Somerset Wild Walks: Whoopers on Decoy Lake, Shapwick 12/3

A grim overcast and rainy day was forecast but we just had to get out. We started at Ham Wall and arrived at around 10 am to rain. We had coffee whilst waiting for the rain to stop and checked out Birdguides on our phone to see if anything interesting had been spotted nearby. To our surprise two Whooper Swans had been spotted that morning over at Decoy hide on the Shapwick side. So after coffee it was wheels up and a short drive around to Shapwick.

The rain thankfully had now stopped so it was a pleasant walk to the Decoy hide and hopefully the Whooper Swans would still be there. As we got closer to the first viewing area of the 'lake' we looked across at various ducks and then we saw the two Whoopers in the reeds very near the hide. So it was a quick pace to the hide to try and get a good view of the swans.

Once we settled in the hide the Whoopers ventured out of the reeds and we had some fantastic views of this beautiful Swan. They will probably only stay a day or two before heading back north for the summer, the swans already showing the 'rusty' stain that is their summer colour. Interesting to note that the Whoopers were often chased out of the reeds by a pair of Mute swans.

A couple of Marsh Harriers both a male and female hunted over the reeds several times, I wonder if they are nesting nearby? A small group of very noisy Canada Geese flew in Squabling and threatening each other on the water. There seems to be two pairs of Great Crested Grebes on the lake but just one pair showed signs of displaying with a bit of head flicking. Plenty of Coots, Shoveler, Tufted Ducks and some Pochard also seen.

Leaving the Whoopers and hide behind we took a more leisurely stroll back through the tree lined path. Here we had a lovely view of a Treecreeper in full song plus Coal, Blue and Great Tits. Not a bad couple of hours birding between the heavy rain showers!