Cheddar Reservoir
A somewhat mixed year on the patch. Undoubtedly finding Somerset’s first spring adult White winged tern was the highlight of the year, however increased disturbance, particularly the flagrant disregard for “dogs on leads” policy resulted in an otherwise poor year. A notable passage of Black tern took place during the spring (with 80+ individuals recorded on a single day). The year began with the long staying Scaup and Great northern diver, with other highlights being Little gulls, Kittiwakes, Grey phalarope, Great white egret, Rock pipits, Wood sandpiper, Osprey, Gannet and Marsh harriers. I recorded a total of 128 species during 2019, though some fairly obvious species either didn’t appear or were overlooked; Common scoter, Knot, Oystercatcher (I was unable to grip back on Stephen Moss’s one day bird!) Green sandpiper etc.
approx 8:30 _ 9:30 am , more in the Middle Moor lane and Stubbington Drove area than on the res’ Three Song Thrush, in excess of 150 Fieldfare and a gathering of possibly 300 or more very noisy Starlings close to the Clay pits and a Buzzard initially ground hunting and then latterly being chased off by a crow
One male Goldeneye hanging out with the Pochards and Coots yesterday am.
just caught the departure of two goosander this AM 8:30 ish, circular of the puddle for around two minutes before heading toward the Gorge,Presumably Chew bound , several Wren in the Lane a Bullfinch [audible only] and a Green woody close to the extended cemetery
The four Red-crested Pochard - one drake and three females - still present this afternoon, close to the Axbridge entrance.
Photos on facebook group from 25th Nov of 1 male & 3 female RC Pochard (one leucistic). Now there are 2 males & 1 female at Chew, so are original ones still at Cheddar?
12:30 PM 4 RC Pochard between the boat house and Cheddar tower, 1 male 3 female.
5 Jays near the Claypits car parking area this morning around 8:00 , making enough noise to wake the dead
male and female RC Pochard this am , close proximity to the boathouse
around 8 Tufties this late afternoon,and about 3 dozen Pochard M&F , As i was leaving around 6:00 pm approx 70 Canada geese dropped in taking roosting numbers to near 100
around 8 Tufties this late afternoon,and about 3 dozen Pochard M&F , As i was leaving around 6:00 pm around 70 Canada geese dropped in taking roosting numbers to near 100
2 male Gadwall this late afternoon/early eve along with 3-4 females
Normal service resumes, with the Grey Phalarope having departed either overnight, or at some point today. Black tern still around (11 days into its stay), and 11 Wigeon, 9 Pochard and a 2cy Med gull all present this evening. Despite Coot numbers building, there has been a surprisingly low diversity of other wildfowl of late, with low numbers of Teal, Wigeon, TD, Gadwall and Shoveller occurring since the start of the month.
It’s been a pretty poor autumn on the patch all told, though perhaps reflective of the unusual weather patterns, high water levels and increased disturbance.
My video of this super little water sprite can be seen on youtube by clicking on the link below - enjoy.
Wonderful view in the late afternoon sunshine (at last after days of rain!) of the
Grey Phalarope https://flic.kr/p/2hutM1Z and
Black Tern https://flic.kr/p/2huttE1
The Phalarope was mobbed by a very aggressive Pied Wagtail so it was lovely to watch a few brief flights.
On the other hand the Tern was covering a large area of the Reservoir so it was a question of waiting for it to fly by, plenty of Coots and Canada Geese to count when the Tern disappeared to the far side