Chew Valley Sunday

Yellow Wagtail, Glazebrook

Moth-eaten female Marsh Harrier, Risley Moss

River Avon, Langley Burrell

Roe Deer, Langley Burrell

Roe Deer, Chew Valley Lake

Banded Demoiselle, Langley Burrell

Little Egret, Chew Valley Lake

Barn Owl, Chew Valley Lake

It’s been nice to have a holiday and a break from driving all over the place. To be fair I have had a bit of a break from birding too – i.e. I have not been out birding three times each day! Did get some birding done in between sleeping and doing nothing…..
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Last weekend we stayed with my brother-in-law in a picturesque little village called Langley Burrell in Wiltshire. Most of the time birding was off the agenda though for three days I could hear a Cuckoo and a few Green Woodies as they moved around the village.
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Sunday morning I wandered over to Chew Valley Lake for a mooch at 05:30 after my usual recent insomnia. At Herriot’s Pool there was no sign of the resident fudge though it is surprisingly elusive on this small pool. The little sod was probably asleep behind one of the islands and I couldn’t be bothered to wait for it to wake up. I headed over to Heron’s Green Bay where I watched a Barn Owl for over an hour hunting the area. It caught two voles while I was there and was also mobbed by a Great Black-backed Gull. A Little Egret was feeding on the pool opposite and a Cuckoo was calling nearby, otherwise it was generally quitet. A Roe Deer walked serenely past on the far side of the pool.
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There is a long straight road here between Heron’s Green Bay and Heron’s Green pool which attracts speeding motorists. A drake Mallard had decided it was a good idea to sit in the middle of the road as a car doing around 60 approached. The Mallard panicked at just the wrong moment and flew across the front of the car and was clipped by it. The duck went into a spiral in the midst of an explosion of feathers and landed on the concrete slope at the side of the bay. When I walked over the duck was wandering around with its mate as though nothing had happened!
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Monday I took Billy for a wander down by the River Avon. Here is it a fairly small and slow stream and a footpath runs a good way alongside it. The first thing I noticed was a large hatch of Mayflies and then further down there seemed to be the world’s supply of Banded Demoiselle’s. These are striking damselflies, especially in flight and particularly the males. It was also interesting to watch Roach and Rudd continually taking these insects and the Mayflies off the surface of the river. A Roe Deer nearby was very confiding!
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I stopped at one section of river and just watched the world go by. There was a small patch of phragmites here and this held a pair of Reed Warblers, a pair of Sedge Warblers and a pair of Reed Buntings. Around this area where a few other species of warbler – Blackcap, Whitethroat etc and a couple of Great Spotted Woodies showed up. The usually present Kingfisher was conspicuous by its absence and a small falcon which I thought was a Hobby kept darting around over and behind hedges but never let me get a good look at it. Just a pleasant stroll really.
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Last Tuesday we were back home for a day. A juvenile Tree Sparrow and a pair of Bullfinches appeared in the garden during the morning. After the usual range of jobs in the morning, I escaped with Billy to Risley Moss in the afternoon – and a very nice and sunny afternoon it was too. Jonathan showed up shortly after I arrived and we had a natter for an hour or so. Jonathan spotted a Lesser Redpoll flying over and a couple of Yellowhammers sang though that was about it on the birding front for an hour or so. Jonathan went back to work and I briefly fell asleep and woke again while talking to a local birder named Brian – sorry Brian, it wasn’t you!
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Late afternoon a few birds started to appear – a female Sparrowhawk preceded and succeeded by Buzzards while a Cuckoo started calling from the back of the moss. I then spotted the female Marsh Harrier hunting the back of the moss. In the space of half an hour she went up three times, the final time she simply spiralled up and away north, looking a bit moth eaten!
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I then wandered off to Moat Lane where the Lesser Whitethroat was still singing away and showing briefly and a single Common Tern was incubating on pool 2. The Canada Geese have started to build up on this pool – at least 19 were present. I then headed off to Dam Lane to check out the Yellow Wags that Jonathan had spotted there. The man himself was already present and the male Yellow Wag was singing away on the wires. He kept throwing his head back while singing as though in courtship display – maybe not a good sign for a bird which did appear to have a nest, a mate and an established territory. There was no sign of a female though a Corn Bunting did appear on the wires.