Cheddar reservoir 2024
2 Black-necked Grebe still present earlier today at around 3PM. Sailing activities seemed to push them further south as I found them about half way between the Sailing Club and Cheddar Tower.
Female Goldeneye still present with Tuftie/Pochard flock off Cheddar Tower and an impressive evening roost of c.12000 Black-headed Gulls on the northern side of the reservoir.
2 BN Grebe today still apparently but I could only see 1 this pm. 4 or 5 Scaup too.
Someone I met when BNG had first arrived reckoned the Goldeneye had already been around for a week then
BN Grebe still in front of the sailing club mid morning. Also female goldeneye still. Both present for about a week now.
Black-necked Grebe in front of the yacht club this morning.
Three female and juvenile scaup near the sailing club late morning. Also 2 little grebes, 2 pintail, 4 wigeon and 4 mute swans. Several groups of redwing flew over, but no fieldfares. Water level still well below full!
My video might be of interest: Grt W Egret at a drained Cheddar Res (one of 30 loosely together) that catches and swallows a young Pike, 22-Sep-2024. Click on the Link below…
Knot with big flock of blackwits at cheddar tower end now, also little stint, the juv gannet that’s been here overnight is closer to south side, also a wheatear
Thanks Sean, it looks as if I should make a high-tide visit then to increase the chance of seeing a Knot! My wife Kay is no longer able to walk very far, so Wall Common on the Parret Est or the tower hide overlooking it at Steart are no longer an option. Its the only common UK wader we have yet to see this year!
Late morning there were 11 Knot, 63 Black-tailed Godwit, 36 Ringed Plover. These birds probably came from the estuary as their appearance coincided with high tide. 34 GW Egret this evening. On Friday evening there was a brief Caspian Gull.
Replying to Mike Moxon, regarding Twitter or X:
For myself I have very little problems with its postings, having set my content preferences and indicated that I do not want to see lots of posts from Elon Musk. A Small amount of adverts each time I’m on there, all of which I block. Have found that what I look at on YouTube is used by Twitter to show me what it thinks I like. This means a few minutes (5) each week updating my viewing preferences on the Content I see, both Topics and Interests, which keeps the amount of adds low.
22-Sep-2024
14:30 to 15:30 hrs from the Cheddar Inlet Tower: 30 Grt W Egrets (count) one caught & eventually swallowed a small pike - twice its bill length, 4 Little Egrets, 5 Dunlin (one with a seemingly broken wing - continually holds it vertically, like a sail), have seen it on 3 visits the past week so surviving (but for how long?), 4 Ringed Plover, 3 Snipe, juv Little Stint, c.100 Canada Geese - distantly on the island off the sailing club. No sign of the 11 Knot reported at 11:00 hrs!
10am today - dunlin, curlew sandpiper (I think? - did anybody else see them today or could they have just be more dunlin…?!), 1x redshank, 4x ringed plover, 2x snipe, GWE, little egret, lots of teal, pochard, gadwall, many house and sand Martin
Unfortunately Sean not seeing them after 9th suggests that these were Dunlin (juveniles can look different enough to be confusing) or if a single, maybe ruff. Thanks Sean for that update
Many people are leaving Twitter (I can’t bring myself to call it X) because of the increasing amount of bollox posted on it by Elon musk and other sources, mastodon was supposed to be the next big thing but that has gone much the same way, so some birders have moved to blue sky, but i haven’t seen any evidence of locals using it yet
20-Sep-2024 (10:15 to 11:30hrs)
Couldn’t find the Knot (seen earlier this morning), but c.30 Blk-t Godwits (in tight huddle on the island, so remote poss the Knot could have been among them), 1 Ruff, juv Little Stint, 5 Dunlin, 15 Ringed Plover, 2 Snipe, 2 Avocets, 12 GW Egrets.
Would be interested to learn why Sean and others have stopped posting bird sightings on X (Twitter)?