Somerset Wild Walks: Water Rail

Thursday, 1 March 2018

Shapwick & Ham Wall 27/2

An early start for a drive to Ham Wall, a lovely sunrise but still bitterly cold with a strong wind. A trek to Tor View hide first where we again saw the Grebes but little evidence of the nest they were building yesterday. A Marsh Harrier went down into the reeds, and we saw just one Cattle Egret fly over fairly high in the sky. From the first platform a Great Egret was seen plus Pintail, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall etc plus about 20 Black tailed Godwits. Leaving the area behind we caught sight of some Goldfinches in the Alders and on closer inspection a few Redpolls as well.

Over to Shapwick side and we followed the track down to Meare hide. A few more duck species on the Scrape now Pochard, Tufted and Gadwall. Walking through the woods down to Mere hide a Sparrowhawk flew past us, no wonder there weren't any birds in the woods! At Meare hide we had our coffee. It was good to see that the reeds had been cut giving a slightly better view. Not too much to be seen though the most exciting being a flock of Gadwall chasing around.

At Noah's the water level was pretty high and frozen around the edges but wow what a sight and sound of 1000's of Wigeon. A few Pintail were seen as well as Tufted and Shoveler. A couple of Cattle Egrets flew low across the water and Marsh Harriers came over a few times. A Heron settled in the corner near the hide disturbing a Snipe that was quite settled feeding. The Kingfisher flew past a few times but didn't settle.

We left Noah's hide and walked back to Ham Wall car park. After some lunch we decided to return to the Tor view hide area. Around the carpark we had some great views of Bullfinches feeding on the new buds and a Goldcrest foraging in the low stems for food.

Waltons trail next as we had heard that the Ferruginous Duck had been seen. Unfortunately it was in hiding when we reached the area. Continuing around Waltons the skies started to turn grey and there were a few bits of snow falling. We quickened our pace and reached the screen with cover just before a beautiful heavy snow shower took hold. It only lasted a few minutes but in that time covered the ice that remained. Quite surreal to watch the birds in the snow including a Kingfisher that hovered in the sky as though it wondered what the hell was going on!

Our last visit to Tor View hide and this time we got a great view of a Water Rail feeding around the margins. 50 bird species seen today ..... Not a bad days birding!

Long tailed Tit

Wigeon flock

Black tailed Godwits mixed in with Wigeon etc

Great Egret

Blue Tit

Great Crested Grebes

Female Marsh Harrier

Moorhen swimming swiftly up the channel

Great Egret

Gadwall flock

1000's of Wigeon on Noah's lake

Snipe seen close to Noah's hide

Blue Tit feeding off the reeds in front of Noah's

Mallard on ice

Grebe being chased off

Wigeon

Bullfinch in the car park at Ham Wall

Goldcrest foraging low down in the vegetation

So agile as they search for food

Cettis Warbler showed briefly

Cettis Warbler

Just couldn't resist this Robin

Long tailed Tit

Kingfisher in a snowstorm

Tufted Duck

Moorhen in the snow

Water Rail from Tor View hide

Showing its tail

Great crested Grebe being chased off

It's almost like they run across the water

Saturday, 24 February 2018

Slimbridge 12/2

Yet again an early start to ensure we could get into Slimbridge through the 'magic gate' at 8.15. A frosty and very sunny start to the day saw a few of us waiting for the gate to be unlocked.

First call was the 'Rushy' where several birds Bewicks, Tufted, Pintail, Mallard, Greylags etc were bathing and preening at the start of their day.

On to the 'Tack Piece' hides where a few birds were gathered. A good number of Redshank but no spotted and several Ruff. Golden Plover, Black tailed Godwits, Lapwings and Dunlin took to the air a couple of times as a massive flock. I'm sure that the restless Lapwings set things off!

At the willow hide we had a fantastic view of 2 Water Rails on the ice. They were trying to pick up the fallen seed from the feeders but they were thwarted by the rats.

Our first visit to the Holden Tower and there wasn't a single bird to be seen. Our return visit would prove more rewarding.

South Hide lake on one side was completely frozen though a flock of BlackWits arrived to the ice. On the unfrozen side were plenty of Pochard, Tufted, Shelduck, Teal and a pair of Oystercatchers on the island. We watched these whilst enjoying a coffee in the comfort of this hide.

Strolling through the grounds our next stop would be the Kingfisher hide. In the tree area we caught a glimpse of a Treecreeper that stopped just long enough for a shot. Love watching these birds scurry up trees.

At the Kingfisher hide Great and Blue Tits, Chaffinch were busy at the feeders. On the lake a Little Grebe caught a fish and was chased off by a pair of Gadwall. In the field were Golden Plover, Wigeon and Redshank plus a couple of Cranes flew over.

After lunch in the comfortable and warm Peng Observatory we returned to the Holden Tower visiting all the hides along the way. Plenty of birds now on the Tack Piece including family groups of Bewicks. (The Bewicks Swans are featured in a separate blog) and a large group of White fronted Geese.

From the tower the Barnacle Geese flock provided pretty close viewing and at long last we saw the Red breasted Goose.

Another brilliant day at Slimbridge, already looking forward to returning in the Spring.