Bath Birdwatcher

  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 1 st 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 1 st 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...

  Bath RSPB,s monthly field trip was a visit to Martin Down National Nature Reserve 13 members arrived and we were led by Glen who knows the area well. While waiting in the car park for everyone to arrive Whitethroats and Skylarks were calling and in the end we all managed good sightings of both, We also heard the never to be forgotten call of the Cuckoo calling from a wooded area next to the car park but not showing, as we were there we set off in the hope of finding the Cuckoo, walking down a footpath to the open area of the reserve several members managed a glimpse of the bird but the majority missed it so we set off hoping to find it later. We soon added Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon then as luck would have it the Cuckoo flew past us heading in the direction we were going. Next our 1 st butterfly of the day was seen a Small Copper. As we continued a Red Kite was spotted in the distance, we later saw 2 more but this time much closer. Our 2 nd butterfly soon followed a Grizzled S...

  The first 3 months of the year proved to be very similar to 2022 with 105 species seen against 104 in 2022, so the hope was that the following 3 months would continue in the same vein. April. This month started with a visit to Newton St Loe but nothing new for the year was found but a Kingfisher is always a bird that is good to see. Our next birding trip was the monthly RSPB field trip on the 16 th , this month was a visit to Blakehill Farm and Cotswold Water Park. Blakehill is a reserve aimed at farmland birds but on the day (maybe it was a little early in the year) proved to be somewhat underwhelming we did manage Skylark and Meadow Pipit and probably the best sightings were Curlew, and here they are hoping the birds will stay and breed. We also found a singing Willow Warbler, a year tick plus Red Kites. On to the water park where Red Crested Pochard, Reed Bunting and Oystercatcher were all year ticks. The 18 th was the Amigos next trip this time to Chew and Blagdon Lakes ...

  Sometimes when birding you can have good and bad days, a few weeks ago we had a day to remember when we visited the Somerset Levels and this week we made a return visit to the same place and to say we had another good day is an understatement. Bryan was unable to join us having only returned from a week’s holiday the previous evening. We were hoping for a few summer visitors that in past years the Somerset Levels have proved to be a reliable place to see them. On the way to Westhay our first stop we started our lists with Blackbird, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Starling, Rook, Lesser Black Back Gull, Collared Dove, and Pheasant. Driving across the levels we added Swallow, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Magpie and Kestrel. Also 4 Cattle Egrets in the same place as we saw double figures on our last visit. Walking along Dagg’s Lane Drove Mallard, Buzzard and Chiffchaff were quickly logged, then David spotted a bird in the distance only having the briefest of views   before flying behind ...

  The trip out this week was the first time since the 9 th of May that the 3 Amigos had been able to get out together and we all decided to head for the Somerset Levels to try and find a Cuckoo that illuded us on our last visit. We set off at 9am and headed for Radstock where we had a short stop hoping for a Dipper that do inhabit the area but did not show on this occasion but we did see Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Wood and Feral Pigeon plus Blackbirds. Continuing on we added Jackdaw, Rook, Great Spotted Woodpecker (which flew down the road in front of the car), Herring and Lesser Black Back Gull and a Red Kite a bird that is becoming increasingly seen in this area. Collared Dove, House Sparrow and Magpie completed our in transit sightings on the way to Wells. Turning off of the B3139 we followed one of the VERY minor roads across the levels where Great White Egret, Carrion Crow, Swallow, Mute Swan and Song Thrush were all added to the days list. Our first port of call was Westh...