Spring Birding 15th-18th May 2023

SOMERSET BIRDWATCHING HOLIDAYS TRIP REPORT:

May 15th-18th 2023

Tour Leaders: Stephen Moss & Graeme Mitchell

Monday 15th May

A long legged, long necked egret stalked the deep grass on Tealham Moor, below the lofty Isle of Wedmore. At first, we thought this was a Little Egret with its sharp black bill, but it was not until a Little Egret and two or three Cattle Egrets dropped in, that we were able to see a size comparison to confirm that this was a Great White – so we already had a complete set of UK Egrets at our very first stop of the trip.

Skylarks were singing and disappearing into the clouds while a female Kestrel hovered in the blustery conditions stock-still, looking for voles. We stopped at the other end of the moor (now called Tadham Moor) close by to our local heronry set back from the road in an oak wood. With the leaf-canopy now fully out it was impossible to see any herons although we did hear the classic call of “FRANK!” coming from the depths of the wood. Around the oakwood a local farmer’s ‘rewilding’ efforts - or perhaps he was simply a bit lazy – had attracted a good selection of warblers in his untended ground, including Blackcap, Whitethroat and singing Willow Warblers.

At Somerset Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Westhay Moor, Reed Warblers, and Cetti’s followed us along to the new thatched Island Hides, based on Iron Aged dwellings that had been found preserved in the peat near Glastonbury. Overhead Swifts screeched amongst a group of House Martins and 8-10 Hobbies hunted for mayflies and the first of the summer’s dragonflies. These long-winged falcons put on a wonderful show as they dashed back and forwards over our heads. Bittern were booming but remained hidden from view, and a pair of Ravens were chased by persistent crows

In the evening we were joined by Stephen for an evening of good chat and good food prepared by Kay.

Tuesday 16th May 2023

On another sunny but breezy morning we headed back to Tealham Moor, where Skylarks were singing in stereo! No sign of the ‘Channel’ Wagtail, sadly, but we did glimpse two Yellow Wagtails flying away into the distance, plus a male Reed Bunting, pair of Linnets and a distant male Marsh Harrier. Moving along eastwards we scanned a flooded field with seven Little Egrets and a Great White with the Mute Swans, and a male Stonechat halfway up Jack’s Drove.

We then drove over to the RSPB’s showpiece Ham Wall reserve (a hovering Kestrel en route), where the warbler song started, as always, in the car park. Chiffchaff and Blackcap were swiftly followed as we walked along the old railway path by Willow and Garden Warblers, a Long-tailed Tit and calling Green Woodpecker, then Whitethroat, Reed and Cetti’s Warblers – seven species within half a mile of the car! There were also Great White Egrets and a real surprise – a stunning Black Tern in breeding plumage, feeding here for a day before heading north-east to breed. There were also more Garden Warblers, one or two of which showed well.

From the first viewing platform the Black-headed Gull colony (a new addition this year!) was suitably noisy, along with breeding redshanks and Lapwings, Great Crested Grebes, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Pochard, and a drake Garganey. There were also forty Black-tailed Godwits – again stopping off, but these on their way to Iceland – some in breeding plumage, and a real surprise: four adult Common Cranes floating overhead.

  While waiting – sadly in vain – for the Great Reed Warbler that has been here for a couple of weeks, we did enjoy the sound of booming Bittern and calling Cuckoo, close views of a Marsh Harrier, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Little Grebe, and lots of (common) Reed Warblers singing. We walked down to the Avalon Hide, where we enjoyed wonderful scope views of out eighth warbler species of the morning – a very obliging Sedge Warbler, singing and also parachuting inti the air to entertain us (and an invisible female close by!) From the hide itself we watched a pair of Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard, and had very brief but good views of a Bittern.

We also saw Hairy Dragonfly and Four-spotted Chaser dragonflies, and several of the commoner butterflies including Holly Blue, Orange-tip and Speckled Wood, during our walk. On our way back we again looked at the very obliging Willow Warbler singing at the top of a tree (we heard about a dozen today), and brief views of the Black Tern again.

We then drove to the Duck at Burtle for lunch – seeing an Egyptian Goose on the way! After lunch we stopped off at the RSPB’s Greylake reserve south of the Polden Hills, where we had a Marsh Harrier circling above the car park along with two Hobbies. Greylake was fairly quiet, but we did get the usual Sedge, Reed and Cetti’s Warblers, heard a Bittern, and enjoyed great views of a third (low flying) Hobby hunting beside the hide, some Swifts, a pair of Teal and Greylag Gese with at least six (maybe more) goslings.

 We stopped off at Stathe and the railway bridge, eventually seeing a very distant Crane, and a single Roe Deer, as we headed up to our third RSPB reserve of the day, Swell Wood. From the viewpoint over West Sedgemoor we found a pair of Cranes with two tiny chicks (looking rather like ginger bantams!) For our final part of the afternoon we went to the lovely open hide here, with singing Goldcrest, a Stock Dove and Jackdaw, and breeding herons and Little Egrets, before heading north back to Walls Farm.

Wednesday 17th May 2023

Our birdwatching group increased by two new recruits – a Dorset Farmer and a young Student – bringing an interesting new dynamic and outlook to our party. Our first stop was at a wonderful hidden churchyard where we suspect that over the centuries the vicars of this parish must have tried to outdo their predecessors, by planting ever more beautiful specimen trees, to be enjoyed by future generations. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs sang from dappled corners, and while the trees were looking their best in fresh new foliage, beneath the bows the spring flowers were now virtually over.

In the neighbouring Vicarage stands a white splattered Holm Oak – splattered white by the volume of Herons and Egrets who make this tree their home. The Heron’s chicks now are now almost fully grown and have the look of boisterous teenagers, with the chicks of both Little and Cattle Egrets are still small balls of fluffy down.

Round at Steart Marshes our guests were delighted to see a good gathering of cranes – as Graeme said pointing to Hinkley C Power Station “We always guarantee cranes on our birdwatching tours!” Europe’s largest construction site is also home to Europe’s largest crane – ‘Big Karl’ named after Karl the man who operates it….

A Sedge Warbler was singing adjacent to the car park, with Reed, Whitethroat and Cetti’s also in the nearby reeds. A bold Reed Bunting sat out chirping is distinctive song.

From the Quantock Hide the lagoon was a hive of activity with most of the Avocet chicks now hatched and off exploring the water’s edge on wobbly blue legs. Even the Little Ringed Plovers had their youngsters tucked under well camouflaged bodies like little balls of buff-coloured cotton wool – a perfect colour match to the shingle island they nested on. Pied Wagtails also fed their fledglings along with Oystercatchers and geese all getting in on the act of parading their youngsters to the world at large.

The view from the top hide over the ‘Gobi Desert’ was impressive – if, as ever, birdless! – stretching from Brent Knoll to the Wells TV mast.

We missed out on the Spoonbill at Steart Marshes, however we all enjoyed seeing the woodcarving of one on an ancient pew-end in Stogursey Church, known as the Cathedral of the Quantocks – these amazing carvings date back to 1525.

After a fine lunch at the Plough in Holford, Stephen joined us for a lovely walk up a more natural ‘cathedral’, Hodder’s Combe. We always enjoy seeing and hearing the commoner birds here – and had excellent views of Coal Tits, and a Mistle Thrush on the riverbank; but we also have a list of seven ‘target species’ which are hard to see elsewhere. The first – and usually easiest – of these, Grey Wagtail, proved surprisingly elusive, though after brief glimpses initially we did eventually get excellent views of a singing male wagging his tail on rocks in the middle of the stream.

We also had brief views of a Treecreeper and heard a distant Cuckoo, before seeing one of the loveliest birds here, a male Redstart singing and posing beautifully for us (we had brief views of a second male later on). That bird opened the floodgates, and we then had good views of several male and female Pied Flycatchers around their nestboxes, the female popping in and out. As we wandered back, a Coal Tit was on the path, plucking a hank of sheep’s wool to get material for its nest, followed by a second (male?) Coal Tit trying to barge in. Finally, Graeme spotted a Spotted Flycatcher catching flies – a lovely end to the day.

Thursday 18th May 2023

An early visit to Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Catcott Reserve was enjoyed from the comfort of a hide adjacent to the carpark. A Sedge Warbler sang his scratchy and excitable song, while we watched the comings and goings over the pond. Ducks of many varieties were present including Shoveler, Garganey, Gadwall, Tufted and Mallard, now down to 8 ducklings from last week’s 10. A passage of Sand Martins made the most of the insects that were hatching around the pond.

Two Great White Egrets had an impressive ‘Stand-off’ like something out of the Gunfight at the OK Corral – stretching their necks out in a most threatening manner – one bird with a full black bill (an adult breeding bird), the other with an orange bill (possibly a young unattached bird). The posturing got more and more intense but ended with a fairly pathetic ‘handbags’ fight, flapping their wings at each other. The orange billed bird finally flew off with the black-billed bird squawking in triumph ‘That showed her who’s boss!’

A female Marsh Harrier appeared and everything that was on the water or in the reeds took off including a previously unseen Snipe which shot past the windows of the hide.

Our last visit was to Graeme and Stephen’s ‘Patch’ by the Huntspill River and the Sluice by the River Parrett estuary.

Dead on cue, just when Graeme turned his back and said it was time to move on, a Kingfisher appeared from across the water disappearing into the bank below a hawthorn bush – fortunately quickly reappearing for all to see.

By the Sluice gates it was a bit too noisy for birdwatching due to the Environment Agency cutting the grass and wildflower verges with a rather fancy automatic grass cutter, so we headed of along the sea wall. The tide was at ‘neaps’ being neither in nor out and there was a feeling that spring was coming to its natural end (a bit like our Spring Birdwatching tours) as the only passage migrant birds we saw was a group of three distant Whimbrels.

It was indeed a beautiful summer morning with many birds singing from blossom clad shrubs. Linnets, Bullfinch, Greenfinch and Chaffinch – with a Skylark high and in full song bidding us goodbye to another group of birdwatchers and another year’s spring tours.

The Lark Ascending