Sightings

Main sighting: Grey Plovers

Cold, overcast morning with low light and windy. Car park – hide 2: wren, pheasant, bullfinch, blue tits, herring gulls, magpies, blackbirds, mallards, crows and robin. Hide 2: Canada geese, 4 little egrets, 2 herons, greylag pair a male kestrel hunting. Small flocks of chaffinches overhead on way to sea wall and woodpigeon flocks now in the thousands and growing. Seawall: high tide so not much bird life, 31 curlew, starling flock and a passing great black-backed gull. Hide remains: 69 dunlin, black headed gull walking around in circles, 30 grey plover, 6 teal, 10 lapwing, pied wagtail, meadow pipits, 1 snipe overhead calling, buzzard and moorhen. Marsh Platform: cettis calling and 13 shelduck. By hide 2 a female goldcrest feeding in the bushes and 9 skylarks overhead. Hide 1: lesser black-backed gulls, raven and stonechat. Jackdaws and a chiffchaff back at the car park.

Main sighting: Dipper

single bird

Main sighting: Hen Harrier

Late afternoon visit. Around 130 Fieldfares flew in to thorn scrub between the railway track and cycle path. On the moor: brief view of male Hen Harrier, Kestrel over, Stonechat.

Main sighting: Snow bunting

Snow bunting landward side of seawall opposite Mead farm, Redwick, dusk, feeding. Also Barn owl and Green sandpiper.

Main sighting: Malpas

Water rail

Main sighting: White Tailed Eagle; Gannet feeding frenzy; Wryneck

En route to Pool Harbour: Pheasant; Red Kite; Grey Partridge; Woodpigeon; Feral Pigeon;
Poole Harbour: White Tailed Eagle (excellent views); Brent Geese; Canada Geese; Mute Swan; Shelduck; Gadwall; Wigeon; Mallard; Teal; Red-breasted Merganser; Water Rail; Little Grebe; Great Crested Grebe; Oystercatcher; Avocet; Grey Plover; Lapwing; Curlew; Bar Tailed Godwit: Black Tailed Godwit; Snipe; Redshank; Greenshank; Dunlin; Sandwich Tern; Black Headed Gull; Common Gull; Herring Gull; Great Black-backed Gull; Lesser Black-backed Gull; Cormorant; Shag; Glossy Ibis; Spoonbill; Little Egret; Grey Heron; Sparrowhawk; Marsh Harrier; Buzzard; Kingfisher; Kestrel; Peregrine; Carrion Crow; Raven; Starling; Pied Wagtail; Rock Pipit; Meadow Pipit.
Additions at Portland Bird Observatory area: Barn Owl; Little Owl; Whimbrel; Kittiwake; Razorbill; Sooty Shearwater; Manx Shearwater; Gannet (over 2000 individuals in a feeding frenzy off the point); Guillemot; Common Scoter; Merlin; Jackdaw; Magpie; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Skylark; Swallow; House Martin; Chiffchaff; Blackcap; Firecrest; Goldcrest; Wren; Redwing; Blackbird; Fieldfare; Wheatear; House Sparrow; Dunnock; Linnet; Goldfinch; WRYNECK.
Additions at Ferrybridge: Ringed Plover; Turnstone; Sanderling; Mediterranean Gull.
Additions at Lodmore: Coot; Great White Egret; Moorhen; Shoveler; Jay; Rook; Cetti’s Warbler; Long Tailed Tit; Robin; Reed Bunting; Stonechat; Golden Plover (Great views of over 130 glistening individuals).
Additions at Chew Valley Lakes: Tufted Duck; Pintail.
(103 species in total.) Many thanks to GOS and all contributors to this great event.

Main sighting: Wheatears

Car park – hides: crows, herring gulls, mallards, pheasant, jackdaws, chaffinches and lesser black-backed gulls. Hide 1: distant flock of 150+ golden plover passing and following the coastline. En-route to hide 2: blackbirds and chiffchaff (contact call and only 1 today). Hide 2: starlings, Canada geese, 12 lapwing, raven, 1 shelduck, black headed gulls, 1 heron and goldfinch flock. En-route to seawall: buzzard, 3 stock doves, cettis, woodpigeons, male kestrel, magpies, blue tits, meadow pipits, long tailed tit flock and a robin. Seawall: 18 swallows passing, single redwing over, 7 wigeon, 1 black tailed godwit, 4 oystercatchers, 8 curlew, 76 teal (numbers almost doubled now), 17 grey plover passing low down with 8 dunlin mixed in and 2 shoveler. Rope by hide 3 remains (Phoenix hide be an appropriate name when new hide eventually erected) – 2 pairs stonechats, 5 more stock doves, wheatear on the fence post but no waders on the lagoon. Marsh platform: 6 skylarks calling and a single pintail overhead. Back at hide 2: little egret, pied wagtails, 2 wheatears on distant fence posts. Song thrush and moorhen back near the car park.

Main sighting: Redwing

1 over early evening calling.

Main sighting: Yellow-browed warbler

Another couple of brief visits to the garden today and yesterday – I believe the increasingly frequent sightings of this species in the UK might be signs of a new migratory passage from Siberia to North Africa.

Main sighting: Disturbance at Goldcliff Lagoons today

There will be some disturbance today when we check water levels and salinities, between 12pm and 2pm. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Main sighting: Lesser Redpol

Two redpols flew over mid morning (ID’d by flight calls)

Main sighting: Redwing

Flock of around 25 Redwing over Blaencuffin Barn Farm.