CWP odds and ends

7 Feb - CWP pit 29 held a drake and 2 redhead Smew, as well as 3 Scaup (2 drakes) and a pair of Goosander. In the late evening, the Great White Egret flew in to roost on pit 17 at 1703h, joining 15 Little Egrets already roosting on the island on the waterski pit. GWE is pictured on pit 95 where it is found during the day.

Smew

3 February - a quick morning check of the Somerford Keynes part of CWP revealed a redhead Smew on pit 41, with a notable count of 27 Pintail including 15 drakes. Goosander in the area totalled 14, and there were 5 Red-crested Pochard on pit 44.

Severn and Blakehill

2 February - a morning visit to Sharpness proved successful at the second attempt, giving good views of the Black Redstart in calm sunny conditions. Moving on to Slimbridge, the Temminck's Stint was the only wader present on the pool in front of the Holden Tower (lower, photo copyright Graham Bullivant). Bewick's Swans were giving very close views on the Rushy Pen (middle). Crickley Hill on the way home revealed c120 Bramblings under the beech trees near the car park, but surprisingly wary amongst the leaf litter (upper). Finally, late afternoon at Blakehill produced a pair of Peregrines flying over, and a distant perched female Merlin (top, photo copyright Steve Burch).

Great White Egret in CWP

31 Jan - a break in the wet and windy weather at midday allowed a visit to CWP pit 95 just in Wilts, where I had good views of the Great White Egret as it fished on the reed edge - large and long-necked. 2 Little Egrets were present for comparison, and also 2 Grey Herons. 141 species seen in the UK in January 08.

Woodlarks and the Forest again

27 Jan - a morning visit to Lydney, where a couple of flighty Woodlarks were eventually seen in the stubble fields. Then on to the Forest of Dean again, a Dipper was seen briefly under a bridge on the Cannop road (lower, photo copyright Paul Masters) and 2 Goshawks were displaying in the sunshine from New Fancy viewpoint (upper).

South Coast

26 Jan - Devon and Dorset. A morning visit to Bowling Green Marsh caught the high tide and there were 100s of waders roosting - then a microlight flew over and stirred them all up, and the Long-billed Dowitcher was seen briefly but well with the Redshank (lower). Also seen; Black- and Bar-tailed Godwits, and a Spotted Redshank.
Then to Ferrybridge - excellent views of superb adult Mediterranean Gulls (upper x2), also some immatures mixed with Black-headed Gulls. Portland Harbour contained a group of 4 Black-throated Divers, also a Great Northern, and a Black-Necked Grebe - but I couldn't find the reported Long-tailed Ducks.
Finally, a report of a Spoonbill at Abbotsbury and I viewed the bird, an immature, distantly from the road above the reserve (centre). A rewarding day in superb weather.

Forest of Dean

24 Jan - The first day with some sun for quite a while. A stop "on spec" at Brierley surprisingly produced 7+ Hawfinches (upper, photo copyright Paul Masters) in the hornbeams opposite the garage. The Great Grey Shrike (lower, photo copyright Richard Tyler) then showed well at Boy's Grave and 20 Crossbills flew over. Good numbers of Buzzards in evidence but I couldn't find a Dipper on any of the streams I checked. Glos year list now up to 102.