7-April-2019
No sign of any Little Gulls on the Res at 10:30 this morning. Still hordes of Sand Martins.
not really at the res a good walk from it !! .. but we have a fledgling blackbird on our lawn this evening [22:00] very good plumage ,scurried away under some bushes to relative safety
17 Little gull currently along east bank.
Osprey north over the res at 16:40 this afternoon, my 125th species at the res in precisely a year since I moved to Somerset.
Not too sure about House martin, but there were approximately 1500+ Sand martin, 50 Swallow and 20 House martin feeding over the res this morning, with more birds visibly moving NE through the Axe valley. A female Marsh harrier flew SW over the west bank, whilst the first Common sandpiper of the year was also present briefly. Surprisingly, 7 Greylag geese were the first I’ve noted this year in 74 visits!
early doors this morning a massive influx of House Martins, at the CaravanPark in Sharpham Road approx 200 250 birds, and as i ventured around the res more and more arriving in batches of 20 - 30 , beautiful sight
FYI Dan, there was 3 GWEs present on the Res 3-Nov-2016, at a time when it was mostly drained.
Welcome Frankie, glad you managed to catch up with it. Following on from a brief fly-over a week or so ago, one of the local GWe circled the res for a while this pm before being mobbed by gulls, quite a sight as it nearly ditched into the water. Landed a couple of times on the west bank, but flushed by walkers/dogs (for a change!) and circled the res again. Worth keeping an eye open for as it is in full breeding plumage.
Male Blackcap this morning in scrub at reservoir end of Holwell Lane plus about 15 Sand Martin’s at Cheddar end of the reservoir and wheatear still on west side. (thanks Daniel, lovely to see and I’ve finally made it to 150 for the year). Pair of stock doves yesterday from the Strawberry Line.
A wheatear was present on the western side of the res early this morning, whilst a visit this evening saw 100+ Sand martin and a single swallow along the east bank. GNd and both 1w and 2w med gulls still present.
Little change today, with the departure of the scaup most notable. A very flushed Black headed gull was in the roost with the 1w and a new 2w Med gull. There was a an obvious increase in sand martin, with roughly 20 birds present from half 5, building to approx. 50 birds by dusk.
2 drake scaup dropped in to join the original bird at about 7:45 this morning, looking pretty smart. Gnd still present, 8 Goosander 4 Shoveller.
Ad kittiwake currently off south bank, crap photo on my twitter. Also 6 sand martin, 2 each of shoveller and wigeon and usual long stayers.
Productive visit early am, 10+ Sand martin, Shelduck, light passage of Meadow pipit (50+ all west) as well as the long staying 1w & 2w Med gulls, GNd and Scaup. More settled conditions forecast from the middle of next week, looking promising for the first decent push of migrants.
a pair of goosander early doors [7;30am Saturday]] opposite bank of the yacht club
And early Sunday in the same area, 3 sand martin