Egrets a go go on the Somerset Levels!

Somerset Levels

First trip out of Yorkshire since 'lockdown' measures were relaxed and boy did I need the break. Several years ago me and my good mate Mark P were all set to travel down to the Somerset Levels, springtime if memory serves, anyway we never got there because Mark went and broke his leg whilst competing in a trails bike event 😭- so that was that! Older and maybe wiser we made it down this time and although July is not the best time of year for birding anywhere in the UK we made the best of it, got round nearly all of the top sites and gave the place a good going over.

Skylark, Steart Marshes. 14/07/2020

First stop was the WWT (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) reserve Steart Marshes on the North Somerset coast. A brief visit and unluckily it was low tide but certainly a place worthy of further exploration at some point in the future. It was windy and the birds very few and far between! Best shots were landscapes and this game and hearty singing Skylark.

Skylark, Steart Marshes. 14/07/2020

Steart Marshes & Steep Holme Island, 14/07/2020

Sparowhawk (Juv) Westhay, 15/07/2020

Edington, on the outskirts of  Somerset Wildlife Trust's Catcott & Westhay  reserve was our  berth for the night and the following morning a trek into said reserve brought many birding goodies. We split up, did our usual thing and met up mid morning. He'd had Cattle Egrets and Great White Egrets aplenty, Spotted Flycatcher and was raving about the smell of Bog Rosemary! I was envious, not because of his wild herb discovery, but because I've never had Cattle Egret in the UK and was desperate to see one! I'd had one Great White Egret and one bird he hadn't - a Hobby. First of many we went on to see. Thought at first I'd got a lucky picture of it perched on a tree but this is clearly a juvenile Sparrowhawk.

Next up, RSPB Greylake. A small reserve made even smaller because several of the hides and viewing areas were closed. Scenic and in many ways very typical of the levels landscape. No decent bird pics but a couple of new plants to me and of course those

Hemp Agrimony, Greylake, 15/07/2020

gorgeous 'levels landscapes'!

 

Arrowhead, Greylake, 15/07/2020

RSPB Greylake, 15/07/2020

RSPB Greylake, 15/07/2020

An evening cycle ride across the Avalon Marshes certainly whetted our appetites for more 'levels birding' with a flock of Black Tailed Godwits, Greenshank and more Great White Egrets and from our new campsite base at Glastonbury we headed out to Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve for a beat around the following morning.

Woodland carving, Westhay Moor, 16/07/20

Pretty quiet as it turned out, lots of juvenile warblers about, mainly Blackcaps and Willow Warblers but this was the biggest flock of birds I saw all morning!

I found a secluded and tranquil corner of the reserve that overlooked a lagoon surrounded by reedbeds and spent a full 20 minutes with my binoculars trained on a faraway bird that I was convinced was at worst a Redstart but it slowly dawned on me that I was looking at some kind of reddish fruit on a tree top ... Durr!!

Juv Willow Warbler, Westhay Heath, 16/07/20

A couple of good shots of a Grey Heron and one of those juvenile Willow Warblers later and I'd met up with el compadre and amigo Mark at nearby Catcott Heath for a most welcome mid morning cup of tea and a re-group. 

Grey Heron, Westhay, 16/07/20

Grey Heron, Westhay, 16/07/20

Catcott Heath

Gazing across the heath towards the drain where Mark had seen his Cattle Egrets on day 1 we were both hoping to see more, me more than him of course (not that these things get at all competitive folks.. NOT - its the closest thing that either of us old gits get to competitive sport these days!)

Catcott Heath, 16/07/20

Suddenly the shout went up from Mark "Egrets! Lots of em!" They were distant (flying over that line of trees in the pic above) but almost certainly Cattle Egrets and sure enough over the same drain. We hot footed over there and I set foot along the towpath towards where they'd come down. It was hot, the hottest day of our stay there, it was a full mile and it was midday - and I'd forgotten my hat😨. Oh yes, I suffered for my art later that day but was rewarded for my toil with my first ever Cattle Egrets in the UK and not just a few at least 24 flew past me as I sat in the sun and ate my sandwiches!

It was just like being back in Spain. Here's the best of many pics I took

Cattle Egret, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Cattle Egret, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Cattle Egret, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Cattle Egret, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Cattle Egret, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Cattle Egret, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Cattle Egret , South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

For the record here's the landscape over which these white winged invaders from mainland Europe flew across and gave me another UK tick (closing in on 300 now - reasonable for a non 'twitcher'! 😄)

South Drain, Catcott Heath, 16/07/20

Goldfinch, South Drain, Catcott, 16/07/20

Can't remember my first ever Goldfinch, which is semi sad, but I never tire of getting a 'good 'un' of our most colourful finch.

Had to have a lie down after that in the van, I'm not unfit but a bit stupid still as far as the midday sun is concerned! Luckily the cricket was on the radio, and after a brief bat on ball kip, I headed back out for an explore around nearby Shapwick Heath. Thought to myself that in my weary, not insignificantly sunstroked self I'd just head out to the nearest hide and ended up following sign after sign for another mile or so and ended up at the 'decoy hide'. It was a slow walk back😩

Had the hide to myself though and a dreamy view of open water covered with Water Lillies, Glastonbury Tor in the distance and plenty of Mallard, Gadwall, Great Crested and Little Grebes and a new species for the trip, a single Pochard.

Out of Decoy Hide, Shapwick Heath, 16/07/20

I was spotting tons of dragonflies and sensed that Hobby couldn't be far off and sure enough, as I was watching a distant splendidly plumaged male Marsh Harrier, a dark shape sped across my field of view....

Hobby, Shapwick Heath, 16/07/20

Making repeated swoops over the lagoon, chasing dragonflies and entertaining me I strove to get me some shots of this swift hunter at ground level, not easy because the auto focus on my camera can't cope with this kind of action so I had to manually focus, but a couple came out ok'ish

Hobby, Shapwick Heath, 16/07/20

Hobby, Shapwick Heath, 16/07/20

.... and of course that good looking Marsh Harrier, almost certainly a first year bird sporting his pristine plumage and colouring.

Male Marsh Harrier, Shapwick Heath, 16/07/20

Glastonbury Campsite, 17/07/20

Next day was a bit of down day for me, had proper sunstroke I reckon, and didn't feel like stirring much from our campsite, a less regimented, more relaxing site than our last, and spent long periods gazing up into the sky ...... therapeutic and produced another Hobby, Red Kite and a Sparrowhawk😀

Birding the Avalon Marshes

Later on we cycled back to the Avalon Marshes, split up, and did our usual things. I spent most of my time around Ham Wall and although seeing nothing out of the ordinary apart from my first 'tit band' of the year, 25+ Long Tailed Tits and attendant Blue Tits, Great Tits and Goldcrest (lots of juvs), and my best Great White Egret photo opps...

Great White Egret, Ham Wall, 17/07/20

Great White Egret, Ham Wall, 17/07/20

Great White Egret, Ham Wall, 17/07/20

They'll do! Up north most of us are more than happy with the odd Great White here or there but down here, if not exactly commonplace, they're about as numerous as they are in say France. On the edge of surreal for simple Yorkshire folk but we welcome the big white one!

I was disappointed not to see a Bittern; Mark had a fleeting glimpse of one but I looked in vain spending a whole hour gazing across the reeds at a likely spot but all my camera fixed on was more of this Arrowhead plant you get around here and another aquatic plant scarce in Yorkshire, Frogbit.

Arrowhead, Ham Wall, 17/ 07/20

This was our last full day of exploring the 'levels and I think we did it justice. I'd love to come back here in spring, maybe next year. We hatched half a plan to combine a couple of days here with a road trip to Spain next year when hopefully foreign travel will be more straightforward. Here's a typical 'levels' view to round off our trip there with the Mendips, a constant feature of the landscape here, in the background

Avalon Marshes & the Mendips, 17/07/20

On the way back we popped into Slimbridge on the Severn Estuary for a couple of hours, lots of family fun type nature attractions with exotic birds and nice gardens, all a bit so so but some good wild birds too, including Common Cranes - we saw at least 3 over the estuary, sadly too far away to photograph, several Green Sandpipers, Greenshank and a couple of Whinchats. Nothing much came out of the can though apart from this juv Grey Heron.

I'm itching to get away more now that travel in the UK has been given the green light and thinking about squeezing in a trip up to Scotland. Will have to be short trip though as I'm back to work at last from the beginning of Aug. 😃