Little Gull - Larus minutus

Date spotted: 29th September - 6PM

Location: Chew Valley Lake - Herriotts Bridge

Observation: Went down to do an hour or so of birding, very successful as found the Little Gull as soon as we got there, which was nice!

Weather: Sunset, Cloudy, Warm

Other Species: Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Little Gull, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Great Black-Backed Gull, Crow, Jackdaw, Teal, Wigeon, Cormorant, Chaffinch

Glossy Ibis + Spotted Redshank!

Date spotted: 24th September - 3PM

Location: Shapwick Heath - Ham Wall

Observation: Visited to see the Glossy Ibis, proved very successful and was much closer than I thought it would be! Sun came out got a few shots before it seemed to fly off into shade! Typical!

Weather: Cloudy with some blue sky and Sun. Warm

Other Species: Collared Dove, Crow, Greylag Goose, Blackbird, Cormorant  Jackdaw, Lapwing, Ruff, Redshank, Glossy Ibis, Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Starling, Spotted Redshank, Mute Swan, Wood pigeon, Gadwall, Little Grebe

 

Westhay Species !

Date spotted: 24th September - 1PM

Location: Westhay Hide Tour - Visited All Hides

Observation: Not much around maybe due to heavy fog but was a chance to see all of the Westhay hides !

Weather: Cloudy, Foggy, Warm

Other Species: Coot, Mallard, Cetti's Warbler, Mute Swan, Gadwall, Little Egret, Cormorant  Grey Heron, Moorhen, Blackcap, Great Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Robin, Kingfisher, Wood pigeon, Crow, Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Great-Crested Gull, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Teal,  Buzzard

 

Return Of The Chaffinches!

Date spotted: 17th September - 1PM

Location: Birding From The Window

Observation: Pouring with rain all day so deicide to do a quick birding from the window count. This proved successful, as no interruptions and we seen the return of a chaffinch pair, we haven't had Chaffinch's for months, so was very nice to see them back! 

Weather: Cloudy, Raining, Cold

Other Species: 4 Great Tit, 6 Blue Tit, 1 Crow, 2 Wood Pigeon, 4 Greenfinch, 1 Magpie, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Lesser Black-Backed Gull, 1 Mallard (fly-over)

 

Glossy Ibis @ Shapwick

Date spotted:12/09/2013

Location:  Shapwick on the levels

Observation   Went down to levels Shapwick to see Glossy ibis which has been there ,then  not ,saw Spotted Redshank on Meare heath and also a  Glossy Ibis  . Great looking bird but light not good for its close ups ! around 900ft away .

Weather: Grey overcast mostly but some broken blue sky

Other Species: Glossy ibis,Spotted Redshank,Ruff,Green sand,Egret little an Great,Osprey of note .

Hamwall on last vist  3rd September Mink Picture

seen 3 running along boardwalk Walton Heath .

Little Stint - Calidris minuta

Date spotted: 10th Sep - 2PM

Location: Chew Valley Lake - Herriotts + Heron's Side

Observation: Visited on way to Severn Beach but ended up staying at Chew Valley all day due to amount of birds! Little Grebes still there with around 17 in total all in one group. Little Stint, feeding in mud and shoreline of Heron's Green Bay, we watched for around 2 hours and came within 50 feet before we left, which gave us some brilliant views and photography opportunities. Attracted quite a few birders whilst we were there ! Such a small bird and unable to see without binoculars or a scope, even with that still take sa while to see it, take your eye off him you need to start again to find him!

Weather: Cloudy, Warm but Bad light for photographing

Other Species: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Little Stint, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Redshank, Black-Tailed Godwit, Snipe, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Black-Headed, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Mute Swan, Little Grebe

 

Goldcrest at Newton Park Lake

Date spotted:05/09/2013

Location: zone 1&2

Observation: went for usual walk to newton lake very quite up towards seven acre crossed into newton st loe village few barns swallows not much else,on butterfly alley  saw i think a Restart waited but didn't return :(
first lake no owl,second lake nice cormorant and lots of goldcrest 5 plus coal great blue tit all feeding together on the alder trees.plenty of crows and jackdaws on return along drive .

Weather: Blue skies 22c hot 

Other Species: 
Crow,jackdaw,Ravenheard calling,goldcrest ,coal tit,great,blue tit,cormorant mallard,heron,coot,jay,buzzard x4,kestrel,5 barn swallow,house sparrow,collared,wood pigeon,poss Redstart,grey wagtails also we got pigs now at home farm x4.

 

Osprey + Spotted Redshank @ Shapwick Heath !

Date spotted: 3rd September - All Day

Location: Westhay - Ham Wall - Shapwick Heath

Observation: Visited Westhay first, not much in the way of birds. We did see a Common Lizard run VERY FAST in front of us whilst walking along (so beware!) Alot of Common Darters and other Dragonflies around the reserve. We moved on to Ham Wall/Shapwick Heath, Shapwick Heath had a few birds including a Spotted Redshank and lots more waders! We seen the Osprey from Noah's Lake we saw him caught a fish (he had been doing it every 40mins-1hour). Was nice to see him fishing even if it was in the distance! Ham Wall wasn't very busy in the way of birds or people! Seen a family of Little Grebe's fishing in front of hide which was also nice to see! When watching these we heard what sounded like a pony galloping past on the board-walk behind us so we jumped up to see what it was! 3 Minks running around and disappearing 2 in water and one in hedge, not to be seen again but could hear them in the water, first time seeing them, cute little things! Successful but quiet day!Weather: Blue Sky, Sunny, Warm

Other Species: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Redshank, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Great White Egret, Coot, Moorhen, Hobby, Buzzard, Osprey, Little Grebe + More!

Waders Galore @ Slimbridge!

Date spotted: 2nd September - Al Day

Location: WWT - Slimbridge

Observation: Wasn't proving very successful with most hides having a few distant birds but nothing close enough for a picture until we visited Rushy, we were rewarded! 3 New birds and some spectacular pictures! Within the 20 minutes of being there we seen 4 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtails, Common Sandpipers  Little Ringed Plover and Lapwing all came within 20 feet of the hide! Amazing to see so close!

Weather: Blue Sky, Warm + Sunny

Other Species: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Long-Tailed Tit, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper  Ruff, Lapwing, Snipe, Little Ringed Plover, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Goldfinch, Redshank, Black-Tailed Godwit, Common Tern, Black-Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Cormorant + More !