JANUARY 2005
30th - The Cattle Egret was still present this morning, otherwise on the coast at Clevedon it was quiet with only 4 Short-eared Owls and a Black-tailed Godwit of note. Two Chiffchaffs were still present in the farmyard near the Hand Stadium. In the Gordano valley this morning a Marsh Tit was seen at Weston Moor. Portbury Wharf produced 2 Water Pipits, female Goldeneye, c250 Lapwing, 10 Tufted Ducks and 2 Little Grebes. Two Purple Sandpipers are still at Battery Point and an adult Med Gull was seen on the sea here.
29th - The Cattle Egret was seen again this morning at Kingston Seymour after several days of not being reported. On the coast at Clevedon a Short-eared Owl, Spotted Redshank and a Black-tailed Godwit were seen. A Jack Snipe was in the Wains Hill marsh. A Tree Sparrow and 2 Chiffchaffs were in the farmyard near the hand stadium. Two Purple Sandpipers were at Battery point at high tide this morning. A Woodcock was seen in the Gordano valley at dusk.
28th - A brief trip to Portbury Wharf this afternoon showed that the new pools were virtually devoid of birds with only c30 Lapwing and 4 Mute Swans seen. Heavy machinery is currently operating in the area and it is very muddy going.
27th - On the coast at Clevedon today there were 4 Little Egrets, 140 Wigeon, 40 Teal, Peregrine, Merlin, 22 Oystercatchers, 4 Ringed Plover, 34 Grey plover, 550 Lapwing, 750 - 800 Dunlin, 1 Bar-Wit, 170 Curlew, 115 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 23 Turnstones and 2 Stonechats. No reports of any Waxwings in the area or the Cattle Egret.
25th - The only news received today was of the Cattle Egret, which was seen mid afternoon at Kingston Seymour.
24th - The Goldeneye is still at Portbury Wharf and a Chiffchaff was seen here. A Woodcock was seen in the Gordano valley. The Cattle Egret remained with 22 Little Egret at Kingston Seymour this morning.
23rd - Forget the Cattle Egret (still there) the best news today was that I now have Waxwing on my garden list! After visiting Easton first thing this morning to view c150 Waxwing, I returned to Portishead where 21 Waxwing were in the Co-op car park trying to feed on a very small Rowan tree in the middle of the car park. Returning home to the top of Portishead 7 Waxwing were feeding 5mtrs from my front door and the photo's below are from them. In other news there was a Water Pipit, Jack Snipe, 2 Snipe and 10 Linnet at Wains Hill, Clevedon. At Portbury Wharf there was a Goldeneye, 6 Tufted Duck, 3 Shoveler and 3 Little Grebes.
22nd - No Waxwings were seen at Portishead in a brief search this morning. Poor weather prevent further searching this afternoon. The Cattle Egret, now in it's 19th day was reported from Kingston Seymour. At the Clevedon Yeo there was a Spotted Redshank, 30 Black-tailed Godwits were seen briefly before flying upriver, 6 Snipe and a female Merlin. c500 Waxwing were seen in the area of Lower Ashley Road and Pennywell Road in Bristol today!
21st - A group of 7 Waxwings were seen at Portishead health centre first thing this morning and these or another group of 6 were in Trees near St Peters School as well.
20th - The Cattle Egret was still at Kingston Seymour today along with 12 Little Egrets. The region is experiencing a mass influx of Waxwings at the present moment in time and 7 were seen near Brampton Way and 6 at Albert Road, Portishead this afternoon. For those without access to birds lines etc.. Waxwings have been seen today at Brandon Hill (50), Easton (150), Nailsea (25 at Somerfield), Long Ashton (Birdwell school, 7), keep an eye out!
19th - Waxwing everywhere!!! After seeing 29 this lunchtime in Bristol a further 47 were reported late this afternoon near Portishead health centre, local patch watchers will be on the ground early tomorrow morning. No report either way of the Cattle Egret today. The pictures below were of the Waxwings in Bristol.
18th - The Cattle Egret was again present with 15 Little Egrets at Kingston Seymour today. A two hour sea-watch this morning produced no sea-birds despite the strong winds.
17th - The only news today was of the long staying Cattle Egret in the same place at Kingston Seymour.
16th - The Cattle Egret was again seen at Kingston Seymour this morning. On the coast at Clevedon there was a Black-tailed Godwit, Shoveler, 12 Pintail and the usual other waders. In the farmyard near the Hand Stadium there was at least one Tree Sparrow and a Chiffchaff. The Blind Yeo had five redhead Goosander. In the Gordano valley 4 Shoveler and a Stonechat were seen. Two Purple Sandpipers were seen at Battery Point at high tide.
15th - The Cattle Egret is now into it's 12th day at Kingston Seymour. A Little Owl was also in the same area. The sea wall at Clevedon was quiet due to the actions of wildfowlers but a few waders and three Pintail were seen. A Tree Sparrow and a Chiffchaff were in the area of Davis Lane, Clevedon and this evening a Tawny Owl was located in the Gordano Valley. A male Goosander was seen on the Blind Yeo this afternoon.
14th - The Cattle Egret was present in the same area with 9 Little Egrets this morning.
13th - The Cattle Egret remained in the area of Broadstone/Middle Lane at Kingston Seymour today.
12th - No sign of the Cattle Egret this morning, however 24 Little Egrets are in the area around Channel View Farm. On the coast at Clevedon there was 5 Pintail, 2 Shoveler, 1 Short-eared Owl, 3 Black-tailed Godwits and c2500 Lapwing over Woodspring Bay. Wader numbers generally are low with only c50 Dunlin seen.
11th - The Cattle Egret was reported in the usual field this morning with 5 Little Egrets.
9th - The Cattle Egret remained loyal to the field near the junction of Middle and Broadstone Lane along with half a dozen Little Egrets. A Brief visit to the coast at Clevedon produced c200 Dunlin, 13 Grey Plover, a few Ringed Plovers, Peregrine, two Short-eared Owls, another three Little Egrets and five Stonechats. A Kingfisher was seen at Wains Hill and one or two Tree Sparrows and a Grey Wagtail were in the Farm Yard near the Hand Stadium.
8th - The Cattle Egret is still at Kingston Seymour this morning along with 26 Little Egrets. The storm force winds overnight produced a very welcome Sabines Gull and a Great Skua, 2 Kittiwakes from Ladye Bay along with two Ravens. A Short-eared Owl was seen at the Clevedon Yeo, thanks to Nigel Milbourne for the picture.
7th - The Cattle Egret was located at Kingston Seymour again today keeping company with an Avon record count of 27 Little Egrets. It was last reported to be showing at the junction of Broadstone Lane and Middle Lane. Thanks to Paul for snatching my record count of Egrets after only holding it for 5 days! Two Purple Sandpipers are still at Battery Point, Portishead.
6th - The Cattle Egret continued it's stay at Kingston Seymour. A Woodcock was a good find in the Gordano Valley this evening.
5th - The Cattle Egret was still present east of Channel View Farm at Kingston Seymour today. Thanks to Jim Payne for the picture. At the Yeo the Spotted Redshank was seen along with a Merlin and a Short-eared Owl. Two Purple Sandpipers were seen at Battery Point, Portishead ( only turn up at high tide to stand any chance of seeing these birds ).
4th - A fantastic find this morning was a Cattle Egret at Kingston Seymour, it was located in field near the Perfect Bite Cafe and showed well in amongst (very appropriately) the cows. A great patch tick, many thanks to Chris Craig for finding it and letting the local patch watchers know, here's hoping it stays for a least a few days. Apologies for the poor photo quality, but it was overcast and drizzling at the time. Five Short-eared Owls were on the coast along with 10 Little Egrets, 36 Grey Plover and a few Turnstones.
3rd - Three red head Goosander were seen on the Blind Yeo this morning, and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Sparrowhawk were seen in Clevedon Court Wood. The count of 22 Little Egrets yesterday has been confirmed as a new record for the old area of Avon. A pair of Blackcaps were in a Clevedon garden this morning.
2nd - On the way to the Clevedon-Yeo this morning I counted a flock of 22 Little Egrets at the water works at Kingston Seymour, this is a record for the Clevedon Yeo area, does anyone know of a higher count for the old county of Avon? In addition to this 5 more were counted around 30 minutes later at the top of the Yeo, giving the possibility of 27 in the area. Also seen at the Yeo were Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Merlin, two Kittiwakes, 30 Grey Plover, 25 Turnstone and the usual number of other waders. Short-eared Owl numbers appear to have increased to 5 after a sighting by another observer this morning. Four Goosander were on the Blind Yeo. A great sighting this afternoon was a Great Northern Diver seen from Ladye Bay flying out.
The Goldeneye is still at Portbury Wharf and 4 Ravens flew over.
1st - Around 75 species were seen today in the Clevedon and Portishead area, the highlights were; Water Pipit and Goldeneye at Portbury Wharf. Two Purple Sandpipers were present at Battery Point at high tide. At Clevedon the gull did well with Yellow Legged and Med seen. Also there Peregrine, Merlin and Short-eared Owl. Two Tree Sparrows and Two Chiffchaffs were in the farmyard neat the Hand Stadium, Clevedon, the Tree Sparrows were very welcome as they have not been seen for many months. A Goosander was on the Blind Yeo.
