February Highlights

 February Highlights

With such a great start to 2025 it is not surprising that February was a somewhat quieter affair with wind and rain making the headlines. That being said, the first signs of the arrival of spring and a changing of the guard came throughout the month. After those first intrepid first arrivals in late January, the first half of February saw Oystercatchers arrive back on breeding grounds.  The arrival of the years first passerines though, not waders, typically heralds the arrival of spring for most birders and that came on the 24th with the seasons first Sand Martin. 

The mornings are still producing regular sightings of Barn owl. a trip to the Cotswold Water Park gave some good views of Siskin, Treecreeper, and Goldcrest with a good variety of Duck species still around including some nice male Goldeneye and Goosander.

marsh Harrier, Merlin and Tawny owl all seen this month, along with groups of Fieldfare and a few Redwing.

Towards the end of the month the weather improved and a walk around a local area produced 3-4 singing Chiffchaff.

January Highlights

Some January Highlights

A bit of time this month spent looking for Short Eared Owls, this is the best time to look for these beautiful birds.

I certainly struck lucky on the three afternoons I went looking finding 4 birds on one hill, what a great way to end a cold winters afternoon.

Also lots of Raptors seen this month included Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Buzzards, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and 2 Peregrine Falcon Displaying over my head. Also a single Merlin, Barn Owl and Tawny owl not a bad selection.

This is also the best time to check out some of the larger bodies of water as there is usually big numbers of wildfowl around. All species seen in high numbers included Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted duck and Shoveller along with smaller numbers of Goosander, Goldeneye, Red Crested Pochard and a surprise male Mandarin mixed in with a flock of Tufted duck. Other birds seen included Great white Egret, Little Egret the odd fly past from Kingfishers and both Green and Great spotted Woodpeckers where seen.

Most of our common local birds have started singing on sunny days with the highlight being a nice Song Thrush belting out from the treetops.

I did venture out on one particular cold and frosty morning to look for Water Rail as the lakes had frozen over in the night, not disappointed I managed to see 5 of this very secretive bird some given very close views.

Nice to see big groups of Snowdrops out in flower also.

Looking forward to seeing what delights we can find in February. 

Tour Dates

Somerset Levels Tour Dates 2025

Dates available throughout the spring and summer months call for details.

Cotswold Water Park Winter Duck Tour

Dates available throughout the winter months call for details.

Please call us as we may be able to arrange tours at short notice at this time of year.

Nightjars, Quail and Barn Owls

An early start listening for Quail, A lay-by in wiltshire and I could here 2 Quail calling only a short stop but well worth the early start to hear these birds.

This evening a trip to hopefully see and hear Nightjars. We arrived early and was surprised by the total lack of any type of birds. As the sky became darker we started to hear the faint churning of a Nightjar but very distant. We decided to sit under a tree and wait and see if the birds would come to us, we where not disappointed. First a Barn Owl hunted close by then 3 Nightjars performed right in front of us and to cap it off a bird landed in the tree above us and started churning, what a wonderful end to the day in the company of these wonderful birds.

In search of the Large Blue Butterfly

Today a visit to a Gloucestershire hillside in search of butterflies.

On the road leading up to the reserve a pair of Redstarts where seen darting around the tree tops.

Out in the meadows a large number of butterflies were out on the wing which included Marbled Whites, Large Skippers, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Small White, Red Admiral and around 15 Large Blues the butterfly we were looking for. 

I spent a few hours watching these wonderful butterflies some offer very close views.

A very enjoyable time spent watching these tiny but magical insects.

Local wildlife sightings

 Over the last few days I have been staying local to home observing some of the local wildlife on offer,

Some nice views of the local Water voles along with Otter and a Stoat are all great to see, my first Swift and hobby of the year seen today along with the local Red kites and Buzzards.

A quick trip out to a local wood produce several Pearl boarded Fritillary Butterflies such a stunning orange coloured butterfly. Other Butterflies seen included Marsh Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Small Blue, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Red Admiral along with several large Whites.

May’s Highlights

Today we visited Somerset one of my favourites places.

We had an amazing day today spotting around 70 species of bird and a few Butterflies.

Highlights from today included several Marsh Harriers patrolling the reed beds on the lookout for an easy meal, several Great white Egrets and a few Little Egrets out on the edge of the water fishing.

Several Duck species around today with the best find of 4 Gargany out on the water, also a few Bittern  flying in and out of the reeds.

A few waders around with Snipe, Black tailed Godwits, Redshank, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Lapwings and a nice Glossy ibis found.

Several Warblers species around and a couple of Cuckoo calling in the distance, also a couple of Water rail were head squealing in the reed bed.

The final highlight of the day was a nice fly over by 3 Common Crane calling as they flew past.

Butterflies seen today included Comma, Brimstone, Orange tip, Speckled Wood and Peacock.

Another wonderful day in Somerset.