Sand Bay - our local patch 14/2/16 & 16/2/16

Sand Bay is only 10 minutes drive away from us and is a coastal area with tidal mud flats and a sandy beach that has been taken over by areas of vegetation which in turn provides a great haven for both flora and fauna. We had heard that a pair of Dartford Warblers were in residence so we decided to take a trip on a beautiful sunny morning. It did not take long for us to find the Dartfords feeding on the Sea Buckthorn - wow! What great little birds always on the move, occasionally chasing Stonechats and difficult to photo! 

Plenty of other birds to be seen and get great views of including Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Herring Gull, B H Gul, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Shelduck, House Sparrow, Linnet, Collard Dove, Starling & Pied Wagtail. 

Amazing to find so much in one area both wildlife and beautiful scenery. A superb place to visit if you can ignore the many dog walkers. The birds however seemed to have got use to both the dogs and their owners! 

   House Sparrow - good numbers along the beach vegetation

               

                  Dartford Warbler balancing in the Sea Buckthorn 

   Typical Dartford pose

                

   

          Eyeing up the berries!

 

    Often lurking in the undergrowth!

          

                 Occasionally the Dartfords would chase the Stonechats and ten sometimes perch                         

                 on the fence

    

Stonechat female 

           

                  Stonechat

    Not too often you see a Stonechat on the ground

              

                  Linnet

   Linnet - good numbers along the shore

Reed Bunting

RSPB Greylake, Somerset Levels 9/2/16

A cloudy, cold and very breezy visit to Greylake with the icy wind forcing its way through the shutters! A few sunny spells appeared but just as we left at 12 ish it grew very dark and the heavens opened up to heavy sleety rain. I need to add as well that this area of the levels is flooded for the first time this winter with the area in front of the hide nearly one big lake with no land.

Still plenty of duck species to be seen as well as Snipe taking shelter in small reed areas here and there. The highlight of the visit had to be seeing in one view a Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and a Hen Harrier giving chase to the thousands of ducks 'put up' - now that was exciting! 

All in all 28 bird species were seen with some great views of most of them. 

Reed Bunting, Starling, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Stonechat, Goldfinch, Cormorant, Little Egret, Heron, Great S Woodpecker, Great Tit, Lapwing, Snipe, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Peregrine, Hen Harrier, Black tailed Godwit & Kingfisher.

What a top class day at a top class reserve! 

   Teal

               

                 Lapwing

   Gadwall

               

                  Shoveler

    Starling

               

                   Peregrine record shot as it speeds by!

    Snipe

               

                  Wigeon

   Hen Harrier - record shot

               

                   There it goes .... Hen Harrier

   Wigeon

               

                   Black tailed Godwits

   Graceful Godwits

               

                   Female Teal

    Hide and Seek - Snipe & Teal

                

                   Stretch those Wings! - Teal

   Snipe

Early Spring & an Ibis - Ham Wall & Shapwick 30/1/16

It felt almost Spring like on our trip to the Levels this morning. A bit cloudy and dull at times but it seemed all the birds were singing and active. We started at Ham Wall side and a walk along the muddy track (the bridge is still closed) to the new Avalon Hide. Along our way we are pretty sure we had our first glimpse of a Water Vole, it was just too quick to get a clear ID.  From the Avalon Hide we walked onwards towards the second platform bridge where I suddenly caught a glimpse of a Glossy Ibis overhead. We watched as it sailed into the lagoon, take off and circle and then finally settle out of view! Wow what a view and tick! Great Egrets are quite active flying from reed bed to reed bed and we had some great views. Surprised to hear our first booming Bittern the boom being a little half hearted! A pair of Great Crested Grebes were seen displaying and they even dived for weed but no dance! Still some good numbers of ducks to be seen including a few Pochard on the Scrape Shapwick side. 

A total of 39 species seen today including Marsh Harrier, Shoveller, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted, Gadwall, Bittern, Kingfisher, Cettis, Reed Bunting, Snipe & Great Spotted Woodpecker. 

Spring was definitely in the air! 

    Glossy Ibis

                

                   Restless Ibis

   Off again

               

                    Great Egret - the green breeding 'lores' can now be seen

   Great Egret - potential nest site?

               

                  Little Grebe

   Great Crested Grebes pairing up and displaying

                

                   A good display but no dance

   Marsh Harrier and yes ..... Blue sky

               

                   On the hunt

    Marsh Harrier a female or juvenile 

               

                   Long tailed Tit 

First visit to the Levels - Shapwick 16/1/16

A cold and frosty sunny blue sky start to our visit to Shapwick. We spent 3 hours here strolling the paths carefully watching and seeking out anything that moved! In total we saw 40 birds in quite a relatively small area. These included some great views of Marsh Harrier, Pintail, Goldcrest, Jay, Water Rail, Bullfinch, Chiffchaffs and Stonechat. A great way to spend a few hours!

A squadron of Teal 'put up' by a Marsh Harrier

                

                    Stonechat and Chiffchaff. Plenty of Chiffchaff overwintering on the levels

   The majestic Grey Heron

                

                    Heron - top of his tree!

   Flock of Pintail - very restless and flighty over Noah's Lake

               

                   The beautiful Jay - in the woods on the path to Mere hide

   Goldcrest - also very flighty and constantly on the move!

               

                   Water Rail - always heard at Shapwick but seldom seen

   Treecreeper  - more tree than creeper! Will have to try harder.