Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill SSSI
Migration underway with several wheatear and two common redstart present this morning, the latter a patch tick for me.
Excellent morning patch birding on Wavering Down, with a mini fall of migrants: Spotted Flycatcher (patch tick), Peregrine Falcon (patch tick), Grey Heron (patch tick), Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Wheatear, Stonechat and the usual regulars also present.
Snow Bunting x 1 on Wavering Down, feeding on slopes just south of the trig point. Somerset tick for me and absolutely ecstatic to find one on my patch!
2 x Marsh Tit in the King’s Wood tit flock this morning. Patch tick for me and confirms my previous possible sighting. Also seen were fieldfare, redwing (100 over), goldcrest, kestrel and bullfinch.
Thanks Mike, I’ll mark it down as a Marsh Tit until proven otherwise. I’ve been back the last couple of evening’s but haven’t been able to reconnect.
Five Wheatear tonight along with Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Meadow Pipit. Passerine number seem to be on the rise.
Marsh tit is massively more likely of the pair.
Vintage evening birding on Wavering Down: Wheatear, Stonechat, Bullfinch, Garden Warbler (patch tick), Marsh/Willow Tit (would be patch tick, but sadly only brief view), Coal Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Raven and Green Woodpecker x4! Still hoping for a Wryneck…
Common Whitethroats have now returned to Wavering Down for the summer and on first impressions are more numerous than last year. Otherwise relatively quiet this AM.
Lovely to see a male wheatear on the south side of Wavering Down this PM. My first of the year!
Blustery day today, but despite that a pretty good couple of hours birding with plenty of species seen. The ash dieback work near the carpark, whilst initially appearing quite dramatic, has really opened up that section of wood and let some light below the canopy, so I’m hopeful that the bird population may benefit as a result. Maybe even ideal for some flycatchers?
Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven (3x displaying), Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Skylark, Wren, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Linnet & Goldfinch. Chiff Chaff and Goldcrest also heard.
I remain hopefully of finding a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, but not today!
It feels pretty cold and exposed up on the tops now, with just the odd Stonechat or Mipit to be found, along with the ever-present ravens and resident kestrel. Keeping my fingers crossed for a Dartford Warbler however!
Large flocks of Starlings can be seen in the evenings heading south, presumably to roost out near Ham Wall/Shapwick.
Down in the shelter of the woods, I’ve yet to catch-up with the tit flock properly, but nice to find at least two nuthatches feeding.
Very quiet this evening, noticeably fewer birds around but lovely to see a Wheatear passing through on autumn migration.
County-level rarities would be fine with me…there’s plenty of species I sadly haven’t encountered yet! I can believe you with the A38 rift, I’ve noticed the gulls from Cheddar Reservoir use it very frequently to head out towards WSM/Clevedon. I shall definitely make an effort to invest some time watching for migration in the Autumn.
[quote author=“Oli Gilman”]
Amazing - I bet you’re delighted! It’s great to see you finding so many rarities and gives me hope for spotting something different from the garden. I’m also very keen to try a bit of vis-mig from up on the plain come the Autumn.
I’ve yet to find anything genuinely rare up there Oli, just a few county level description species. Glad you are feeling a bit more inspired though, there is clearly something happening in terms of birds hitting the southern slopes of the Mendips and then heading east in spring. In autumn I’ve seen literally 0000’s hirrundines funneling south through the “A38 rift” during the evening, quite a sight.
Pretty happy with HB, a county tick. Makes up for an otherwise steady at best spring…
A cracking adult male HB loitered over the garden for approx 5-10mins this morning before gaining significant height (approx. 1km) and heading ESE (I’m having that on my res list!). Given some of the garden species I’ve recorded over the course of the lockdown (Crane, Firecrest, Crossbill, multiple Osprey and Red kites etc) vis-mig from Cross plain (about 100m above my garden) should be a worthwhile pursuit for those wanting to try something a bit different in the spring and autumn).
Amazing - I bet you’re delighted! It’s great to see you finding so many rarities and gives me hope for spotting something different from the garden. I’m also very keen to try a bit of vis-mig from up on the plain come the Autumn.