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Discover Skylark meadow

I will be leading groups to photograph wildflowers, insects & whatever else may turn up at the event below on saturday 26th may. If you want to learn how to take better pics, then this may be for you. It will be a completely informal meeting & will be aimed at beginners & novices. The more advanced are of course also welcome & can contribute to the images that will be displayed in the village hall. The event is taking place in the village of Bawdrip from 1pm until around 4. Walks will be started from the village hall, so please drop in & say hello & maybe take part. Just bring your camera (any camera is fine) & your wellies & raincoat. Best of all its free!!!!!!!
Directions to Skylark meadows can be found here
And for more information, click here

Blagdon Squacco

This showy Squacco heron has been at Blagdon lake for just over a week now & favourite areas are the Top end & Burmah road.When i visited on sunday, it spent most of its time in the flooded long grass in the Burmah road area giving views down to 30m, feeding quite happily on invertibrates & small fish in the shallows & ignoring the admiring birders & photographers.

A rear view showing the beautiful plumes on the back of the head.

Please note that entrance to Blagdon lake is by pemit only & visitors to should first aquire a permit from Bristol water to enter the reservoir enclosure. These are availaible from the tea rooms or Woodford lodge at nearby Chew valley lake.

Migrants & hangers on

Despite the appalling april/may weather, many summer migrants have once again graced our shores. Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs,& Willow warblers sing all over the Avalon marshes & the Bitterns have been booming since February.

A recent drive down onto Tealham moor revealed a water scape not a landscape! A look for Yellow wagtails drew a blank but Wheatears were everywhere. At least a dozen were seen at the cattle pen along with a pair of Whinchat & hundreds of Hirundines & swift swooped low across the waterlogged grass. In another field at least 500 gulls bathed. Sedge warbler & Reed bunting also frequented the area as Skylarks filled the air with there beautiful song.

Singing male Blackcap

Northern Wheatear

Wheatear & Whinchat

Diving Wheatear

Whinchat

Close by on Chilton moor, a Short-eared owl was for once posing nicely on a gate post & allowed a close approach in the car to around 30m (Many thanks Tim for the heads up!). I blocked the road for a good 30mins while snapping away & luckily, no one came along. Up to 4 have been seen over the winter in this area & you must presume that this one wont be around much longer.

Whilst watching the owl, a fox trotted through the gate, next to the owl who just glanced in its direction. It had a mouth full of something which i thought at the time was a Moorhen. It was only when i processed this image that i realised it had a mouth full of moles! At least 4 can be seen. I was always under the impression that they were unpalatable. Obviously not to foxes.....

Fox with a mouth full of moles!

More from Catcott

Another short visit to Catcott lows this morning saw the Spoonbills asleep again apart from a quick flight when everything went up, presumably reacting to an unseen (by me) raptor.

 A nice view of a Hunting ringtail Hen Harrier.

All for now....

Late winter oddsie's

Not done alot of photography since my last entry, but have a few shots from the last couple of months including the Spoonbills at Catcott lows.

Also at Catcott was a pair of Peregrines, occasionally putting the frightners on everything present. This shot was taken in low light & a slow shutter speed.

Foxy looks in great condition here. What you cant see from this shot is the huge bump on its nose & its limp as it trotted off.

The 4 adult Spoonbills currently resident at Catcott lows. One has its legs festooned with bling. Its history can be read here.

A pair of Pintail ducks dozing on Catcott lows.

Cuba isn't far from Somerset!

Happy New Year!

Recent days have seen me travelling out of the county to C.U.B.A!  Unfortunately that’s the County, used to be Avon, not the Caribbean island........

Chew Valley Lake provided the first lifer of the year, in the form of a very confiding Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). This North American vagrant Gull is similar to our own Common Gull (Larus canus), but differs in having a pale eye, heavier bill with a thicker dark band & yellower legs. The pale eye & heavier bill give it a more brutish look than Common gull. It readily came to hand outs of bread & i had to back off with the 600mm.

The long staying Spotted sandpiper (another American vagrant) was in its usual haunt along the concrete bank of Herriot’s pool & gave great views & allowed some images to be taken, albeit in terrible light. The photo shows a few spots developing on the lower breast & flanks.

A short visit to Blagdon Lake failed to turn up the Long-tailed duck.

Back in the home county & Catcott lows reserve held seven adult Bewick’s swans & a confused juvenile that would rather hang out with the resident Mutes.  A large female peregrine falcon seen to it that the thousands of Lapwing, did not settle.  Amongst them were a group of 50 (ish) Golden plover & a dozen Black-tailed godwits.  As darkness fell, commuting Starlings took avoiding action when a Sparrowhawk scythed through their ranks.

In the east of the county, at Torr reservoir, the resident Canada goose flock held a few interlopers. A Richardson’s cackling goose (tiny version of a Canada goose, barely bigger than a Mallard), three Barnacle geese & a single Bar-headed goose.  Now all three of these species are kept in wildfowl collections & are probably of dubious origin (i.e. escapees, not wild birds), but you never know................... I will leave that decision with you!
The Brue estuary at Burnham on sea held yet another yank vagrant in the form of a Lesser yellowlegs, a wader. I found it in its usual place (its been about for a while) on a floating barrel, on a small pool to the side of the channel. A stealthy slow crawling approach let me get to within 20m. After getting the shots i just lay back & was contemplating the crawl back when off it went into the channel. At least it meant i didnt have to crawl back through the stinking strand line.


Richardsons cackling goose- tiny with a darker breast




Bar-headed goose in same Canada flock







Ring-billed gull

 


Common gull for comparison. Far more gentile expression.



Ring-billed gull



Spotted sandpiper (spots just starting to show)





Juvenile Bewick's swan



Lesser yellowlegs