Westhay, Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath, 22nd January 2005 (by Ann Crawford)
About a dozen hardy, or foolhardy, birders gathered at Westhay, I think slightly more in hope than in anticipation. It really was very grey, with poor visibility and rain threatening all the time. In fact it held off for most of the morning.
There were a lot of ducks about, in variety as well as a fair quantity. We saw one, or was it two Sparrowhawks overhead. The first one may have been something else as it was a bit big and fat; maybe she had had a rather large breakfast. The second had the very distinctive flap flap glide flight and was definitely the right size. This was the only Raptor that I saw, though there was great excitement about a Kestrel on a fairly distant reed, which turned out to be a teasel head. What we must have misidentified before the days of the scope. A Buzzard was seen by others.
There were a lot of Snipe around, both there and I have seen lots elsewhere. Mostly they are seen on the wing, as on the ground they are so well hidden. Is it a case of a lot of flighty youngsters, a lot over neurotic older birds, or just a lot of Snipe?
We had a wonderful view of 2 female and one male Reed Buntings, who were fossicking on a tall reed, mostly on the seed-head. They were near the side of the path so it was good to see them so clearly.
I did my usual trick of missing things. I was watching a Tufted Duck when someone looking in the opposite direction saw a Water Rail, and yes John did see it. Now he has seen one, he will probably see them whenever he goes out! I was later looking for/at a Great Spotted Woodpecker when a Kingfisher was sighted, so I missed that too.
Lunch was spent in the car while the rain beat down, so we were rather reluctant to start up again, but shortly after we did, it eased a bit. We spent a while looking for Firecrests in a scrubby bit, where they are known to live, and after several Goldcrests we saw one, then another and another. They are very active, busy little birds which are quite difficult to see.
We had an excellent view of a Male Goldeneye, stretching its neck and generally starting to think about pairing. It is a lovely smart bird and it is nice to get such a clear view. We saw a pair of Bulfinches on the banks of one of the wide ditches, the female was particularly co-operative.
We then retraced our footsteps to Shapwick Heath, to the new hide; by now it was pretty wet. The trees in front of the hide were full of Cormorants, just sitting there. We had an excellent view of a Goldcrest in the scrubby bit beside the hide. As it did not know we were there, it was happily working away, and a joy to see close up. There was a group of Geese, mostly Greylag, two Bean, which I could not identify and a large Farmyard escapee.
Carolyn saw a swan in the far reeds, which was different. .Well there were lots of swans all over the place in singles and most hiding their beaks. The 'scopers looked and look, but it kept hiding behind one of the larger island. Finally Dave found it, and it was a Whooper Swan. Well spotted Carolyn. They are about the same size as a Mute Swan, but have a much stiffer neck and upright stance, as well as the yellow beak, which is the normal way to identify it. They are winter visitors from Northern Europe and Siberia. They eat vegetation like pond weed grasses and clover.
By now the weather really was foul, so after a brief stop at the old hide, where we saw 2 Moorhens we called it a day. Wet in the afternoon it may have been, but it was a good day’s birding, and I saw over 50 different species and the group saw over 60.
Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order
BOU order Mute Swan Whooper Swan Bean Goose Greylag Goose Canada Goose Wigeon Gadwall Teal Mallard Shoveler Pochard Tufted Duck Goldeneye Goosander Little Grebe Great Crested Grebe Cormorant Little Egret Grey Heron Sparrowhawk Buzzard Water Rail Moorhen Coot Lapwing Snipe Black-tailed Godwit Black-headed Gull Herring Gull Wood Pigeon Collared Dove Kingfisher Green Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker Pied Wagtail Wren Robin Stonechat Blackbird Song Thrush Mistle Thrush Cetti’s Warbler Chiffchaff Goldcrest Firecrest Long-tailed Tit Coal Tit Blue Tit Great Tit Treecreeper Jay Magpie Rook Carrion Crow Starling Chaffinch Goldfinch Linnet Redpoll Bullfinch Reed Bunting