DAY 3 - HAM WALL - CHEDDAR RESERVOIR - CHEW VALLEY LAKE
Some of the group - waiting for Starlings to roost
I can't believe how lucky we have been with the weather, today was lovely with bright sunshine and no wind. The morning was fabulous we set off at 7am in the dark and arrived at Ham Wall to watch a superb sunrise, the only thing missing was the Starlings! They didn't roost there again, but they flew over us in their tens of thousands as they left their roost at Shapwick.
Black-necked Grebe - one of two found at Cheddar Reservoir
Nevertheless we had a great morning and wouldn't have missed it for the world the colours of the sunrise were fantastic. Five Great White Egrets and three Little Egrets left their roost in the reeds, we heard Cetti's Warbler and two Water Rails, all the usual ducks were there sitting, in the now, unfrozen ponds.
After another superb breakfast we set off for the 8 mile journey to Cheddar Reservoir, plenty of Fieldfares and Redwings were seen in the fields as we sped passed. The reservoir was fantastic it was like a mill pond and all the birds were easily visible in bright sunshine. Amongst the 2000 Common Coots was Pintail, Common Pochard, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler and Tufted Duck in their hundreds. We also found Great Crested, little and Black-necked Grebes and a couple of unusual duck species were two female Red-crested Pochard and two eclipsed Greater Scaup. there was no sign of the Smew we had seen a few days ago. A Grey wagtail flew passed us and a Tawny Owl called from the trees behind us, it was 10:30am! Our last record before setting off was of a party of noisy Ravens in the distant fields.
The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon was spent at Chew Valley Lake, we drove through Cheddar and up through the famous Gorge to get there. We spent time at Heron's Green Bay where we found Green Sandpiper, Goosander and many of the usual duck species.
At Herriot's Bridge we stopped to eat hot pasties that we bought in West Harptree and then added Common Shelduck, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and Ruddy Duck to our trip list. Driving round to the visitor's centre we parked and set off to walk the 'Bittern Trail' a cold breeze had picked up and many birds were hiding from us, we didn't see much and only added Wren to our list. After a warming hot drink in the cafe we set off back to the 'Levels'.
align="justify">We parked at Ashcott Corner and from the bus we watched a very obliging Goldcrest as it flitted in the brambles right beside us! We set off onto Shapwick Heath and immediately bumped into a flock of Siskin, Goldfinch and Lesser Redpolls, they gave us good views. As we walked along the track yet another Peregrine flew over and we saw another Little Egret. The Starlings arrived in their hundreds of thousands and put on a bit of a show but they decided to roost half a mile north of us, we did get to see some display but not as good as we had wanted. We walked back to the bus in semi-darkness having now tried for the starling roost at least 4 times without great success! A quick drink in the local pub, warmed by a roaring log fire, soon reinvigorated us and we set off back to the guest for another superb, home cooked dinner.
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