SOMERSET LEVELS-WEEKEND BREAK 27TH - 31ST JAN 2012

SOMERSET BIRDING BREAK JAN 2012 – DAY 1

SHAPWICK HEATH, NOAH’S LAKE AND HAM WALL NATURE RESERVE

The Group assembled at our guest house around 12 noon, we had travelled from several directions to converge in the heart of the ‘Levels’ at WestHay.

A 'string' of Starlings arriving at their roost site at Ham Wall Nature Reserve - it is then that the murmuration starts in earnest.


After quickly moving into our rooms and unpacking our scopes, binoculars and winter clothing we set off for our first destination – Shapwick Heath which also included Meare Heath, Noah’s Lake and Ham Wall.

From the car park we found a number of species feeding on bird-feeders in nearby gardens. We found Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit in good numbers, they were joined by Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Greenfinch.
We were joined on our walk to Noah’s Lake by a rainstorm followed by hail stones, so not much birding was possible. However at the hide which overlooks Noah’s Lake we listed several species of wildfowl. Mallard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Common Pochard, they were joined by Great Crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Grey Heron and a flock of feral Grelag Geese.
More passerines were added as we made our way to Ham Wall to watch the starling roost. A single Fieldfare, a small flock of Redwings, Treecreeper, Siskin and Goldfinch were all seen.

The sky cleared and the sun shone right up until the point when the starlings began to gather for the roost, it all looked very promising, then it clouded over and the rain came down, and because of this the starling moved their roost site and they failed to display in such numbers as previously recorded. We moved from our position and gained much better views of them coming down into the reed-bed in their hundreds of thousands. It was quite a spectacle in the end but not a classic display. Our final few birds of the day included Pied Wagtails, Marsh Harrier and good numbers of Lapwings.



We hoped for better luck tomorrow!`

SOMERSET BIRDING BREAK JAN 2012 – DAY 2

Ham Wall, Cattcott Low, Westhay Moor, Greylake, Aller Moor and a return to Ham Wall.


We made a full day of it by setting out in the dark before breakfast to watch the starlings leave their roost. It was, again, a fantastic sight, it was like an explosion of tiny black tennis balls as 500,000 starlings flew up in unison in every direction, the sky was literally full of them.
Other birds of note seen during our visit were several of the ducks already recorded plus Great White Egret.

Sleeping Wigeon - outside the hide at Cattcott Low Nature Reserve

After a sumptuous breakfast we set off to visit Cattcott Low Nature Reserve. The water was full of ducks and there was a lot of them. Mainly Wigeon and Pintail but also Mallard, Teal, Shoveler and Gadwall. Not much else was seen at Cattcott.
The rest of the morning was spent at West Hay Nature Reserve where we added Goldeneye, Goosander, and Redpoll. Lunch was taken in the pub at Ham Wall by most of the group but myself and Angela went to have a second look for the Yellow-browed Warbler along the old railway line. We didn’t see the warbler but we added Common Chiffchaff and Goldcrest to our list and just before we left we saw a Merlin flash through the tree tops.

The group along the central 'drain' at Shapwick heath - photo taken just after a rain shower

Next we made a visit to the new RSPB Reserve at Greylake. We had superb views of Common Snipe as several were feeding a few meters from the hide. We also saw a pair of Peregrines and hundreds of ducks and Lapwings.
Our penultimate venue was the flood meadows adjacent to the River Parret near Othery. There we saw 39 Common Cranes, they are part of the re-introduction scheme set up by the RSPB. In nearby fields we saw huge flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares with more Lapwings.


One of my favourite garden Birtds - the Dunnock - it has a beautiful song


Finally we visited the Ham Wall reserve to have a second look at the Starling Roost. It was fantastic, the light was good, there was no wind and the birds performed admirably. Whist watching the starlings a flock of Canada Geese flew over. Up to 50 Pied Wagtails did the same and a Common Buzzard appeared to chase after the flocks of starlings, without success, a great ending to the day’s birding.


SOMERSET BIRDING BREAK JAN 2012 – DAY 3

CHEDDAR RESERVOIR, CHEW VALLEY LAKE & BLACK ROCK NATURE TRAIL

Our third day was spent looking at waterfowl and gulls on two well known bodies of Somerset Water. The first, Cheddar Reservoir, is always a favourite of mine. We set off from our Guest House at 8:30am and headed straight for Cheddar which is a 20 minute drive.

The sky was overcast and the visibility quite bad with a mist shrouding the Mendips, but the air was absolutely still. The Cheddar Reservoir was as still as a mill pond and was covered in thousands of birds. Most were Common Coot, but we also found Common Pochard, a single male Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and Goldeneye. Both Great Crested and Little Grebes were present along with Common Gull, Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Common Buzzard, Redwing, Song Thrush and several corvids including Raven.

We then drove through Cheddar Gorge and over the Mendips into Chew Valley where we spent most of the day visiting various sites along the vast shoreline of this huge man-made Reservoir. Herriot’s Bridge, Heron’s Green, the Dam area and Woodford Lodge we some of the places we stopped.
Although many birds were present we added only a few new species to our trip list. Ruddy Duck (only 3 seen), Common Shelduck, Red-breasted Merganser (a very good species for an inland body of water), Raven and the Goldcrest was new for most of the group. We searched for the Ring-billed Gull and the Spotted Sandpiper, both rare visitors from the USA, but we couldn’t find either.

Lastly we stopped at Black Rock Nature Trail near the top of Cheddar Gorge, but after an hour we only saw Jackdaw and Wood Pigeon, very disappointing. We intended to drive back to Ham Wall to watch the starling roost but it got darker and it began to rain so we returned to the Guest House an hour earlier than planned.

SOMERSET BIRDING BREAK JAN 2012 – DAY 4

HAM WALL - EARLY am- COOMBE WOOD NATURE RESERVE

This was our last day and it started with dull overcast weather, it was raining but it had turned to sleet and then snow by mid-morning. Despite the bad weather most of the group got up for the pre-breakfast jaunt to the starling roost. The birds performed well considering the conditions but there seemed to be far fewer birds than of late. We also saw a Great White Egret and whilst looking for Bullfinches a female Hen Harrier flew over us.

A typical scene on the 'levels'. Large tracts of land have been decimated by Peat Extraction activities, but with some management the aftermath can be very rewarding for wildlife.


After a real hearty breakfast we set off for the Coombe Woods Nature reserve which is found on the Polden Hills just west of the Levels. The snow increased as we climbed the hills and it was very cold. We found literally hundreds of Blue and Great Tits feeding in the leaf litter, it was a fantastic sight. After about an hour we also caught up with a flock of Chaffinches which held about 10 Bramblings, this was one of our target species. We also saw Coal Tit, Robin, Song Thrush and we heard a Tawny Owl calling, our last bird of the trip was a tiny Goldcrest seen up in the canopy of the pine trees.

Well that was the end of the tour, we returned to our Guest House and drank warm tea and coffee before we all went our different ways home. It was a great long-weekend break, the Starlings were of course the main attraction but other species spring to mind: such as Common Cranes, Water Rail, Hen Harrier, Red-Breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and huge numbers of Pintails.