GAUCIN - TOURIST BOARD WALK FEB 13TH 2011

Ermita Santa Nino

We joined the weekly walk from the village, organised by the Tourist Association, at 10:30am and took a circular walk to the Santa Nino chapel.

The group resting at Ermita Santa Nino - before the long climb back to the village

It was sunny at times with a chilly breeze. We sighted Siskin, Greenfinch, a couple of Hawfinches in flight, a Great spotted Woodpecker, a displaying Common Buzzard and a an impressive flock of 50+ Griffon Vultures (that's their number not their ages). Still plenty of Blackcaps about, also a few Black Redstart but we didn't see a Chiffchaff - winter migrants are reducing in numbers, a couple of House Martins overhead represented the incoming summer birds - spring is in the air.

My first orchid of the year was a Sombre Bee Orchid seen by all the group.

GAUCIN IN THE SUNSHINE - SAT. FEB 12TH

A glorious day, beautiful sunshine all day and guess what I was doing - DIY!!

The only sunshine I got was at lunch time when I was allowed to eat my lunch on the top terrace. I did see a Raven, a Black Redstart, 12 Griffon Vultures and behind me a beautiful male Blue Rock Thrush was singing. Other bird song included Blackcap, Blackbird and Robin.

My hour was up - back to work, ha!

DAY TOUR - FEB 11TH 2011 - GENAL VALLEY

Rory and Bernadette are staying in Gaucin for a couple of weeks and hired me for the morning for a quick 'taster' bird-watching session. We met outside my house at 8am and set off down the hill in the car to the Rio Genal.


Rory and Bernadette on the roadside looking at vultures on Crestellina

It was a cold morning but bright with no wind and no cloud. Our first birds were a Green Sandpiper and a Kingfisher seen from under the bridge looking down stream. We also saw White Wagtail, Chaffinch, Blackbird and a Blue Tit. Many birds were in song or calling, Blackcaps were quite noisy as were Spotless Starlings and Robins. As we walked along the track upstream we noticed a flock of birds high up in the trees. They turned out to be Hawfinches, at least 20 were milling about, a great sighting for the morning list. A Great Spotted Woodpecker added to the excitement, we then watched Blackcap, Grey Wagtail and Siskin through the scope. A Cetti's Warbler sang several times but failed to show.

Black Redstart (fem) - one of, at least 20, seen this morning

Next we stopped at Crestellina to watch the Griffon Vultures, we saw about 30, they eventually took off and circled over us. On the roadside verges and in the fields we located Stonechat, Crested Lark, lots of Black Redstarts, Chiffchaff, Cirl Bunting, Common and Spotless Starlings, Meadow Pipit, Eursaian Kestrel and good numbers of Goldfinches.

Further along the track we saw four Red-billed Chough land in a nearby field, we had great views of them in the scope, Two further stops added White Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Sardinian Warbler, Lesser Kestrel (5), Blue Rock Thrush and Song Thrush to the morning list.

We drove back up the hill at 12 noon having had quite a busy morning with lots to see.

SOMERSET LEVELS TOUR 3 – FEB 7TH 2011

Day 3 - Ham Wall - Catcott Low - Greylake - Brdigewater Bay at Steart

One of the six Great White Egrets seen recently at Ham Wall nature reserve


The day started off windy, dull and overcast and finished off windy, bright but very cold. We left the hotel at 7am to visit Ham Wall so that we could watch the Great White Egrets leave their roost. Sure enough we found them in the reeds, looking from the blinds over the smaller lagoon. Five of them rose from the reeds as it got light and disappeared behind us only to return and settle behind the reedbed in the distance ahead of us.

We decided to walk round and try to relocate them and in doing so we put ourselves in a great open position whereby we could see thousands of starlings as they left their roost in Shapwick and headed off for their feeding grounds. They flew right over us in their thousands it was another great spectacle and an unexpected one. Other birds of note were a single sighting of a flying Water Rail, several Little Egrets, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and all the usual ducks.




After breakfast we set off for Catcott Nature Reserve where we spent sometime looking for Bullfinches but found none, we did see good numbers of Pintail, Wigeon, lapwing and Mute Swans.


A group of Snipe trying to get some sleep at Greylake

Next we stopped at Greylake, one of the RSPB's newest reserve, it consists of a large expanse of flooded meadow with ditches and open lagoons. It was covered with Teal and Wigeon. The group got very excited about seeing Common Snipe at very close quarters from the reserves' only hide.

It began to rain as we walked back to the car park which cut short our search for the released Common Cranes. We parked once and got out of the bus to scan the meadows of King Sedgemoor finding lots of thrushes, Lapwings, Mute Swans and Roe Deer, but no Cranes.

Lastly we drove to Steart to look for waders and sea-birds in Bridgewater Bay, it had brightened up but the wind made it feel very cold. We walked through the village and out to the hides finding our first Greenfinches and Skylarks along the way. From the 'Tower' hide we located Ring Plover, Curlew, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Knot and Great Black-backed Gull. A Peregrine sitting on the ground was a nice find. At the hide on Steart Point we found a female Merlin and had much closer views of the waders.

Our journey back to the car park produced a few sightings, a close flock of 7 Curlews was probably the best, some of the group found our first Common Kestrel of the trip, incredible that such a common bird is now getting harder to find.

It was time to go, the tour was over, it had flown by so quickly. We made our way back to Yeovil seeing several Kestrels during the journey! The group departed on the train to London and I took the bus back to the hire company.

SOMERSET LEVELS TOUR 3 – FEB 6TH 2011

Day 2 - Shapwick Heath - Ham Wall - Cheddar Reservoir - Chew Valley Lake

An early start found us at Shapwick Heath at 7am to watch the starlings errupt from their roost site. We knew exactly where they had roosted because we saw them fly in the night before. They were magnificent, the noise was unbelievable and the show was incredible. It lasted about 30 minutes with a finale that superbly topped the show, a last outburst of sight and sound errupted right in front of us and the whole sky was covered in a mass of birds. You could see clouds of them in every direction, what a finish! We also saw Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard and heard a couple of Water rails.

After a hearty breakfast back at the hotel we set off for Ham Wall Nature Reserve. Along the track we stopped to watch a bird feeder in action, lots Blue and Great Tits, Robin, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Starling. At the main lagoon a Marsh Harrier flew across the reedbed just as we arrived and a few of saw briefly, a Bittern, in flight. There was also good numbers Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Gadwall and Mallard. From the 'blinds' we saw a second Bittern in flight, it flew against the strong wind and right across our bow, magnificent sighting.

Next we walked across to the Shapwick Nature Reserve and on the Meare lagoon we found lots more ducks including Goldeneye and a Whooper Swan. The walk to hide that overlooks Noah's Lake was uneventful because the strong wind was keeping the small birds down. From the hide we added Canada and Geylag Goose, Great Crested Grebe, more Goldeneye and a Pintail.

We then drove over to Cheddar Reservoir and had a windy but dry walk along the raised perimeter. We had to walk a fair distance as all the birds had be pushed up at one side in order to keep away from the sailing boats and surfers. There were about 1,000 Common Coot and with them a good variety of other species. We found 3 grebe species, Great-crested, Little and Black-necked, Common and Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Scaup (2) and Gadwall. there was also Common and Lesser Black-backed Gull. A good number of Pied Wagtails were joined by a single Grey Wagtail and a small flock of Linnets fed on the grassy slope down by the water's edge.

We left Cheddar by driving up through the gorge, eating our lunch in a pull-in near a woodland walk. From the we drove over the Mendips to Chew Valley Lake where we visited Herriot's Bridge first. It was less windy now but still dull and overcast, from the bridge we saw Common Shelduck, Pintail, Goldeneye, a flock of Dunlin, Lapwings, herring gulls and many of the duck species seen earlier in the trip.

At the visitor's centre we took a coffee break, then we drove around to Heron's Green Pool. from there we walked to some nearby fields and a found a flock of Chaffinch which also held a single male Brambling. From the causeway we searched for more species but found lots of Shoveler, Pochard, Goosander, Teal, Wigeon and a couple of Raven. We waited and hour for a Barn Owl to appear which it duly did, then it disappeared after 30 seconds and left it another 20 minutes before it came out to show itself fully. It was worth the wait, we drove home happy but cold!

SOMERSET LEVELS TOUR 3 – FEB 5TH 2011

DAY 1 - WESTHAY MOOR AND SHAPWICK HEATH STARLING ROOST

The windy conditions continued today but the rain held off. I collect group 3 from Yeovil Junction railway station at 10:40am and we set off directly to the Meare Manor Hotel arriving at 11:30am.

After dropping off our luggage and settling into our rooms we made the short journey to Westhay Moor to begin our bird-watching tour of the Levels. We noted the usual suspects in the lagoons at Westhay, Mute Swans in good numbers, Kingfisher, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Common Pochard. At ten acre lake we found 7 Female Goosander, Grey heron and lots of Cormorants. Passerines seen along the 'droves' were Long-tailed Tit, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Coal, Blue and Great Tit. We also watched a couple of Treecreepers and a Raven flew over us.

After eating our picnic lunch in the shelter of the 'North Hide' we walked back to the bus where we found a couple of Common Buzzards, we then drove across to Shapwick Heath to watch the starling roost. Before the roost began we searched an area for Great Grey Shrike, it didn't show but a lovely female Hen Harrier was ample compensation.

From the Decoy Hide we saw hundreds of thousands of starlings gathering in the distant fields, the whole ground turned black as they landed in their masses. We saw Peregrine Falcon, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard and a Marsh Harrier in the skies whilst we waited for the starling spectacular. We also had good close views of Goldcrest in the hedgerow.

The starlings irrupted from the fields and gave a stunning performance as they alighted in the reedbeds just in front of us. The noise was fascinating, it sounded like distant waves rolling onto the beach, but the sheer numbers of birds was truly amazing, I can't help being over-awed but such a wildlife spectacle it really was terrific to watch.We got back to the hotel at 6pm in good time to prepare for a delicious evening meal.

SOMERSET TOUR 2 – FEB 4TH 2011

DAY 4 – BRIDGEWATER BAY FROM STEART POINT

The changeable weather continued, today we had strong winds with a dull overcast sky, a complete contrast to yesterday’s cloudless, sunny, day. We packed our cases and set off at 9am for Bridgewater Bay, the journey took about 40 minutes and was uneventful.
At Steart we stopped just before the village to look over the flood meadows, in very windy conditions we located the small flock of Pink-footed Geese (14) that had been there for the last few days. It was a very good start and a very good species for Somerset.
We parked in the village and took the coastal path, the tide was half way out, so many birds were just dots in the distance. We identified Curlew, Common Shelduck, Bar-tailed Godwit and Dunlin. The only passerines we noted were Chaffinch, Linnet and a small flock of Skylarks. Just before we went into the hides we found a female Merlin perched on the wind-swept grassy bank. From the hide we saw a large flock of Knot, also fewer numbers of Grey Plover, Ringed Plover and a couple more Bar-tailed Godwits.
We also found (3) Oystercatchers, several Great black-backed Gull, a flock of Wigeon, some Cormorants, a good sized flock of Curlews (50+) and not much else. We headed back fighting strong head wind and we were happy to get back to the bus for shelter. It was now 1pm so we decided to call it day and head for the motorway where we had left the cars, on the way back we stopped to look at a couple of Little Egrets which were the last birds recorded on the trip.

SOMERSET LEVELS TOUR 2 - 3RD FEB 2011

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.

SOMERSET LEVELS TOUR 2 - 2ND FEB 2011

DAY 2 - CATCOTT LOW, SHAPWICK HEATH, GREYLAKE, STARLING ROOST

A dull, overcast day, with a misty start but a little warmer. We set off for Shapwick Heath to see the Starling roost irrupt in the early morning light. The birds were quite distant from the our vantage point along the footpath but it was still spectacular.

After breakfast we set off for Catcott Low a short distance from our guest house. The ice had mostly gone from the flooded meadow that is overlooked from the hide. A good number of Wigeon and Pintail were present and a lone Peregrine was found in the distant trees. Back along the entrance track we found a couple of Bullfinches with Chaffinches and Blue Tits.

From Catcott we drove to Shapwick Heath and walked along the main 'drain' to Noah's Lake. from the elevated hide we added great Crested grebe, Common Gull and Common Pochard to our list but there also were plenty of Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Teal, Wigeon, a few Goldeneye and one Pintail. In the woodlands along the approach track went spent a good hour watching Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest.

We took lunch in the Railway Inn and then set off for Greylake RSPB reserve, this is a new reserve consisting of a vast area of flooded meadow, open lagoon and hedgerows of pollarded willow. We found two Peregrines perched on a fence and at least 10 Common Buzzards were on site. A vast flock of some 200 wigeon were joined by Teal and Gadwall and in the middle distance there large flocks of Lapwing. Closer views were had of Redwing, Fieldfare, Pied Wagtail and several Common Snipe.

The next two hours were spent looking for the re-introduced Common Cranes, these birds had been hand reared from eggs at Slimbridge and then released into the wild over King Sedgemoor.
We found Green Woodpecker, lots more Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal and Mute Swans but not the cranes.

Lastly we returned to Shapwick Heath to try to pin down the starling roost, but failed miserably, the birds had moved roost-site again!

Somerset Levels Tour 2 - February 1st 2011

day 1 - Westhay Moor & Ham Wall.

We met at our Guest House on the outskirts of Westhay Village at 12 noon for the start of our 'Levels' Tour. The sky was overcast with light showers of drizzle. After checking in and unpacking we set off for our first birding excursion to Westhay Moor. A walk along one of the central droves led us to 10 acre lake and a series of lagoons holding large expanses of reeds.



We quickly notched up many species of waterfowl: Mallard, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon and Mute Swan. A great surprise was a Bittern which we inadvertently flushed from the reeds. We soon relocated the bird and had prolonged views of it as it fed on live fish which it caught at the waters edge, We couldn't top that, but we found Coal, Long-tailed, Blue & Great Tits, Goldcrest, Linnet, Goldfinch and our target bird - Goosander (5 females).

Two pictures of the first Bittern we encountered - it caught 2 small Rudd whilst we were watching


On thew way back to the bus we found a second Bittern which flew off as we approached the bus, wow what a good start to the tour.

The sky cleared, the breeze dropped, perfect conditions for the Starling Roost, so we set off for Ham Wall. From the embankment which dissects the reserve we added several new birds to our list, Great White Egret (3), Little Grebe, Marsh Harrier to name but a few.

As the light began to fade the Starlings began to appear in large, distant flocks, A Peregrine played havoc with the birds causing them to form all kinds of bizarre patterns and shapes. However the potential for a great roost was dashed when the main flocks were seen to be flying to very distant reedbeds. It was a disappointment but we still had good views of hundred of thousands of birds as they crossed the orange evening sky. On consolation was the discovery of 2 Water Rails in one of the large lagoons.

It was now too dark to bird watch so we set off for the short journey to the guest house.