Friday 8 April 2016

Ham Wall etc - great afternoon's birding!

It started as a bad dip.... Reevesy and I were on out way down to Somerset when news came out late morning of a Stork flying over Thornbury, just as we were passing by that area..... we instinctively knew that was the Tealham Moor bird but carried on regardless! We were correct as well, it had flown off at 9.15 and another 4 hours were to elapse before the negative news was put out! Oh well, we thought, see if the Stork turns up somewhere, while we check out Ham Wall etc.....

There was an immediate result at Tealham with the Cattle Egret showing (not so) well!


But a little cracker in summer plumage, contrasting with this Little Egret....


And then after the short drive / walk to Meare Heath, where this one of four Great White Egrets were seen!


Yeah, that swan looked menacing!




But a good opportunity to check out the colour rings!




Drake Garganey, even more ditant than the Cattle Egret!


And as for the Glossy Ibis over at Ham Wall.... ditto!


We had two Bitterns in flight and just managed to get on to this one dropping in....


And then the photographs started evolve from 'record shots' as birds started to pose! We had heard several Cetti's Warbler and now one popped up (nearly) in the open!




Could we have turned a disastrous dip into a great afternoon's birding? Two other birds were about to show really well, coming in separate post.....