Starling Spectacular Trip Report
SOMERSET BIRDWATCHING HOLIDAYS TRIP REPORT:
1st -3rd December 2021
Tour Leaders: Stephen Moss & Graeme Mitchell
Wednesday 1st December 2021
On a blustery but intermittently bright afternoon we headed down to the Somerset Wildlife Trust Reserve at Catcott Lows – so named because it used to be drained so much it was lower than sea-level! The hide was packed with the requisite six people allowed under Covid rules (all long-lens photographers!) so we stood to one side to look through the viewing fence.
What a change from our last visit back in September, when there was only a handful of ducks. Today there were hundreds scattered across the pools and marsh, giving great views. Most have come from Siberia, Scandinavia, and Iceland, arriving here in late autumn to take advantage of our supposedly mild winters! These were mostly Wigeon, the splendid males showing off their chestnut head, ochre-yellow flash on their crown, and grey, black and white plumage; they were accompanied by equally smart Shovelers, Gadwall, Mallard (the latter two residents here) and best of all, a handful of splendid drake Pintails (all initially asleep), one of which then woke up and swam across the pool in front of the hide, showing off his stunning plumage.
Time was catching up with us, so after getting great views we headed across the moors to the RSPB Ham Wall reserve; stopping off briefly on the Burtle-Westhay road close to Honeygar Farm to enjoy views of Lapwings and Redwings to our left, and 5 Little Egrets, and about 20 Cattle Egrets (feeding with cattle!) on the right. Ham Wall car park was home to flocks of Goldfinches, but we swiftly walked along the old railway path into the reserve, seeing more ducks and distant Cormorants. From the first viewing platform we enjoyed lots of Black-headed Gulls flying to Cheddar Reservoir to roost, a Little Egret, lots of Lapwings and distant views of a Marsh Harrier; while behind us on Walton’s Marsh there were plenty of Gadwalls and Coots (the former sometimes steal food from the latter, so they are often together), a winter-plumage Great Crested Grebe and best of all a splendid Great White Egret showing off its yellow bill as it fished in the shallows.
The sun was setting, so we crossed the bridge and stood along the path looking into the large reedbed. At about 3.50pm the first Starlings began to arrive: not many at first, but them more, and still more. They mostly plunged straight into the reeds (perhaps because of the wind), and although a pair of Marsh Harriers flew nearby, they did not attempt to catch one. We also heard a singing Cetti’s Warbler and several Water Rails calling. As the reedbed filled up, first we began to hear the sound of the birds calling to one another; then as the numbers built up, quite a few left the place they had initially landed and swarmed closer towards us; meanwhile more and more were still coming in, making a pretty good spectacle. As we walked back, more and more flocks came over us (despite it now being quite late; the sun had set at 4.07; and they were still coming in after 4.30). In the car park Stephen had a very brief view of a Woodcock but sadly no-one else managed to catch sight of it! We then headed back to Walls Farm for a rest, followed by pre-dinner drinks and Kay’s as always splendid supper!
Thursday 2nd December 2021
A bright, chilly, but fortunately much less windy day unfolded as we drove south and west through Bridgwater to the new nature reserve run by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Steart Marshes.
Redwings and Fieldfares were on the hedges stripping them of their red berries as we walked along to the Quantock Hide. En route we stopped to admire a rather obliging male Stonechat with its orangey breast, white collar, and black cap. In front of the hide were a good number of Redshank, with rafts of Teal, Wigeon and Lapwings. Other birds included Cormorants, Grey Heron, a single Little Egret, two Golden Plover, and a splattering of Shelduck looking rather splendid in the bright winter sunshine. In the distance was a hovering Kestrel. We continued our walk to a higher hide with views across to Brent Knoll and the Mendip Hills, however other than a single passing Egret there was little birdlife, probably due to the fact that the tide was well out, and most wading birds would be out feeding on the mudflats.
After a welcome coffee at the van, we headed back inland along one of the several ridge routes that dissect the Levels giving us wonderful clear views across West Sedgemoor and the southern Levels right over to Yeovil.
We had a short but productive visit to RSPB’s Swell Wood, where the bird feeders in the car park produced a number of different tits (Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh) along with a brief glimpse of a Nuthatch. The wood was still and silent aside from a family of Long-tailed Tits who followed us along the track to the viewpoint. Our plan was to scan across the vast flat lands below us for Europe’s tallest bird, the Crane, however if they were there, we couldn’t see them. We did however enjoy the view, and flocks of Lapwings and many hundreds of Golden Plover.
Driving across the edge of West Sedgemoor past the Burton Pynsent Monument, and the RSPB’s headquarters at Dewlands Farm, we scoured the fields looking for Cranes, to no avail. Graeme suggested one last stop at Stathe Bridge where we scanned across the fields and through willows that make up Aller Moor. Eventually Graeme spotted a group of four Cranes, much to the delight of the party, gradually we picked out more birds and, in the end, we reckoned there were up to 10 Cranes in this group quietly feeding amongst some distant willows - there may have been more.
Buoyed by this, we made for King Alfred the Great’s favourite pub, (where he used to frequent when he was not the burning cakes!) and all enjoyed a hearty lunch and a warming log fire.
Our next stop was at RSPB Greylake where we were expecting a great number of ducks but were initially to be somewhat underwhelmed by just a handful of Teal hiding amongst the reeds. But the sign of a good nature reserve is just when you think all is lost it comes up trumps. We were about to leave when Graeme spotted a group of Bearded Reedlings picking at the seed-heads of the reeds quite close to the hide. We all had excellent views of two male birds, two female and two juveniles again in bright low winter sunshine. This family group slowly worked their way along the reed-tops, joined for a time by a bold Wren and a pair of Stonechats, before they flew off with their characteristic ‘pinging’ call. The walk out of the reserve brought a nice female Kestrel perched on a post and loud bursts of song from a Cetti’s Warber.
Our day had been crystal-clear all day, and as we crossed the Polden Ridge to drop back down to Ham Wall, the view from Glastonbury Tor across to Cheddar and the Mendips was breath-taking. We could not have asked for better conditions to watch the Starlings come in to roost, as there was not a breath of wind, and a blood-red sunset simply got redder and redder as wave after wave of Starlings poured in from every angle, eventually landing not far from where we were standing. At one point a disgruntled single Snipe shot out of the reeds just as several clouds of Starlings joined together in one large liquid ‘amoeba’ of a murmuration, before disappearing down the ‘plug-ole’ chattering and eventually settling for the night. The best guess was that there could have been up to 250,000 starlings in the reeds – that’s 500,000 wings, divided by two!
Again, Kay excelled herself with a delicious supper.
Friday 3rd December 2021
A much milder morning greeted our smaller birdwatching party, due to pressing commitments of some, as we concluded our tour by visiting Stephen and Graeme’s local patch by the Huntspill River and River Parrett estuary. We stopped first at Sloway Bridge where Dunnock, Collard Doves, Magpie, Blackbirds, Robins and other ‘usual suspects’ were augmented by the obligatory Moorhen and Little Grebe on the water, and the azure flash of a Kingfisher, which zipped from side to side across the river before flying under the bridge to disappear in the distance. Two Ravens cronked as they flew overhead. Down at the sluice, looking back up-river, there was another obliging Kingfisher and the first Goosander of the winter. Looking over to the River Parrett and the Steart peninsula beyond the tide was miles out leaving large swaths of mudflats which were dotted by many distant waders. Nearer at hand was a very large flock of Wigeon nibbling on the riverside grassy bank. On closer inspection among the distant waders, we could recognise the shapes and calls of Curlews and Redshanks along with the distinctive and elegant pied colouring of groups of Avocets.
Further along the sea wall we were to get closer views of the Avocets along with many Dunlins, Grey Plover, a single Black-tailed Godwit and a brief view of a swooping Peregrine.
Smaller birds including Stonechat, Meadow Pipit and Skylark followed us as we walked along the riverbank now bathed in sunshine.
At Cheddar Reservoir, our last stop of the trip we were not to be disappointed, and our bird tally kept ticking over, with Grey Wagtail, a great many Pochard ducks (mostly sleeping) Tufted Ducks, and two handsome drake Red-crested Pochards and a single (much lighter in colour) female duck. Seemingly (we were reliably informed) amongst the hundreds of ducks and thousands of Coot there was a single Scaup – sadly we missed out on that one, however just as we thought it was all over, returning to the van two Chiffchaffs were seen picking insects off a sycamore branch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew overhead rounding off an excellent three days of birdwatching across Somerset.