird of the day was a single Whooper Swan that turned up a few days ago and is a year tick for me, several Lapwings were by the waters edge and Meadow Pipits flew past, a Skylark made a brief stop before flying off into the distance. There was a flock of mainly Black Headed Gulls by the waters edge and amongst them were some Common Gulls and an odd Great Black Back Gull. Cormorants were spread out along Denny Island and a calling Raven flew low over the water. A Herring Gull flew past and a couple of Pheasants appeared from the reeds. Looking towards the dam were about 7 Goldeneye both male and Female and in the huge flock of Tufted Duck were Pintail, Coot, Gadwall and Great Crested Grebe. Great White Egret and Little Egret with Grey Herons were dotted around the shoreline. Nothing else was spotted so we set off to Blagdon but as we drove back up the lane a Cattle Egret was in a field of Cows and a flock of Fieldfares flew over. We drove to the hide at Blagdon spotting a Chaffinch as we went. We parked the car only to find the path to the hide was closed due to unsafe trees so we had a walk along the road to find a vantage point spotting a flock of Long Tailed Tits, we did find Wigeon and 3 Egyptian Geese from a point we could see over the lake. Time for lunch so we headed back to Herons Green for lunch and added Lesser Black Back Gull and Magpie to the days list. Our final stop was the Lodge for a walk to the Dam a Blue Tit  was our only new sighting until we reached the Dam where David spotted 2 Goosander hauled out on the dam wall but it was difficult to see properly due to the height of the hedge so we moved along the path, but by the time we reached a good viewing spot the Goosander were now on the water and diving for food. 

Goosander (f) - CVL (bath Birdwatcher)

Time to get back and our 1st Robin of the day was on a fence and a Great Spotted Woodpecker called and was found in the top of a tree. Almost back to the car park we spotted out last 3 birds of the day Great Tit, Coal Tit and Goldcrest. A good day but we didn’t see a Green Winged Teal that is present and a Jack Snipe seen at Stratford.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday 7th June 2022 - Monkton Combe to Midford

Image
  The 3 Amigos were back together this week and were joined by Kirsty for a circular walk from Monkton Combe to Midford and back via Tucking Mill. We parked at the bottom of Summer Lane just outside Monkton Combe where a Buzzard was drifting over the valley also flying around were House Martin and Swifts with a few Goldfinch in a dead tree. Walking through the Churchyard a Small Tortoiseshell was on the wing and a Sparrowhawk flew through. Feral Pigeon were on the village roofs. Turning into Mill Lane we headed towards Midford Brook, Blue Tit, Swallow, Lesser Black Back Gull, Magpie, House Sparrow and Carrion Crow were soon seen. We crossed the brook and turned into the fields to follow the footpath to Midford. Wood Pigeons were seen regularly and a male Blackcap and a Stock Dove were our next sightings. As we stood looking over the stream where Banded Demoiselles seemed to be everywhere a Goldcrest called from very close and appeared in the tree next to us, a great view was had by...
Read more

Tuesday 8th April 2025 - Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon.

Image
  Primroses at Blagdon - (Bath Birdwatcher) For our Tuesday birding trip out this week, we decided that a visit to Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon would be the best bet as many summer visitors are on the move and with luck we could possibly find a few year ticks. This visit we thought as it was school holidays we would start at the picnic area 2 and walk the Bittern Trail before any people arrived. On the way we spotted Magpie, Rook, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Buzzard and House Sparrow. Once at the picnic area we started our walk a Blackbird being our 1 st sighting also 2 Dunnocks playing chase, we also could hear the call of Reed Warblers, but we failed to see one, and because we only count birds we see, we dipped on them. A Long-Tailed Tit and a flyby Grey Heron were our next new sightings for the day. Blackcaps were calling everywhere and for a change they seemed easy to find as was a calling Treecreeper. As we continued I could hear a Goldcrest that David found in the top of a fir tree...
Read more

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 - Chew Valley Lalke

Image
  Our birding trip this week was another visit to Chew Valley Lake but just Bryan and Tony as David is on holiday. Chew was chosen because 2 waders scare at this location had been seen and it would be silly not to take advantage and see if we could find them. As usual we started the day at Herriotts noting Magpie, Collared Dove and Woodpigeon as we drove through Bishops Sutton. On arrival at Herriotts it was noticeable the amount of hirundines flying over the pool with Swallow and both House and Sand Martins in quite large numbers, while looking at these 2 Common Sandpipers flew over the water landing out of sight on the wall. The water level had risen a little since last week but the now overgrown mud was still above water with double figure count of Lapwings seen along with lots of Black Headed Gulls also seen were Mallard, Teal, Gadwall and Mute Swan. On the far side of the pool were at least 2 Garganey and close by a Grey Heron. A Green Sandpiper and a single Snipe were also fo...
Read more