AUGUST 2009
30th - A Redstart was noted at the Clevedon-Yeo today.
29th - The only birds of note at Clevedon were a single Tree Pipit, a Whinchat and 7 Wheatears.
28th - Some seawatching today at Portishead and Clevedon. Portishead produced a single Arctic Skua which was later seen at Clevedon along with 7 Fulmars and 8 Golden Plover.
27th - At the Clevedon-Yeo today there were 4 Shelduck, 10 Teal, 7 Little Egrets, c10 Oystercatchers, 40+ Ringed Plover, 2 Sanderling, 40+ Dunlin, a Snipe, 70+ Redshank, 8+ Turnstones, 2 GBB Gulls, 5 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Wheatears and a Raven.
24th -PORTBURY WHARF: plenty of migrants here today, no doubt birds grounded by the rain:- 1 Hobby, 2 Sedge Warblers, c.20 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Wood Warbler (scarce in Avon in autumn) and 2 Lesser Redpolls.
23th - CLEVEDON COAST: highlights this morning at the Wain's Hill to Yeo Est leg were, 8 Mute Swans, 47 Canada Geese, 5 Teal, 80 Mallard, 42 Oystercatchers, 310 Ringed Plovers, 14 Knot, 2 Sanderlings, 120 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 5 Whimbrel, 120 Curlew, 80 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Kingfishers, 60 Swallow, 3 Wheatears and 50 Linnets.
22st - PORTBURY WHARF: the tide completely flooded the salt-marsh and most of the birds fled to the RPD area (see below). Around the bushes, 3 Blackcaps, 3 Whitethroats, 7 Chiffchaffs and 2 Willow Warblers. ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: High tide count, 135 Ringed Plover, c.300 Dunlin, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 74 Curlew, 100 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 Wheatears. CLEVEDON COAST: at the Wain's Hill-Yeo Est stretch today, highlights were:- 10 Knot, 1 Little Stint, 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Wood Sandpipers, 14 Yellow Wagtails and 4 Wheatears.
21st - ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: fewer birds were seen than might have been expected considering the tide, c.70 Ringed Plovers, 110 Dunlin, 22 Curlew and c.75 Redshank. PORTBURY WHARF: most of the salt-marsh was flooded due to the tide and there were no roosting shorebirds anywhere. Around the pools, the usual suspects still present , also 1 Common Sandpiper. Around the bushes, 4 Blackcaps, 4 Chiffchaff and a single Whinchat.
20th - ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: this morning's high tide count produced, 120 Ringed Plover (nearly all adults), 280 Dunlin, 73 Curlew, 110 Redshank, 1 Greenshank and 4 Common Sandpipers. PORTBURY WHARF: nothing new was noted on the pools this morning. At the sewage farm bushes, plenty of small birds grounded by the rain, at least 12 Willow/Chiffs*, 3 Whitethroats and many Blue and Great Tits (S Hale) *most appeared to be Chiffchaffs and only a few were the yellow Willow Warblers. CLEVEDON COAST: on the Wain's Hill to Yeo Est stretch this morning, 1 Mute Swan, 4 Shelduck, 140 Mallard, 2 Grey Heron, 15 Little Egrets, 1 Kestrel, 26 Oystercatchers, 240 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Stint (Yeo Est and the first of the autumn here), 280 Dunlin*, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 4 Whimbrel, 130 Curlew, 25 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 5 Common Sandpipers, 4 Turnstones, 650 Black-headed Gulls, 12 Herring Gulls, 1 Kingfisher (Blackstone), 12 Swallows, 2 Wheatears, 1 Raven and 40 Linnets. *including one leucistic bird with very pale buff/yellowish plumage
19th - ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: on this evening's high tide, 48 Ringed Plover, 68 Dunlin, 37 Curlew and a single Wheatear on the shoreline rocks. PORTBURY WHARF: on the pools, 1 Bar-headed Goose, 26 Canada Geese, 1 Great Crested Grebe and a Spotted Redshank of note. On the estuary at Chapel Pill, c.70 Redshank at high tide. The Bar-headed Goose is probably one of the birds reported on the Clevedon website recently. The Canadas are the resident flock from Portishead marina on an away-day. CLEVEDON COAST: at the scrape at Dowlais farm this evening there were 30 Ringed Plover and 43 Dunlin.
18th - PORTBURY WHARF: on the pools early am, 22 Little Grebes, 4 Shoveler plus the usual numbers of Coot, Gadwall, Tufted Ducks and Mallard. A Black-tailed Godwit present on the main island pool also. 1 Garden Warbler (elderberries) at the barns and the Little Owl calling here also. 2 Ravens and a juvenile Kestrel at the transformer station area and 2 calling juvenile Buzzards getting on the observer's nerves. 5pm sightings here: on the pools, the usual Great Crested Grebe was seen, at the Chapel Pill shoreline section, 11 Dunlin, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Spotted Redshank, 55 Redshank, 4 Common Sandpipers, 1 adult winter Mediterranean Gull and a Kingfisher were seen. Around the bushes, 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Chiffchaffs and 9 Long-tailed Tits noted.
17th PORTBURY WHARF: new on the radar this morning were 3 Shoveler on the main pool. The Great Crested Grebe and other usual riff-raff were also present. 4 Blackcaps clucking around the bushes. GORDANO VALLEY: the Gordano valley ringing station ran some nets this morning, ringing results as follows:- 5 Wrens, 2 Reed Warblers, 5 Blackcaps, 6 Garden Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 5 Willow Warblers, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Great Tits and 3 Bullfinches. There were also 10 retraps. The Reed Warbler return was very disappointing and there were no Sedge Warblers at all. By comparison, the Goldcliffe ringing group at their Uskmouth site had 73 Sedge Warblers and 52 Reed Warblers.
16th - ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: on this afternoon's high tide, 110 Ringed Plover, 100 Dunlin, 1 Black-tailed Godwit and a single Wheatear. PORTBURY WHARF: the 7th Little Grebe brood appeared on the pools here this morning, other than this it was very quiet (S Hale). Evening check produced 1 Great Crested Grebe, 10+ Little Grebes, 1 Little Egret, 2 Whimbrel and a Hobby. CLEVEDON COAST: noted on the Wain's Hill to Yeo Est stretch at low tide today ( a heroic effort!), 1 Mute Swan, 17 Canada Geese, 1 Teal, c.20 Mallard, 3 Grey Heron, 6 Little Egrets, 1 Buzzard, 1 male Kestrel, 35 Ringed Plover, 130 Dunlin, 6 Whimbrel, a few Curlew, 65 Redshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, 150 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Wheatears, 16 House Sparrows (Blackstone) and 50 Linnets. Clevedon pm: at the Channel View farm leg this afternoon, 100 Ringed Plover, 9 Knot and 200 Dunlin.
15th - ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: at the mouth of the Avon early pm, just 32 Ringed Plover and c.60 Dunlin. PORTBURY WHARF: the Great Crested Grebe plus the other usual suspects were present on the pools first thing this morning but no sign of any waders. A few warblers around the bushes, 6+ Blackcaps and 10+ Chiffchaffs.
14th - ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK: there was a significant influx of Ringed Plovers here today, 60+ counted on the high tide. Also present c.50 Dunlin and 39 Curlew. ORTBURY WHARF: a reasonable showing of birds first thing this morning, on the pools, 16+ Little Grebes, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Pochard (new bird), 15+ Tufted Ducks and 3 Common Sandpipers. Around the bushes and scrub, 1 Wheatear, 2 Cettis Warblers, 2 Blackcaps, 4 Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler. Also noted over the past 2-3 days has been a very small passage (birds heard not seen) of Ringed Plovers over the reserve fields and down the line of the Gordano valley. They have been heard over the barns at the end of Wharf lane.
12th - The two Bar-headed Geese still present.
11th - Today at the Clevedon-Yeo there were 15 Shelduck, 5 Little Egrets, 38 Ringed Plover, 2 Sanderling, 140 Dunlin, 120 Curlew (up the Yeo), 2 Redshank, 18 Turnstones, 200 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 9 Wheatears plus a few Linnets and passing Swallows. A bit of 'plastic' today with two Bar-headed geese making an appearance at Coleridge Vale Rugby/Football field Clevedon, thanks to Paul Williams for the pic.
9th - At Clevedon today there were 11 Little Egrets, 17 Oystercatchers, c225 Curlew, c40 Redshank, a Grey Plover (sum plum), c30 Dunlin, 11 Ringed Plover, 3 Common Sandpipers, 5 Turnstones, a Cetti's Warbler, a Redstart, 2 Bullfinch, 4 Whinchats and a Green and GS Woodpecker. No sign of the Wood Sand at Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve were there were 15+ Tufted Ducks (+ 2 broods) and Little Grebes present. 1A Little Owl was still at the barns and there were 2 Green Woodpeckers and 2 Blackcaps around the bushes.
7th - Wood Sand still present at Portbury Wharf.
6th - At the Clevedon-Yeo today there were 104 Canada Goose (!!!), 30 Shelduck 30, 2 Teal, 8 Little Egrets, 19 Oystercatchers, a Little Ringed Plover, 28 Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, a Snipe, 160 Dunlin, 7 Whimbrel, 80 Curlew, 55 Redshank, 4 Greenshanks, 2 Green Sandpiper, 16 Common Sandpipers, 3 Turnstones, 3 Wheatears and 45+ Linnet. The Wood Sandpiper was still at Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve along with a Spotted Redshank, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Whimbrel and a Barn owl. Thanks to Chris Stone for the pic of the Wood Sand.
5th - At Clevedon today there
were 7 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Wheatears, 3 Whimbrel, c100 Dunlin and 10+ Ringed
Plover. Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve had another sighting of a Wood
Sandpiper along with 11 Dunlin, a Black-tailed Godwit, 38 Curlew, a Spotted
Redshank, 65 Redshank, 3 Common Sandpipers, 20 Little Grebes, 2 Wigeon and 15
Tufted Ducks. Inside the Royal Portbury Docks this morning there were 11
oystercatchers, 42 Dunlin, 38 Curlew, 2 Common Sandpipers, an adult Med Gull and
a Wheatear. Things are certainly picking up.
3rd - A party of 18 Wigeon were seen at Portbury Wharf along with one each of Green and Common Sandpipers.
2nd - No sign of the Wood Sand today at Portbury where there were 14 Tufted Ducks, 2 Gadwall, 12 Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Curlew, a Little Egret (still quite uncommon here), c20 Linnet and plenty of common Warblers. Noticeable passage of Hirundines all afternoon over Portishead. Clapton Moor was deserted!
1st - A good start to the month with a Wood Sandpiper seen at Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve today, also here were 2 Common Sandpipers and a teal, it would appear birds are on the move!