Levels-birder

Birds and other wildlife, mostly in Somerset, UK

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August 31st 2009

The last day of the month, and after a few hours of in-house decorating Kay and I went to Tealham Moor to see if I could get any better photos of Common Buzzards as they fed on the ground among the recently cut silage. They weren’t exactly co-operative, but this female Kestrel, one of four hover-hunting, eventually came close enough to our parked car for me to take this flight photo.

 

 

 

August 29th 2009

A couple-of-days ago, while doing my regular butterfly and dragonfly count on Ham Wall RSPB Reserve, I saw a Bittern in flight over the reeds, and later a few common waders, including a juvenile Little Ringed Plover, at Meare Heath shallow pool. In the evening I went to Torr Works Reservoir where I saw my hoped for Yellow-legged Gull – 3 adults in the roost with hundreds of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and also a juvenile Black Tern.

Today was a bit of a red-letter day, my wife Kay (now on a single crutch) was able to come out birding with me for the first time since mid-May “hoorah” and we drove across our local moors, seeing very little except for a few Buzzards (photo) feeding among the recently cut silage. We stopped off at Greylake RSPB Reserve, where the Spotted Crake was very obliging and gave us great views (a lifer for Kay) as it actively fed and swam around the reed-bed margin, allowing me a few more photos.

Later, on our way home, I stopped on a farm lane bordering Shapwick Heath NNR and was fortunate to see an Osprey as it circled over Noah's Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 25th 2009

 

A phone call this morning from a birding friend easily got me away from my decorating chores to nearby Grey Lake RSPB Reserve. Here, along the reedy margin of the small, boardwalk lake, I was soon watching this Spotted Crake – only my second sighting in Somerset, the previous being in 1996. As a bonus, while watching the crake, a juvenile Marsh Harrier flew low, over the reserve.

 

 

 

August 16th 2009

 

 

 

Just returned from a 5-day short break, staying with family on The Lizard Peninsular in Cornwall. After several long cliff-top walks, yesterday I finally found two Red-billed Choughs (my library photo) to add to my British year list. Apart from a hunting Peregrine, a couple of Wheatears and Stonechats, and several Rock Pipits, it was fairly quite. A couple of brief sea-watches saw only the expected Gannets and a few Fulmars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 7th 2009

 

Today was my first proper days’ birding for the past two weeks, and my visit to Meare Heath shallow pool, part of Shapwick Heath NNR, was successful – resulting in my first ever sighting in Britain of three species of Egret at one location. Out in the near shallows was this feeding Great White Egret, while nearby were two Little Egrets, and a summer-plumaged Cattle Egret was feeding along the far back of the pool. Other birds of note were 22 Black-tailed Godwits and a single Greenshank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A distant record-shot of the summer-plumaged adult Cattle Egret, standing at the far back of the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On their last day of a mostly rainy two-week stay, I was able to show my two grandchildren this Adder, one of two that we saw, and also a sizable Grass Snake – all so much more interesting to them than any of the birds! On this sunny morning we also saw several different butterflies on the wing, including this nice male Brimstone.