A day Avon Birding

Brean Down Salt Marsh

Brean beach

Raven 

Stonechat

Great White Egret

Sunday took me down the M5 into Somerset to try and catch up with a couple of species I've been missing on year list. The destination was Brean Down which is a few miles south of Weston-Super-Mare. Parking was a very reasonable winter rate of £1 for the whole day.

Leaving the car park a couple of Stonechats watched me head down towards the farm and salt marsh. The farm is a regular haunt for a small flock of Twite however despite two prolonged searches I didn't have any luck. 

As a walked along the sea wall a Peregrine hunted for an early breakfast over the salt marsh whilst a Sparrowhawk flew past the fields behind. The tide was low so waders were  restricted to Curlews, Lapwings, Snipe and Redshanks. As I was observing a flock of Linnetts a Water Pipit landed by the stream behind the second gate ! A real bonus. 

There were a handful of birders on the site and I had a good chat with a local only for the Lapland Bunting to fly over with a handful of Sky Larks. As hard as I tried I could not locate the Bunting on the ground but I did get another flypast. The birds seems to rotate between the marsh and the field. Fair play to those who got an image.

As I headed back the car a Raven was hounding the local Jackdaws and there was another two Stonechats enjoying the late morning sunshine.

The temptation to head back via Hawling was obvious but instead I stopped in at Chew Valley Lake. Not knowing the area I just drove around the perimeter until I found a place to stop. By pure luck the place was Herons Green where I could see a Great White Egret in the channel. I quickly set up the scope and grabbed a few nice digiscoped images. Other sightings included a Great Northern Diver, flock of Goosander, 2 Egyptian Geese, Snipe,  60+ Cormarants, 10 Shelduck, 30+ Pintails, Wigeon, 3 Little Egret, Grey Heron, Great Black-backed Gull and many of the normal wildfowl. Chew Valley Lake is a place you really need a full day to make the most of it and I need to remember not to go back via Bristol on future visits. The Clifton Suspension bridge didn't compensate for the shocking traffic.

This area is an area that seems to getter better and better for birds unlike most counties and the new reserve at Steart Marshes should be another great place to visit. I will be visiting there in 2015 for sure.

Goosander at RSPB Sandwell

I needed to drive over to West Bromwich on Wednesday afternoon so I took advantage to call in to RSPB Sandwell Valley for a bonus session of birding.

First to catch my eye were eight Goosanders, there doesn't seem quite so many around this winter to date and there haven't been any at all at Arrow Valley. These "saw billed" ducks seem to glide around effortlessly making everything else move out of their way. I like their style.

There was a nice selection of water fowl to see including Wigeon, Pochard, Mallard and Teal topped nicely with a flock of 50+ Canada Geese and a couple of Mute Swans. There was a large and noisy flock of Long Tailed Tits at the bottom of Swan Pool which appeared to follow me back to the car. 

Winter nip on Norfolk coast

Black-tailed Godwits & Shelduck

Avocets

Early morning at Brancaster

High water levels at Titchwell

Black-headed Gull twitches the sea watchers

Grey Plover

The Ship Hotel

After such a brilliant Saturday to live up to, Sunday was always going to be struggle as the wind had got up and the temperature had dropped dramatically. We walked from our hotel in Brancaster down to the coast before breakfast. To say it was cold was an understatement of the highest proportion. At the beach we were able to watch the Geese fly over us in large numbers again whilst there were numbers of Sanderling, Oystercatcher Dunlin and Knot.

Titchwell was a rare disappointment in all honesty. The water levels had been increased to flood the islands so there were a lot less birds around than there is normally at this time of year. Sightings included Ringed Plover, Knot, Turnstone, Teal, Wigeon, 2 Marsh Harrier, Brent Geese, Pink-footed Geese, Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwits, Shelduck, Curlew, red-throated Diver and a flock of Goldeneye on the sea. So perhaps not to bad a haul ! 

Finally, I must mention the fantastic Ship Inn at Brancaster where we stayed. Pure luxury accommodation, great customer service with amazing food and drink. Well worth a look up if you are heading that way! 

Rough-legged Buzzard & Barn Owls close day

Pink-feet flying over Burnham Ovary 

Holme

Holme

Next stop of the weekend was Burnham Overy where I quickly located one of the long staying Rough-legged Buzzards. Most of time it was sat on the same fence post however I did get one good flight view through the scope. The area also had a number of Common Buzzards, clearly food supply must be ideal for this species.

Rather than walk towards Gun Hill we opted to head to Holme (never easy to drive past Titchwell). On the coastline there were Oystercatchers, Knot and a couple of Sanderlings.

With the light fading I picked up a pair of Barn Owls hunting the fields at the back of village. I never get enough of watching these amazing birds. A handful of other birders were also present hoping for a Short-eared Owl but sadly no luck on this occasion.I've added a super video produced by the BBC to remind us how great Barn Owl's are.

Winter sunshine at Cley

Avocets on the marsh

Twitchers delight

Brent Geese

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harriers in food transfer switch

Marsh Harrier

Pink-feeted Geese along Beech Road

Cley has made a remarkable recovery since the great storm surge 12 month ago and it was hard to believe Seal were swimming along the road which we crossed on the way to the marsh.

There was a nice selection of birds to watch including Avovet, Little Egret, 200+ Golden Plover, Pintail, Ruff, Little Grebe, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveller, Gadwell, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, 2 Stonechats and of course the magnificent Marsh Harriers which treated us to some fantastic views. 

We then headed up Beach Road where there were massive numbers of Brent Geese and Pink-footed Geese feeding in the fields. A stunning sight once again. 

Looking out to sea there was a good number of Red-throated Divers and 1 Black-throated Diver which I was particually pleased to see as it had been an omission on my year list up to this point. A Grey Seal was feeding off the beach.

Close up encounters at Salthouse

Turnstones

Romance on the beach

A Turnstone in front of wife's right knee

Pink-feet skies

Turnstone 

Snow Bunting

Caught in the field

With a kind offer from the parents to look after the lads last weekend the wife and I set off for a bit of winter fresh air and luxury on the north Norfolk coast.

As we edged towards Cley and Salthouse skeins of Pink-footed Geese passed over us welcoming us with their distinctive call. First stop was the Cley visitor centre for a cheeky cake and coffee before heading down to Salthouse passing a pair of Egyptian Geese.

The old car park is now just full of shingle from last years storm much to the liking of a couple of Turnstones. We walked down the coast along the shingle beach and observed around nine Twite on the side of marsh which took off and flew directly over us.

After about 10/15 minute walk we located a flock of around 30 Snow Buntings on the main bank before coming down to the edge of the marsh. After a nice session watching the Buntings we walked by the sea where a small flock of Turnstones landed in front of us. 

I will post the rest of my Norfolk blog in coming days.

Warwickshire November Sightings

I've taken on compiling the Warwickshire sightings for Bird Watching following a suggestion from Jon Bowley  as he's tied up with his time at the moment. My first efforts are published in the January edition which is out now.If you do have any sightings please drop me a note on email or via Twitter.

Highlights: Great White Egrets were seen at Salford Priors GP (1^st) and Corley (15^th). A Lapland Bunting flew over Burton Dassett Hills (5^th) and a Woodlark over Brailes Hill (6^th).

Brandon Marsh:  Sightings included two Stonechat, four Goldeneye, a Little Egret (6^th), two Mandarin (20^th), a Woodcock, two Dunlin, two Water Rail, 42 Wigeon and a flock of 50+ Lesser Redpoll.

Dassett Hills District: Sightings included at least two Merlins and two Peregines in the area, up to 500 Golden Plover at Northend and 350 at Fenny Compton, a late White Wagtail at Fenny Compton (to 17^th) and a Snow Bunting there (25^th). A Cetti’s Warbler was at Wormleighton Res and a Corn Bunting at Farnborough. Winter thrushes included 2000 Redwing at Wormleighton Res and 1500 at Fenny Compton, with 1000 Fieldfare at both, but few Brambling seen. 

Draycote: Sightings included four Red-crested Pochard, two Scaup, a Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, four Knot, a Common Sandpiper, a Caspian and eight Yellow-legged Gulls, Short-eared Owl, Rock Pipit and late House Martin.

Salford Priors GP:  Records included 31 Little Grebe, 19 Wigeon, 23 Gadwall, 160 Teal, 270 Mallard, Pintail, 22 Shoveler, 16 Pochard, a Scaup (from 28^th), 94 Tufted Duck, two Goldeneye, Peregrine, 12 Water Rails, Ringed Plover (2^nd), 125 Golden Plover, Jack snipe, 70 Common Snipe, four Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpiper, two Yellow-legged Gulls, 120 Skylarks, 140 Meadow Pipits, Cetti’s Warbler (2^nd), two Chiffchaffs and a Willow Tit.

Tame Valley: Ladywalk NR hosted a Shag, Merlin, three Peregrines, 16 Water Rails, Woodcock and Siberian Chiffchaff. Two Whooper Swans flew over Middleton and four Little Egrets were in the area. Two Scaup and a Pintail were at Coton, with single Scaup at Fisher’s Mill, Kingsbury and Shustoke. A Bittern was at Fisher’s Mill, while Shustoke also held a Shag, five Red-crested Pochard and a Common Sandpiper. Nearby Wishaw had a Merlin and 14 Grey Partridge.

Other sites: Two long-staying Ospreys remained at Clifton Lakes Fishery. Morton Bagot hosted two Green Sandpipers, a Dunlin and several Stonechats. Nearby Spernall recorded a Ringed Ouzel twice. Earlswood Lakes recorded Mandarin Duck, Red Kite and Mediterranean Gull. Jack Snipe were at Lighthorne Quarry (two) and Alvecote. A flock of 700 Stock Doves was notable at Grandborough.