1 Garganey on HW 2VP lagoon this am. Also a few Green Sand and Blackwit, 1 Common Sand and 2 Snipe. 2 Egy Geese! Adults - with no young in tow unfortunately.
3 Wigeon on Meare Heath; and Wood Sand reported from 2VP viewing screens by someone I met on site.
Just on the Garganey, I usually see them close to the main peat spit looking from the grass footpath (of course); and occasionally from the viewing screens. They often magically appear as if from nowhere, and disappear just as mysteriously. There is a striking Mallard out there with a massive white super. If you’re just looking with bins, don’t be fooled by that aberration.
1 Garganey this evening on 2VP lagoon - eventually. A crisply marked bird, and almost monochrome compared to the last 2, which were much warmer and smudgier. Otherwise, 1 Common and 4 Green Sand, 1 Blackwit, 3 Snipe.
2 Garganey on the 2VP lagoon this evening, also a Common Sand, 4 Green Sand, 1 Blackwit, 35 Lapwing, 1 Snipe and 2 juv Water Rail.
Wood Sand and Garganey on 2VP lagoon this evening.
Took a while but also teased out 1 Hobby, 7 Blackwit, 6 Green Sand and 2 Snipe. Modest Teal and Lapwing numbers.
This am:
2VP, 1 Garganey, 2 Blackwit, 4 Green Sand, 2 Snipe
Shapwick, 1 Eg Goose, 1 Hobby
This evening:
2VP, 30 Blackwit, 1 Green Sand, 50 Lapwing.
3 Hobby on Shapwick still.
Thanks for the tip off, Mike. Could easily be the same bird although I’d like to have seen the tail spread in the photos and my recollection is that the body barring was even more extensive. I’d still bet on it being the same.
Someone just posted some nice pics of a honey buzzard on the Somerset levels, 4 days ago, on FB (UK bird identification page), it was also missing some tail feathers & heavily barred below.
Ham Wall today:
At 3pm an imm Night Heron was showing nicely on the 2VP lagoon (would not have been visible from the platform). Preened for a while next to the main mud spit then flew east to a large dead tree. Two other birders saw it with bins while it was in the tree. Flew further east (and perhaps north) a few mins after that… Tricky to age but I think 1st summer (2CY). Had a red eye, quite distinct dark crown, quite plain ash-brown upperparts with no spots, and dusky streaked underparts. Plenty of yellow on the bill and largely yellow legs.
At 4.30 a Honey Buzzard appeared pretty close over the platform and put on a bit of a show circling for a couple of mins before drifting off south. Was on view long enough for Matt Doyle to run 50m, retrieve his camera and run back – but not long enough for a shot! I think adult female – the tail had just about every other feather missing, it was large and not compact, and the body was whitish below with very heavy dark barring.
Otherwise, 1 ad Dunlin, 5+ Green Sand, 2 Blackwit, 50 Lapwing (no LRPs or Garganey).
1 Hobby Ham Wall, 3 Shapwick.
A tweeted photo from yesterday shows a probable imm Night Heron on the 2VP lagoon, viewed from the screens, with the bird stalking through the shallows. Nice.
This evening, 2VP: 1 Garganey, 2 LRP (someone else had seen 3), 5 Green Sand, 45 Blackwit, 70 Lapwing, 20 Teal.
Birdguides has a report today of an adult Purple Heron on Shapwick at 10.30. Thought I’d mention it seeing as it’s not been posted on SOS yet.
This am:
Ham Wall VP2, 1 Garganey, 2 LRP, 5 Green Sand, 45 Blackwit, 33 Lapwing, very few Teal.
Noah’s, 2 Eg Geese, 3 Raven.
Ham Wall VP2 midday : 6 Green SandPipers and a couple of small flocks of Blacktailed Godwit moved around by Marsh Harrier activity, eventually managed a count of 31 together on the deck.. Yesterday while on Shapwick Heath a flock of 46 Blk Wits. flew over heading to Ham Wall Apart from Lapwings no other waders seen.
Just 2 Siskin west over 1VP this evening of note on Ham Wall.
Only waders on 2VP lagoon were a few Lapwing. Dean did report the Wood Sand on Sunday 5th on twitter. No Garganey this evening either.
6-July-2020
Again, no sign of a Wood Sandpiper late morning (10:30/12:45) either from the viewing screens or from the canal bank footpath opposite VP2. Only waders seen were 3 Green Sandpipers and a Redshank (from the screens) also a juv Water Rail; and just a few Lapwing opposite VP2.
Penny and Ann had been looking for the Wood Sandpiper for at least an hour prior to this, with out any sign.