Somerset Levels and The Forest of Dean for Oriole Birding - 8th March 2026

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 Track before 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.