A final Swan Breakfast (no actual wildfowl were consumed)
and then out of Wells (via the fabulous moss, fern and liverwort covered
walls!) and into the ever increasing gloom towards Glastonbury and beyond about
an hour later we made it to Steart and it had lifted just enough and mostly
stopped drizzling to allow a walk around the marshland pools.
Maidenhair Fern and Wall Scalewort - Porella platyphylla
Polypody
Polypody & Ivy Leaved Toadflax
Rusty-backed Fern
Rusty-backed Fern
Wall Scalewort - Porella platyphylla - I thought on my previous visits that this was a Moss but it is in fact a Liverwort
They were very quiet with just noisy Avocets and single
pairs of Redshank and Oystercatcher and Wigeon and Shelduck predominating with
the duck.It was very odd.
Oystercatcher
The scrubby bits held Cetti's Warblers, Reed Buntings and Stonechats and both the latter species regularly shared the same bush tops.Meadow Pipits ‘seeped’ over and two Water
Pipits came up from the main breach marsh where there were quite literally only
four Carrion Crows and a Little Egret.
Stonechat
I ticked off the usual fly and moth mines and was surprised
to see both Marsh Marigold and Cowslip in flower.Other than a host of dancing midges and three Scathophaga stercoraria there
were no insects at all.
Lesser Celandine
Marsh Marigold
Yellow Dug Fly - Scathophaga stercoraria
Cowslip
We took lunch up the coast and overlooking Bridgewater Bay
where for a change the tide was not all the way out but we could only find two
Curlew and five Shelduck flying around.What was gong on?There were no
birds at all on the exposed mud?There
were more Stonechats to watch and Greenfinches and Linnets bimbled over and as
we were leaving a female Marsh Harrier appeared close by and hunted the inland
pastures.
With the weather once again closing in I opted to make the
drive north to the Forest of Dean and in short order we were at Cannop Pond and
enjoying close views of a pinky white male Goosander and eight or so
Mandarins.A Kingfisher zipped across
and there was a pair pf Grey Wagtails around the sluice slope while Great, Blue
and Coal Tits and Chaffinches came down to the seed put out by others.
Goosander
Mandarin
Chaffinch
We followed the lakeside path and got closer to the
Mandarins and some Little Grebes and the Birches and Oaks gave us close views
of several pairs of Marsh Tits, Treecreeper and a brief Nuthatch.Song Thrushes were warming up and a few Redwing
and Siskin called over the trees.Scanning the tree tops across the way was a non-starter as you could not
see them!
I moved this Toad off the path. Others could be heard in the reed bed
Phytomyza ilicis on Holly - I have to post one each trip!
Mandarins
Wood Spurge
A scurrying alongside proved to be the first of two Bank
Vole encounters and you could see the run it had made in and put and under the
rooty overhang at the top of the path bank.A common but seldom seen rodent and it was a treat to get such prolonged
views.
Bank Vole
Bank Vole
Parmotrema perlatum
Usnia sp & Evernia prunastri
The Wild Boar had been to town on the verges with some
serious rotovating but we did not see any but the Robins were happily picking
around where they had turned over the surface the night before.
Robin
How would you like your lawn Sir?
Stereum hirsutum
The overspill
at the top pond always looks good for Dipper and for the first time there was
actually one there and it stayed on show for about twenty minutes and could be
seen properly going under the water and creating a small wake in the
process.It was certainly by best views
of one in the Forest.There were Grey
Wagtails and Pied Wagtails here too and you know I am a sucker for a Grey Wag every
day of the week!
Grey Wagtail
Dipper
Dipper
We retraced our steps as the Song Thrush volume ramped up
and nearer the bottom end it was replaced by the melancholy and considered song
of several Blackbirds. A final look at some close Mandarins and it really was
time to head up to Speech House to check in and chill before dinner.
The grey had not lifted as we drove towards Greylake after
breakfast and visibility was somewhat poor as we booted up for the walk down to
the hides.
The Bishop's Palace Moat and Wells Cathedral on the walk to the van
Ravens kronked in the mist
and Cetti’s Warblers and Reed Buntings were singing in the reeds as we walked
down. Clearly the waters had only very
recently dropped and there was duckweed well up the Phragmites and over the top
of the new Hemlock Water Dropwort shoots.
Hemlock Water Dropwort
As usual I found several Cigar Galls of the fly Lipara
lucens and opened up a Greater Reedmace head to show them the caterpillar of
the moth Limnaecia phragmitella living within and causing the seeds heads to
explode in such a distinctive way.
Lipara lucens gall
Puffing seed caused by Limnaecia phragmitella
Sallow
Water Rails were all around us with at least 13 heard
calling and many of those at the same time and in very close proximity to us
and each other but despite their constipated grumbling and squeals we did not
even get a glimpse of one!
Water Rail, Cetti's Warbler and Teal
The dabbling duck were close out front and looking splendid
despite the poor conditions and amongst them there were many probing Snipe who
blended in perfectly with the Typha dredgings.
Shoveler - females always look particularly smug
Teal
Shoveler
Shoveler
Teal
Teal
A stately Greylag
Greylag, Wigeon, Teal
Teal
The odd Marsh Harrier spooked duck further back but we had
no hope of finding any Cranes or other raptors as it was just too murky.
I decided to cut our losses and so we sloshed back adding a
couple of Great Egrets and a fly over female Curlew while two more eerily
called in the distance.
White-lipped Hedge Snail
On to the River Parrett and the railway bridge at Oath where
I hope to find Cranes and indeed a pair were quickly located in the pastures
along with several Great Egrets.They
are such stately birds and as you may have gathered, one I thoroughly enjoy
encountering.The river was running
higher than the road surface beyond the banks and had been allowed to flood the
area to the north quite extensively and a few Cattle Egrets were noted.
My daily Essence of Great Egret
From here we retraced our steps to the Avalon Centre to
utilise the facilities, buy coffee and visit the craft centre – and see a Raven
too before looping around the block to Catcott Lows where we sat and watched
the wonderful Wigeon and Teal outside along with Shoveler and at least two
drake Pintail.There was no sign of the
Glossy Ibis at this point so we listened to the whistling drake Wigeon and the
wonderful sound of the females which en masse sounded like a wave lightly
crashing onto a shingle beach.A male
Lapwing with a fine crest was nest scraping on the island out front and the odd
Snipe zipped around.
Wigeon, Shoveler and Teal on high alert
Lapwing and Wigeon
Wigeon - all paired up
Marsh Harriers were keeping the duck on the move and a
female was making a concerted effort to catch a Teal and it was on one of these
circuits that she flushed the closest duck and with them the Ibis which circled
around and then landed right out front and proceeded to give us a fine
display.I think it is a 2cy bird as the
tertials at least looked old, worn and brown while the mantle already had some
fine purple and green glossed feathers showing through.Seeing one so close was a real treat and it
was a new bird for some of the group.
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
As you would expect there were a couple more Great Egrets
and both Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were seen while a male Tawny Owl was heard
from the distant wood. Our route back
casually took us past three Roe Deer and a flock of 175 or so Cattle Egrets
loafing in a field with some Canada Geese and Mute Swans (thanks Graham
C!).They look so miserable when sitting
around but once active they take on a very different persona.
Cattle Egrets
Cattle Egrets and Canada Geese
Cattle Egrets and Canada Geese
Back round to the Shapwick end of the trails and then out
onto the track to the Decoy Lake.The
Willow and Alder Carr was looking mossily magnificent and we found plenty of
Scarlet Elf Cups on the walk down along with some funky mosses and lichens.
Lords & Ladies and is it Cuckoo Pint as in bottle of milk or Pint as in lint??
Scarlet Elf Cups
Stereum hirsutum - yep it was 'hairy' on top
Fly mine of Chromatomyia aprilina on Honeysuckle
Scarlet Elf Cups
Tamarisk Moss - Thuidium tamariscinum - I think!
Cladonia sp
Bitterns boomed along the whole route and once again were
frustratingly close but still brought smiles and we found an obliging male Bearded Tit alongside the track and watched him while the Butter Bumps
rumbled (I love that old Bittern name) and about 200 Cattle Egrets (assuming they were
the Meare birds) flew over us in a series of large flocks while Great Egrets lumbered out of the reeds and Muntjac barked incessantly.Pure Levels magic.
Cattle Egrets
Cattle Egrets - normal down here!
We all said hello to some mighty English Oaks that had
obviously grown up in the open and without any grazers and investigated the
re-constructed section of the Sweet Trackbefore making our way round to the
hide passing an immature Red Kite and the tell tale water slap and mega ripple and bubbles of a narrowly missed Otter on the way.
Once inside we were greeted by Andy Mears and a drake
Ring-necked Duck he had just found well over the back and displaying to some
Tufted Ducks.Four trips down here on the trot
now.There were quite a few active Great
Egret platforms in the reed beds with displaying birds with effervescing
aigrettes and contorted head and neck posturing.Bitterns still boomed and a Cormorant caught
a medium sized Eel which it had to dive back under with to avoid losing it to
another opportunistic buddy.
Great Egret all fluffed up
It was getting even gloomier as we walked back and this time
we took the Sweet Track path through the woods where Andy had directed us to a
couple of Firecrests, the male of which was energetically singing.There were Fieldfares and Redwings in the
tree tops and the latter created a hubbub as they quietly sub-sang, sounding
almost like distant traffic.A Great
Spotted Woodpecker was tracked down as it slowly tapped and four Lesser
Redpolls were discovered when a rain of Alder seeds started to filter down to
where we had stopped to look at some Moss.
Back to the van and then around to Ham Wall on the off
chance that the resurgent Starling gathering (they are normally well dispersed
by now) would happen.It must have been
out local social media and there were loads of Starling hopefuls heading down
to the main viewpoint.Small groups of birds began to arrive behind us but the main event was happening across the other
side where several hundred thousand birds had already gathered and moved across
the landscape in a rippling line that came in and out of focus depending on how
dense they got.There must have been
some predator action too as occasionally they were tighten in balls and perform
swirly whirly shapes on the horizon.
A closer group of Starlings
Bitterns were booming here again too and a 2cy female
Goshawk powering across the marshes was seen partly because she freaked out a
male Marsh Harrier with her passing.He
did not follow her but my slightly enthusiastic shout certainly allowed my
group and others to get onto her.This
is a rare bird on the levels and I was delighted to find her.Two Sparrowhawks were also seen and the Black-tailed
Godwits and Ruff were still around along with the Sand Martins but as the light
deteriorated it became clear that the Starlings were not going to head our way
to roost and we followed the vast amorphous flock as it wove its way to the
east and out of our view and we suspected that they all went into roost at that
point but it was still an superb experience and a real bonus to have on this
trip.
We walked back happy with the sound of Song Thrushes, Robins
and Blackbirds welcoming the evening and those elusive but very vocal Bitterns
sending us on our way back to The Swan for dinner after very long but rewarding
day.
A pair of Common Toads as I walked back to the hotel who I helped over the wall and into the moat.
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