With Storm Katie well out of the way and the sun out, it seemed perfect weather to visit New Passage in the hope of adding a new species to my UK list. A bird I saw in Bahrain back in 1990 and one I hadn't seen in the UK, I was on the search for a Water Pipit. And I wasn't to be disappointed, though with over 40 Meadow Pipit to sift through it took a fair bit of time to pin one of the four reported being here this morning. And another big bonus was my first ever UK White Wagtail, with two seen in amongst the dozens and dozens of Pied Wagtails. What a great afternoon!
Other highlights to add to my ever growing year list were Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew and Redshank. Not bad for an 55 minute drive from Swindon, an hour spent at the 1st Sentry Box and a 1½hr drive back. I forgot it was Easter Monday and the traffic coming back was horrendous, though I'm not complaining.
Here are a few images from this afternoon:
Looking north up the River Severn
The River Pill
The Pill heading out to sea
A pair of Mallard on the muddy banks of The Pill.
Looking across the salt marsh, where there were Meadow Pipits, a Water Pipit, a Dunlin, 5 Ringed Plover, a Little Ringed Plover, Pied Wagtail and 2 White Wagtail.
The 1st Sentry Box where the Water Pipit was seen on the salt marsh.
A pair of Shelduck come into land on the Pilning
A Pied Wagtail
One of 5 Rabbits seen here.
The aftermath of Storm Katie
Birds Recorded: 2 Cormorant, 2 Mute Swan, 100+ Shelduck, Mallard, 20+ Teal, Moorhen, Coot, 5 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin, 3 Curlew, 60+ Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 2 Swallow, 1 Water Pipit, 40+ Meadow Pipit, 30+ Pied Wagtail, 2 White Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Also 5 Rabbits
Note: Today's sightings on Severnside Birds Blog Here. Scroll down to 28 Mar where there is a photo of a Water Pipit.
Farmoor Reservoir Location
My first ever trip to Farmoor Reservoir and I was certainly wasnt disappointed with all three birds I was hoping to see. The 2 juvenile Great Northern Divers couldn't have been any closer to the causeway if they tried. The Rock Pipit put in an appearance and I was even able to get round to the opposite side of F1 to see the Red-necked Grebe.
The weather was just incredible with huge storm clouds, hail, heavy rain and then amazing rainbows to at least show that the storm had passed.
Any way here are a few images from today:
Looking west towards the oncoming storm
Looking back towards the boat yard
Once the storm had passed, we were treated to a double rainbow.
One of the two juvenile Great Northern Divers
This one was continually diving down for food, whilst.........
......this one was asleep the whole time I was there.
Great Northern Diver (apologies for the wind noise, it was blowing a gale)
The wildfowl didn't seem to mind the crashing waves as this drake Mallard stretches his wings as a Coot swims off right.
Also in the corner by the boats this Little Grebe was having a bit of a feeding frenzy....
........whilst this one on the far bank managed to catch a small trout.
A pair of Great Crested Grebes
And the star today a Red-necked Grebe
Two grebes together, Red-necked and Great Crested Grebe
Short video of the Red-necked Grebe
There were a few Greylag Geese around the Reservoir.....
Including this odd looking bird. Strangely though I also came across two others, including one at Dix Pit where I visited later.
And this rainbow is at Dix Pit where I had hoped to see the Black-necked Grebe. Unfortunately if it was there I didn't see it. However I did get to see 200+ Sand Martins, 1 House martin and several Swallows. Birds Recorded: Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, 1 Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Pochard, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Green Woodpecker, 200+ Sand Martin, 1 House Martin, 7+ Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Chaffinch, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinch.
A short visit to Liden Lagoon, turned into an 90 minute stay, with great views of a Water Rail and Cetti's Warbler. I even bumped into Malcolm Royal later, and did an about turn so that I could show him the spot where I'd seen the Water Rail. We even caught another quick burst of song from the Cetti's on the South Island, to give Malcolm his first Cetti's at Liden.
No mistaking the song of a Cetti's Warbler (courtesy of xeno-canto)
Before I parked up a Red Kite drifted over the Lagoon before heading north over Barnmoor Close and was gone before I got out of the car. On the water there were quite a few gulls with 30 plus Herring Gulls when I arrived and by the time I'd left they were replaced by a 10+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Walking clock-wise towards the A419 I came across the 3 immature Mute Swans, and in the corner where the stream flows out of the lagoon, there were around 15 Siskins, feeding on the bank. Makes a change from the Alders!
Further down towards the South Island there was a Swan resting a 20ft into the wood. Not sure if this is a new nesting site, but certainly the first time I've seen a Swan deep into the wood.
Having seen a pair of Great Crested Grebes in the usual nesting site at the top of South Island, I was surprised to see another individual at the South End. Or was this one of two seen earlier, that had somehow whizzed around the island!
On the water itself were 3 Tufties, a female and two drakes, and with them the same drake Pochard seen here earlier in the year. A drake Shoveler was also present.
The first highlight of course was the Water Rail, which I only came across because I was watching a few Siskins come down to the overflow, for a bathe. The last time I saw one here, was quite a few years back and was just a fleeting glimpse. This individual was more confiding and was out in the open for most of the time I was there. As I was watching it, I wasn't suddenly taken aback by a really loud outburst from a Cetti's Warbler, which was just above the Water Rail in the Brambles. Whether the alarm call was aimed at me or not, it flew off east. I tried to follow, but it was always one step ahead and lost sight of where it went. This was also my first Cetti's at Liden, so a pretty good day all round.
As I left feeling quite elated, I carried on further around towards the car. I'd only gone about 50 metres and I realised that Malcolm was behind me. So hoping that Water Rail was still there, we headed back to railings, where not only did we have more good views, but also found out that the Cetti's was on the South Island.
A few images and a video from today:
"Little and Large". The immature cob Mute Swan with a drake Mallard in tow.
Normally seen feeding in Alders, this female Siskin along with 14 others were foraging on the bank of the Lagoon.
A male Siskin in more "natural" surroundings feeding on an Alder.
Can you spot the Swan on the south island.....
A close-up of a sleepy Swan. Is this a new nest site, or just a nice quiet retreat!
A few Herring Gulls (left to right) adult, 2nd winter, adult, 2nd winter and 3rd winter.
An easy one an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Now what do we have here. Two adult gulls. Lesser Black-backed Gull on the left, being pursued by a very angry Herring Gull.
Tufted drakes and a female. And on the right a drake Pochard.
In the foreground a pair of Gadwall with a drake Shoveler to the rear.
A Moorhen comes into land with legs dangling below.
It might just be an outlet pipe for the rain water from Liden, but this turned out to be a little oasis this afternoon, with Siskins, Long-tailed Tits, Dunnocks, Moorhens and two great surprises in a Water rail and a Cetti's Warbler. It's amazing what can turn up!
And here is the star bird today, a Water Rail having a good root around.
A pose for the camera.
And another.
Here you can see the difference between the Water Rail and much larger Moorhen.
This is only the second time I've seen a Water Rail at the lagoon since 2007. Normally a shy bird, this individual however was quite happy to feed out in the open. Once again apologies for the noise of the wind. One of these days I'll get to make a recording on a quiet still day.
Early afternoon at Reynard decided to come back and have a siesta on the neighbours garden shed. How he hasn't taken any my chickens is quite extraordinary, so I'm going to have be a bit more vigilant through the day.
A little too close to home.......
........this fox has returned...
.........and for the time being is having a nice nap.
Lotmead Pool
Later in the afternoon I popped into Lotmead Farm to see what was about on the pool and as I arrived a Grey Heron took off. A patch tick which was a good start. Also on the water there were 4 Teal, a pair and two drakes sitting on the bank. If there were any other females they were well hidden.
A Mallard flew overhead, but didn't land, but there were a pair of Little Grebes calling and a bit later a third one appeared much to the annoyance of the "resident" male. On the bank there were a pair of Canada Geese, that didn't seem to happy that half-a-dozen Rooks were collecting nesting material in amongst them.
The rookery at the back of the pool has around 13 nests, though the 30+ Rooks I saw might mean more nests to come.
13 nests so far in the rookery.
In the fields around me were 400+ Starling feeding alongside 100+ Redwing, with a few Fieldfare mixed in. In another field were a pair of Stock Doves which like the Rooks all became silent when a very dark brown Buzzard came gliding through.
In the distance I could hear a Chiffchaff calling, still no song yet, despite the lovely day we had. A single Meadow Pipit headed west as did a Grey Wagtail.
