Forest of Dean & Somerset Levels with Oriole Birding - Day 5 - 12th March 2024

It was a very wet start to the day but some of the crew still managed a quick look around Wells Cathedral before breakfast.  I sloshed round the town back past the Bishop’s Palace to get the van pausing to look at the Cypress-leaved Plait-moss on the walls just like I did last year and similarly Grey Wagtails bounced along moat.

Cypress-leaved Plait-moss (Hypnum cupressiforme)

Greylake was a only destination for the day – short walk and shelter from the rain.  We even got lucky and it let up enough for us to get under cover before the next deluge happened.

No Cranes were seen this time and there were fewer Great White Egrets but the single Lapwing had become at least ten displaying birds and the Marsh Harriers and Buzzards were getting extra grief!

Great White Egrets

It felt like there were fewer duck than yesterday but they shifted around when a Harrier spooked them and revealed the mass of Teal and Wigeon we had seen previously.  I raised my bins and there was the drake Baikal Teal!  Momentary panic and then a frantic twenty seconds to get it is the scope and at a height that everyone could see it while giving directions. The hide is not exactly people of scope friendly. It swam just two feet to the right and I lost it before anyone else saw it.  The area it chose was completely obscured and despite several shifts in the duck flock, that area remained stubbornly immobile for the remaining two hours that we all stared and searched for this most gaudy of ducks.  He had not been seen for two weeks and I was elated to re-find him but gutted for the group who thankfully were simply pleased that I had seen it. Bless them - they said I should put in the trip report but it is not in the final tally.

Wigeon

Teal and Wigeon

The Curlews were singing from several spots now and Snipe were engaging in sword play on the freshly wettened mud along with the same single Dunlin while a female Kestrel was the last new trip bird and obligingly perched up on a newly pollarded Willow.

Snipe 

With our time up we walked back to the van in an appropriately timed cessation in the rain and packed up for the last bit of the holiday to drop people off at Bristol Parkway after a very successful and enjoyable few days away. 

The Official Bird List:
1	Mute Swan
2	Greylag Goose
3	Canada Goose
4	Egyptian Goose
5	Shelduck
6	Mandarin
7	Mallard
8	Gadwall
9	Pintail
10	Shoveler
11	Wigeon
12	Teal
13	Pochard
14	Ring-necked Duck
15	Tufted Duck
16	Pochard
17	Great Crested Grebe
18	Little Grebe
19	Cormorant
20	Bittern
21	Cattle Egret
22	Little Egret
23	Great White Egret
24	Grey Heron
25	Spoonbill
26	Red Kite
27	Marsh Harrier
28	Hen Harrier
29	Buzzard
30	Sparrowhawk
31	Goshawk
32	Kestrel
33	Peregrine
34	Water Rail
35	Moorhen
36	Coot
37	Common Crane
38	Oystercatcher
39	Avocet
40	Grey Plover
41	Lapwing
42	Dunlin
43	Redshank
44	Curlew
45	Snipe
46	Black-headed Gull
47	Common Gull
48	Herring Gull
49	Lesser Black-backed Gull
50	Great Black-backed Gull
51	Feral Pigeon
52	Stock Dove
53	Wood Pigeon
54	Collared Dove
55	Tawny Owl
56	Short-eared Owl
57	Kingfisher
58	Green Woodpecker
59	Great Spotted Woodpecker
60	Skylark
61	Water Pipit
62	Meadow Pipit
63	Pied Wagtail
64	Grey Wagtail
65	Dipper
66	Wren
67	Dunnock
68	Robin
69	Stonechat
70	Song Thrush
71	Redwing
72	Mistle Thrush
73	Blackbird
74	Fieldfare
75	Common Chiffchaff
76	Cetti's Warbler
77	Goldcrest
78	Firecrest
79	Great Tit
80	Blue Tit
81	Coal Tit
82	Marsh Tit
83	Long-tailed Tit
84	Nuthatch
85	Treecreeper
86	Magpie
87	Jackdaw
88	Rook
89	Carrion Crow
90	Raven
91	Jay
92	Starling
93	House Sparrow
94	Tree Sparrow
95	Goldfinch
96	Crossbill
97	Brambling
98	Chaffinch
99	Linnet
100	Greenfinch
101	Siskin
102	Bullfinch
103	Hawfinch
104	Reed Bunting