59 species recorded today.
What an absolutely fantastic day! A stunning sunrise, followed by a glorious bright day. We set off at 7:30am to see the Starling roost disperse, it was wonderful we had a great time.
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| Great cormorant at dawn |
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| the dots in the sky are Starlings |
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| Glastonbury Tor at 7:30am |
After breakfast we drove the short distance to Tadham Moor which was devoid of birds so we continued onto Tealham Moor where a group of Whooper Swans had been seen recently. however it was egrets that caught our attention. A Great White was standing on the bank of a 'drain' and by its side was Grey heron (2), Little Egret (2), Mute Swan and a CATTLE EGRET. Never in a million years would expect to see all three of these egrets standing side by side in Somerset, England. We also found Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Lapwing and Fieldfare.
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| They were very distant but if you carefully you can seen all 3 egrets |
Westhay Moor was next, the 'droves' were very muddy but passable, we made our way to Seven Acre Lake where we found Goosander (6), Goldeneye (1 female) and many of the common ducks. A Kingfisher was nice and a flock of Long-tailed tits entertained us.
We ate lunch outside in the sunshine at the Avalon Centre where we logged a Raven flying over and a Coal tit coming to the bird feeders.
The rest of the afternoon was spent walking onto Shapwick heath where we visited Noah's Lake. From the raised hide there were many, many ducks. We also saw another Kingfisher and Whooper Swan (10)
The best part of the day was approaching, a clear sky clouded over somewhat but it was very still and fairly light as we walked to Ham Wall. The Starling Murmuration was superb, this time they really performed, making all kinds of shapes and patterns in the sky. What a great show we really enjoyed it as about a million birds descended into the reeds.
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| One of the patterns seen tonight - taken by John Sutherland tonight |
Well that concluded another tremendous day in the wonderful Somerset levels.
ADDITIONS TO THE NEW YEAR LIST
114. Cattle Egret
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