Bath Birdwatcher

  Herons Green showing the low water level (Bath Birdwatcher) Another Tuesday and another visit to Chew Valley Lake, the only difference being the 3 Amigos were back together for the first time in many weeks, also this week was an all-day trip. I began my day list at Herriotts our first stop. Here on the pool were Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Shoveler, Gadwall, Shelduck, Moorhen, Mallard and Coot along with 5 species of gull Common, Herring, Black Headed, Lesser and Great Black Backs. At the back of the pond were 5 Black Tailed Godwits plus Pintail and Teal. Walking over the road to look over the main lake Great White Egrets were in the inlet with Carrion Crow, Little Egret and Grey Heron on the mud and Tufted Duck on the lake. Walking back to the pool a Grey Wagtail flew along the wall and David spotted a flyover Great Spotted Woodpecker. Moving on to Stratford we added Woodpigeon and Jackdaw, and a female Pheasant as we drove down Stratford lane. From the hide we added Cormorant, Po...

  Another Tuesday and another visit to Chew Valley Lake as the birding has been so good over the last month or more, Again it was only Bryan and Tony and this week it was only a half day visit. Driving to Chew the only bird of note was a Collared Dove a species we rarely see at Chew. 1 st stop as usual Herriotts with lots of birds on the pool including Shoveler, Canada Geese, Coot, Teal, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Gadwall, Pintail, Shelduck and Tufted Duck. Also on the pool were 5 species of Gull, Black Headed, Common, Great and Lesser Black Back and Herring. 2 species of corvid flew over Jackdaw and Carrion Crow and on the far side of the pool were 4 Black Tailed Godwits the only waders we could find here. All the time we were looking heavy drizzle was falling and we were spotting from under the cars tail gate but we were still getting wet so we decided to move on to Stratford where we could stay dry in the hide. When we arrived in the hide a fellow birder Andy pointed out the Whoo...

    We have recently returned from a short break in South Devon we stayed with Mary’s sister in their lodge at Waterside Holiday Park which overlooks Torbay and the Dartmouth Steam Railway, which was operating during our stay. On arrival on Sunday, we just unpacked and settled in,   Monday was a wet day so I was able to watch from in the dry and see many Gannets feeding in the bay   a Kestrel was hovering over the cliff tops. We needed shopping so a trip to Morrisons was made and on return again scoping the bay 3 Common Scoter flew through my field of view heading towards Torquay a year tick and the only time I saw any all week. Tuesday I was dropped off at Berry Head and walking from the car park towards the cottage at the top of the lane, the field by the car park had parts ploughed and a local named Bill explained that it was being turned into a wildflower meadow, so I look forward to seeing it in the years to come. In the field were Magpie, Herring Gulls and ...

  Great White Egret - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher) Again, this week it was just Bryan and Tony, David is away and as we did last week we decided that another visit to Chew Valley Lake was the order of the day as again a couple of new wader species had been reported. On the way we reached the Globe where there was a notice that the road at Marksbury was closed so we had to make a detour to get around the closure. Collared Dove and Jackdaw were seen on the way. At Herriotts our first sightings were Mute Swan, Lapwing, Carrion Crow and Mallard seen as we climbed out of the car. Pied Wagtails were calling and 2 landed on the wall in front of us and a Shoveler was feeding on the pond.  Shoveler - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher) Telescopes set up we scanned the pond finding 3 species of gull Black Headed, Herring and Lesser Black Back. A single Greenshank was asleep and a Snipe and Moorhen were also found. Lots of Teal were all over the right end of the pond with a Green Sandpiper amongst them. A...

  Chew Valley Lake has proved to be the place for bird watching this year with the very dry summer the water level is so low and this has made it a haven for wading birds. This past few days another rare wader has been seen, a bird that I have seen twice before once on Scilly and at Goldcliffe but you will have to wait to find out what the bird is. So, another trip to Chew for me and Bryan, David is still on holiday. Driving to Herriotts we spotted Buzzard, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and Jackdaw. At Herriotts our first sightings were Teal, and Green Sandpiper, then we found the rare wader in fact 2 of them, Pectoral Sandpipers the highlight of the day and we had hardly arrived. Watching the sandpipers we also found Greenshank, Black Headed Gull, Grey Heron and Great White Egret. A Marsh Harrier was seen flying over the main lake and at the same time a Red Kite flew over and disappeared into the distance. Back looking over the pool we were advised that an Osprey was sat in the sam...

  This week a Tuesday trip out, had to be put back by 24 hours as it was my birthday and my wife and I celebrated it by going out for coffee and lunch. Wednesday arrived and it was decided that Chew Valley Lake was the best option as with the very low water level and plenty of mud showing it was a haven for waders both in the main lake and Herriotts pool. We both took a packed lunch so we didn’t have to rush to visit all the places where we hoped the majority of birds would be. On the way the day started with Buzzard, Collared Dove, Jackdaw and Woodpigeon all being seen. At Herriotts many different species were on the pool including Mute Swan, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal.  Grey Heron - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher) Great White Egret - CVL (Bath Birdwatcher) When we arrived we commented on how many people were present which was very unusual, and wondered if a rare bird was present, but on chatting to other birders they were watching an Ospre...

  Corfe Castle (Bath Birdwatcher) Friday 12 th to Friday 19 th of September Bryan, Yvonne, Mary and Tony spent a week in Corfe, staying in sight of the famous Castle. On arrival we found out that Swanage Steam railway was holding its annual autumn gala over the weekend, something to visit while we were there. We set off stopping at Blandford for a comfort break and coffee where we spotted a Little Egret on the river Stour and 2 or 3 Red Kites on the journey. Our next stop was Wareham where we had lunch and a walk to stretch our legs and here by the river Frome were 2 Mute Swans with 3 full grown cygnets many Mallards and a Moorhen. Saturday started wet and windy with the promise that it would improve as the day went on, and so it proved so we explored Corfe and had coffee in the National Trust Café. We had an early lunch and caught the bus into Swanage to visit the Steam Gala with 6 locos in steam including Southern Region U class 31806.  Class U - Swanage Steam Railway (B...