Stunning Somerset Levels

Before we had even left the car park at RSPB's Ham Wall we were listening to garden warbler and blackcap. Two species we got to know well and could tell the difference between. We also heard dunnock, wren, robin, chaffinch, blue tit, chiffchaff, song thrush and great tit

As we started down the track, we were finding new warbler species as well as more garden warbler and blackcap. We picked up willow warbler,  cetti’s warbler and whitethroat singing in the scrub reed-side habitat. 

We started to notice hirundines and had soon seen swift, swallow, house martin and sand martin.

Sedge and reed warbler were also quickly found.

In the sheltered spots it soon became obvious that dragonflies and damselflies were on the wing.

hairy-looking hairy dragonfly

We managed to see hairy dragonfly, azure damselfly, common blue damselfly, variable damselfly, blue-tailed damselfly and large red damselfly. Not bad for a day with sleet showers!

Butterflies were also evident with, green-veined white, peacock, red admiral, speckled wood,  orange tip, brimstone and small tortoiseshell.

On the water we watched a pair of great crested grebe, as well as pochard, coot, cormorant, shoveler, mallard, tufted duck, gadwall, teal and little grebe.We eventually started picking up the odd marsh harrier.

There were five species of heron seen during before lunch! Besides the great white and little egret, flying around there were a few booming bittern, we eventually saw a few flying around. We also saw one of the glossy ibis on the far side of the pool, not quite as good as last year! It was a struggle to see a grey heron and we eventually found just the one.

At the final viewing point we hit a purple patch with two hobby flying around catching insects, two cuckoo chasing each other and seven whimbrel sat quietly on an island – brilliant stuff!

As we worked our way back along the screens, we managed to find a male garganey who decided to get out of the water just in case we hadn’t seen what a dapper chap he was.

After lunch we headed out to look around Shapwick Heath.

We were soon picking up more garden warbler in the scrub and there was a very showy male whitethroat in the car park.

At the first pool we saw a lovely flock of black-tailed godwit, some of which were in their full summer finery. A cursory glance at a little egret showed that it was in fact a cattle egret, that was soon joined by ten of its friends – here’s nine of them and our sixth species of heron of the day!

nine cattle egret

We carried on to Noah’s hide where we saw a male wigeon and a very fast-passing kingfisher. Next to appear where at least five hobby who put on a great show until the rain arrived. The stars however where the mute swans with their wrestling antics and a little egret who had worked out his own special form of fish-tickling.  

Fish-tickling little egret

Next, we popped to the viewing point behind Noah’s hide and were treated to the male marsh harrier cruising around and beating up a buzzard who was deemed to be too close.

After a brief visit to the last hide we headed back to the car park – another great day! (NA)

Early Warblers at CWP

I had one day free in Gloucestershire and wanted to photograph a variety of birds.  A quick internet search turned up The Cotswold Birdwatching Company and Darren responded very quickly that evening offering to meet me off the train at Kemble on Sunday.  Tickets were booked and come Sunday morning I was rattling through the countryside from Cheltenham looking out on spring meadows.  Darren's bird and general wildlife knowledge was very extensive due to his many years in the region and experience in all seasons.  We had beautiful clear skies, bright sunshine and an abundance of small species, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch, Little Egret, various duck and a fleeting glimpse of a Cetti's Warbler.  

We visited a number of lakes, walked about 10kms and I got a great feel for the region.  Darren dropped me back at the station where I adjourned to the nearby pub for a pint while awaiting the train.

Thanks again to Darren and The Cotswold Birdwatching Company for a great day and photography opportunity.

Mark Davidson, Western Australia.

Wildlife aplenty in Wiltshire!

Over the last couple of weeks, while out and about in Wiltshire. We have been noticing more and more wildlife starting to rise from the winter slumber.

Singing male firecrest

A species that is really starting to make inroads into Wiltshire is the firecrest. This chap was singing away, having just arrived back to breed. The same size as a goldcrest, with a strong white supercilium, they are a lovely addition to the woodland assemblage.

long-tailed tit

Some species are getting busy with nest building, this long-tailed tit had almost finished its nest! Others are still just enjoying the spring sun, like this female kestrel, although some are already paired up and searching out a nest site.

female kestrel

A number of insects are around also, we've seen holly blue, coma, red admiral, small tortoiseshell and peacock!

One of our favourite early invertebrates is the bee-fly, here's one sunning itself.

They look like like a bee, hovering as they move across the countryside looking for early flowers to feed from. Great stuff!

Mammals too are starting to think of things other than surviving.

Here is a leap of  four hares, most likely a female on the left feeding and an entourage of three males in attendance.

Finally, the amphibians are at it too! Here's a common toad relaxing after the strains and struggles of breeding.

There's lots going on out there, so please get out and enjoy it!

CWP Full day tour

Today saw us at the Cotswold Water Park for a full day tour.

Today started with all our common birds singing around every corner. Wrens, Robins, Dunnock, Blackdirds along with Song Thrush and Newly arrived Chiffchaffs.

At our first stop a fine male Goosander swan out from the bank given some very close views as is drifted across the lake.

Moving on down the footpath a Cetti's Warrbler belted out its short but unmistakable call, now is a good time to look for these birds before the undergrowth has to much green on them.

At our next stop both male and female Scaup were found mixed up with a few Tufted Duck also a few Red crested Pochards and Great Crested Grebe.

Moving on through a tree lined area both Green and Great spotted Wodpeckers were heard along with a brief view as they
 flew from the tree tops. Here we also heard our first Blackcap singing and found it at the top of a tall tree along with great views of a pair of Treecreppers chasing each other around.

At our next lake we found a group of 14 Goldeneye with several of the males displaying to the females by throwing their heads back and pointing to the sky with their bills.

Several cormorants could be seen roosting in the trees at our next lake with a few birds still fishing on the water, checking the sky a large group of Sand Martins drifted about hunting the many tiny insects out today. Also seen in the tree tops were a mixed group of Redwing and Fieldfare.

Heading for our lunch stop we added Reed Bunting, Goldcrest, Blue,Great and Long tailed Tits to our list.

Deciding to take our lunch at one of the parks hides we had one of those magical experiences that you do not get very often as two Otters played and chashed each other around in the water for a good 15 minutes giving some wonderful views, Wow what a lunch break.

After lunch we visited a different area of the park and checking the lakes found Pochard, Wigeon, Gadwall, Little Egret and a few Buzzards on the wing. We then found a small view point to check out a large quarry area and found an Oystercather sat on its nest along with a Green Sandpiper and 6 Curlew, Several Black headed Gull and Lesser Black backed Gulls were on the water also.

Other birds we found included Rook, Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow Goldfinch, Bullfinch and 4 Stock Dove flew by.

Another great day out in the countryside with undoubtably the highlight watching the Otters playing while having lunch. DT.

Hello Darren

It was a pleasure to meet you on Monday and thank you for showing me the best spots to watch birds and other wildlife in the Cotswold Water Park area. Your local knowledge was invaluable. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Red-crested Pochards (not a bird I see very often), but sitting eating our sandwiches whilst watching a pair of otters 'playing' in the lake in front of us was a real bonus. Clearly the area has so much to offer and Judy and I look forward to visiting it much more frequently in future.

Very best regards

Mike

First signs of spring in the water park

Today saw us in the Water park for a morning visit.

Looking around some of the older lakes it was noticeable that a lot of the ducks had moved on with the temperature now on the rise.

Birds seen at our first stop include several Goldeneye along with Goosander, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Red Crested Pochard and a pair of Great Crested Grebes performing their elaborate courtship dance a joy to see at this time of year.

On our walk to our next stop we encountered several Song Thrush singing from the tree tops also lots of Robins, Wrens and Dunnock all looking at setting up thier territories ready for the breeding season.

Stopping near a small wooded area both Great spotted and Green Woodpecker where seen and heard with the Great spotted seen drumming on a dead tree.

Checking some of the Ivy covered trees we found a couple of tiny Goldcrest giving some close views as they flitted about catching tiny insects.

Our next lake seemed a bit quiet today with only a single Goosander showing close in, then a flash of blue shot passed us and flew across the lake one of two Kindfishers seen today.

Retracing our steps we found a single Redpoll along with several Reed Buntings and a couple of Bullfinches also several Chiffchaffs and a Cettis Warbler were heard calling.


Just before moving on from here we noticed a small brown animal moving on the track in front of us this turned out to be a Weasel and we watched it for a couple of minutes has it moved off down the path, Great to see these tiny mammals so close.

Scanning out over the largest lake we visited today we some found a fine male Scaup sitting in the sunshine on the far back, not that common in the water park and always a joy to see.

With a few bees out on the wing and a sighting of a Comma butterfly you can tell that spring is in the air.

Later in the day I checked a lake on my way home and found an Otter fishing out in the middle which I had some good views of as it dived down hunting for prey.

A great start to spring we are really looking forward to a wildlife packed time ahead. DT

CWP is the place to be!

We are getting more and more people enjoying the Cotswold Water Park, where despte the levels of development going on and the very limited number of lakes being saved for wildlife, the nature still hangs on. 

We started in Neigh Bridge car park where we managed fleeting glimpses of siskin in the alder trees, in the area also were blue tit , great tit, robin, wren and blackbird.

male blackbird

We worked our way along the edge of the main road, where we watched goldfinch also feeding on alders and a very showy male dunnock proclaiming his ownership of a stretch of hedgerow.

On the first lake we saw some red-crested pochard resplendent with their ginger afro haircuts. Also present were two female goosander, great crested grebe several tufted duck, cormorant, coot and mute swan.

As we headed on down the lane we picked up a male chaffinch feeding on the path in front of us,  long-tailed tit and goldcrest.

We crossed the river Thames on the footbridge and worked our way along to the viewing point of the next lake. Here we saw the male scaup, also present and new for us were mallard, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, common gull and black-headed gull. 

We quickly moved onto the next lake where we saw a great selection of duck and were a little more sheltered from the windy conditions. We added pochard, gadwall, wigeon, little egret and grey heron to the species list as well as seeing close views of great crested grebe, tufted duck and coot. We watched the gadwall and wigeon pinching weed from the coot each time they bobbed back to the surface!

We then headed through the woodland along the river Thames where we heard a few things, but didn’t see much! We heard the male bullfinch doing his ‘meep meep’ Roadrunner song, the raucous call of a pair of jay, a very loud and elusive great spotted woodpecker, a flyover kingfisher and we did just about see the song thrush singing beautifully in the late morning.

We headed out of the woods and the kingfisher put in another all to brief cameo as it shot into the distance.

As we crossed the open ground towards our next lake we had great views of male and female reed bunting and several meadow pipit.

meadow pipit

We headed over to a large lake with islands where we had great views of tufted duck, pochard, wigeon, great crested grebe and the cormorant starting to spring clean their nest sites in the trees.

Similar species at the nest lake, but on the way back along the track we had some brilliant views of a female sparrowhawk as she headed purposefully through a woodland and across a lake. A mistle thrush headed past us at this point.

As we turned the next corner we picked up a male treecreeper singing and moving around the trees, closely followed by point blank views of a pair of goldcrest displaying, the male with his orangey-yellow crest raised!

A few redwing were moving around the trees where we saw the crayfish remains and otter spraints.

We then worked our way along the edge of our last lake where we saw a male shoveler hiding in cover at the edge of the lake, finally heading back to the car park - a great day!

A more showy male shoveler

NA

Looking for new tour venues

Otmoor RSPB Reserve in Oxfordshire

Both myself and Nick are always on the lookout for some new and exciting venues for our tours.

So a visit to the Oxfordshire sight proved to be very interesting.

This reserve would work as a summer or winter tour venue as the potential to see various birds at different times of the year would be appealing.

On our trip several different raptors were observed with two Peregrines giving some wonderful fly pasts. With several other species on offer including Hen and Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Merlin, Short eared Owl and Red kite along with some very close up views of wildfowl this would make for an interesting tour.

Also here now are Bitterns which are seen very often along with several different wader species.

In winter the reedbeds are home to a large Starling roost which always ends the day on a good note.

So a summer visit to see how the things look then and this could well be our next new tour location.

Other areas we are also looking at are the wonderful RSPB Reserve at Arne and also Studland bay both in Dorset.

DT/NA