Bath Birdwatcher

  Just for a change of scenery this week’s birding trip took us to the Severn Estuary where the 3 Amigos first stop was Aust Wharf   where we walk along a walkway towards the original Severn Bridge this section of the Severn has cliffs on the west which meant that we were in shade and being a cold day it wasn’t a day to hang around we did find a few birds Starling, Blue Tit, Magpie, Blackbird and Robin. The highlight of this short walk was a small flock of Barnacle Geese flying upstream and a   pair of Stonechats the 1 st of 4 pairs we found during the day.  Stonechat - (Bath Birdwatcher) On the walk back to the car we also found Great Tit, Dunnock and Woodpigeon. Our next stop was a few 100yds along the road to the beginning of Northwick Wharf where the Penduline Tit had recently been seen, we knew it was no longer there but had a walk to see what was about. Our 1 st sighting was a hunting Kestrel that was constantly swooping down but not catching anything,  ...

  M4 Severn Bridge viewed from Severn Beach (Bath Birdwatcher) Today was the Bath RSPB,s monthly field trip, David was our leader on a visit to Severn Beach and Pilning Wetlands. 19 members met at Severn Beach where Starling, Jay, House Sparrow and Woodpigeon were seen before we strolled to look over the Severn Estuary where the tide was low but coming in. Here we added Mallard, Wigeon, Black Headed Gull, Grey Heron, Oystercatcher, Great Black Back Gull, Little Egret, Curlew and Redshank. On our way to the venue David was driving and we went via Pilning to checkout parking, and we decided that 5 cars could easily park. Back at Severn Beach it was time to move on and next stop was Pilning, so we all piled into 5 cars and made our way to Pilning. At the entrance to the wetlands a stream which takes the overflow from the wetlands into the sea was a good spot to observe all the birds on the riverbank with the tide still rising but lots of mud still exposed and here amongst the many Wig...

  The 3 Amigos this week were doing a recce as later this month David is leading an RSPB field trip to the Severn Estuary around Pilning Wetlands. As we set off it was raining although the forecast had promised a mainly dry day, but as we headed along the M4 we ran out of the rain and apart from a little drizzle it remained dry all day. When we arrived, we drove along Passage Road and noticed that it was high tide so decided to start the day at Pilning. Parking at the end of New Passage Road we walked to where the Chestile Pill runs into the Severn and here the tide was dropping leaving a muddy shoreline where many waders were feeding including Redshank, Dunlin. Black Tailed Godwit and Knot, also seen were Teal, Wigeon, Mute Swan and Black Headed Gull.   A Starling was on a TV ariel and on the land were Greylag and Canada Geese. Scoping upriver we spotted Curlew, Oystercatcher and Shelduck. Walking to the wetlands we added Jackdaw and Rook and in the Pill was a Little Egret, W...

  Severn Bridge - Bath Birdwatcher T his week the 3 Amigos were down to 2 as David was away, so Bryan and I had a chat and decided to go to a new place for us (Aust Warth) as we had noted from Avon Birds website that interesting bird do turn up from time to time. We used google maps to direct us to the area and found Passage Road would be the best road to use. When we arrived we found the road was closed but decided to use the road and see where the closure was. The road was closed just short of a bridge that was part of a flood prevention scheme. We did see a footpath so parked up to explore this path. We found the path led to a road leading to the 1 st Severn bridge, bird wise it was a bit disappointing having started well with 2 different Green Woodpeckers but back up with just Woodpigeon, Kestrel, Curlew, Lesser Black Back Gull, Jackdaw, Great Black Back Gull, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit and Canada Goose. Walking back to the car in a garden that had a pond we watched 3 Moorhens. Du...