Wheatears

Photos:

Wheatears and Linnet, Rixton Moss
Little Ringed Plover, Houghton Green Flash

March 30th

HGF was relatively quiet this morning though the appearance of six Sand Martins was very welcome. Otherwise not much doing.

This afternoon David Spencer picked up four Wheatears on Rixton Moss so after work I nipped round for a look. Four stonking birds were in the field opposite the farm and I also found  fifth in a field off Holly Bush Lane. I also found 3 Corn Buntings, 3 Reed Buntings and a couple of Yellowhammers. Moat Lane pools remain quiet and no sign of the Green Sandpiper though there were plenty of singing Chiffchaffs.

At the feeding station this evening were 40+ Tree Sparrows and 20 Yellowhammers.

March 31st

No Sand Martins at HGF this morning but I did find a Little Ringed Plover. The local Kestrel pair were busy inspecting their nest box and a Chiffchaff is still singing on the east side - I wonder if it will stay around?

At the feeding station were 45+ Tree Sparrows, 10 Yellowhammers, 2 Linnets, 2 Greenfinches, 2 Grey Partridges. In the field behind were two Oystercatchers - presumably the HGF birds.

Later on I drove over to Rixton to see if the Wheatears were still around. They were but no hoped for Ring Ouzel (one day maybe). All five Wheatears were in the same place as yesterday. The Prospect Lane birds were playing around the wood pile (always an attraction for them) and they gave superb views so i filled my boots on the digiscoping!

Chew

Photos:

Female Long-tailed Duck and a gull (I have this pegged as a first winter Yellow-legged) with a deformed bill at Chew Valley Lake

March 29th

Finishing work today in Somerset, I decided a detour to Chew Valley Lake was in order. I spotted my first Swallow of the year in a little village somewhere along the way. On arrival I headed up to the dam to look for the Long-tailed Duck. It took me a while because said bird was on the water on the far side of the water tower - the one place I didn't look. It showed well briefly when I did discover it. A Green Sandpiper was patrolling the dam and both Chiffchaff and Blackcap were singing.

Next I went round to Herriot's Bridge where the elusive adult Spotted Sandpiper is still in residence and now has some spots! Another Green Sandpiper was skulking with it and a sharp-eyed birder found a Red Kite soaring overhead. A Cetti's Warbler was singing and I also found this gull with the deformed bill. Looks like a first winter Yellow-legged Gull to me - crossed with an Egypitian Vulture!

Shapwick / Meare Heath

Photos:

First winter Long-billed Dowitchers, Little Ringed Plover, Ruff and Black-tailed Godwits at Meare Heath
Breeding plumaged Great White Egret at Shapwick Heath - what price a first UK breeding record here his year?
Sunset from Noah's Hide at Shapwick Heath

28^th March 

As I suspected the last 4 Wigeon had departed from HGF overnight. The water level seems to be plummeting alarmingly at the moment and with drought conditions announced over much of the UK, I can’t see any particular future for the pool. I may well have seen the last Wigeon to visit this place which is a very sad feeling. Very quiet overall this morning and no sign of yesterday’s Little Ringed Plover either and still no Sand Martins. 

On my way into the office I diverted again through Rixton mosses and still no Wheatears here. There was a flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls off Woodend Lane plus a Corn Bunting and 2 Yellowhammers. At the top end of Holly Bush Lane around 8 Fieldfares were present in a small remaining patch of stubble. Moat Lane pool was likewise quiet. 

This evening I arrived down in Somerset for work and decided a walk around Shapwick Heath et al was infinitely preferable to a hotel room. The place was quite busy, no doubt as a result of the presence of the two Long-billed Dowitchers. These two first winter birds showed quite well on the shallow pool at Meare Heath in contrast to the last time I saw them at Chew Valley Lake last autumn. I wonder where they have spent most of the winter? Also on this pool were 28 Black-tailed Godwits including a ringed bird, four Ruff and a Little Ringed Plover. There were lots of Teal and Gadwall also on the pool and a single Little Egret. 

Walking down along the drainage ditch I could hear a veritable cacophony of bird sound with at least 8 Cetti’s Warblers, 7 Chiffers and 2 Blackcaps plus the booming of 6 Bitterns. I wandered over to Noah’s Hide where a Great White Egret was loitering over on the far side of the lake. This bird has the dark bill (not yellow) that alba race adults get in breeding condition and it had large, resplendent plumes. This particular bird looked enormous and the size was apparent when a Mute Swan swam past! 

I stayed here until dusk hoping to see egrets coming into roost. Eventually it dawned on me that the roost had moved and I needed to go back out to the main path and view some trees from distance. When I got the scope up I immediately saw a Great White Egret briefly in flight before dropping out of sight. Moving further along to get better views I spotted two Great White Egrets perched up – neither of these was the bird I saw in flight which clearly had a yellow bill. A handful of Little Egrets were also evident, however I think I had left it too late to see how many birds were present. 

I then walked back to the car park in the semi-gloom. Two Tawny Owls began calling, a couple of Snipe did likewise as they flew overhead and the day was rounded off with half a dozen Redwings also flying overhead and calling. I do like this place!

Black-necked Grebes at last!

Photos:

Black-necked Grebes at Houghton Green Flash
Spotted Redshanks at Conder Creek
Grey Heron at Glasson
New moon over Winwick

24^th March 

An early morning visit to HGF paid dividends when I found a pair of breeding-plumaged Black-necked Grebes on the water. I had thought that we would struggle here for this species with the water levels being so low. I wonder how long they will stay? Also present was a signing Chiffchaff! Pretty much as was with everything else though a slight decline in Wigeon numbers was noted. A quick fly by at the feeding station produced 22 Tree Sparrows and a couple of Yellowhammers – I think the birds are drifting off back to their breeding territories now. I also had a quick nip round Rixton in between various errands. The Green Sandpiper was still on Moat Lane pools and three Chiffchaffs were singing here. The mosses were relatively quiet in terms of birds (a single female Wheatear being the only bird of note) but birders were much more numerous having bumped into Dave Steele, Les Jones, Dave Riley and David Spencer! 

Late afternoon I headed up to the van and took a detour to Glasson and Conder. The heat haze made viewing difficult (it seems there is still plenty of moisture in the atmosphere), however there was a large flock of 550+ godwits at Glasson with the vast majority looking like Blackwits (they were also distant). On Conder Creek were four Spotted Redshanks and four Black-tailed Godwits while a drake Goosander was present on the pool. Later on at the van I noticed a flock of 140+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the fields just north of the holiday park. 

25^th March 

This morning I took Karen for a visit to Leighton Moss. It wasn’t much of a real birding session – more of a country walk round in reality but enjoyable nonetheless. By the way – the sausage and egg barms are a bit good! Three Bullfinches, a Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were at the feeding station, two Marsh Harriers (both females) were seen over the reed beds and three Chiffers were heard singing. I also bumped into a couple who thought they were watching a Willow Warbler but when questioned they did not know how to separate this species from Chiffchaff. That said, the bird they were watching did appear more like WW based on jizz – I didn’t get good enough views to clinch it though. 

Early afternoon I took Bill for a walk by Bull Beck. No hoped for Sand Martins and not much else to be honest – I ended up counting Oystercatchers (31) and did eventually find four Black-tailed Godwits in the far fields and a Goosander on the river. I heard two singing Chiffchaffs and another two on the edge of the village driving back. I also nipped over to Melling and confirmed the Whooper Swan herd is still present. 

Late afternoon I took Bill out again – this time walking from Woodies at COL to Forge Bank Weir. Very quiet – another singing Chiffchaff and three Bullfinches were about it. When I got back to the holiday park, I noticed Greenfinches dropping into the roost site again. I had clearly missed some but there were still 30 perched in a tree nr the roost. This evening the Lesser Black-backed Gull flock again passed through the fields north of the van. 

26^th March 

Glorious sunny day – it’s like July at the moment, or July as it used to be before weather patterns went haywire. Anyway I got home from working on the Wirral this evening and popped round Rixton on my way. No Wheatears at all on the mosses – they seem very scarce this spring. On Moat Lane pools were the first skinny dipping kids of the year and consequently no birds! Three singing Chiffchaffs in the lane was about the sum total. 

I then took Bill for a walk to HGF. No sign of the Black-necked Grebes and just 14 Wigeon now left on the pool. No sign either of Sand Martins or Little Ringed Plovers – is this weather holding things up? A second Redshank was present though and hopefully they will breed locally. At the feeding station late on were 65+ Tree Sparrows (they haven’t moved on after all) and 4 Yellowhammers.

27^th March 

Quiet day today – working in Birmingham today (my last visit!) and managed to get home in time for a trip to HGF where the Wigeon flock was down to just four ducks and a Little Ringed Plover patrolled the north bank. At the feeding station, 45+ Tree Sparrows had been joined by 14 Yellowhammers (why the sudden increase again in this species – a second migration movement?) and a couple of pairs of Grey Partridges. The usual male Sparrowhawk again appeared and again perched in hedge while angry chattering emerged from adjacent sections. Again he left with nothing (in my best Ann Robinson impersonation).