22-03-19 Friday - Willow Warbler

Temp 9 to 12 ℃. Dull dry not too cold again, mostly Dull

Bar-headed Goose
Lesser Scaup
Bar-tailed Godwit
Little Gull
Skua
Short-eared Owl
Willow Warbler
Wheatear
Brambling

BRISTOL

Bishop Rd to Horfield Common:
5 Herring Gull, 1 LBB Gull, 13 Woodpigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 7 Magpie, 2 Jackdaw, 6 Carrion Crow, 4 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 2 Wren, 5 Starling, 5 Blackbird, 5 Robin, 15 House Sparrow, 5 Dunnock, 1 Greenfinch, 6 Goldfinch

Stoke Park:

2 Sand Martin

SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Oldbury Power Station WeBS:
16 Shelduck, 18 Wigeon, 24 Teal, 8 Tufted Duck, 36 Curlew, 35 Turnstone, 2 Peregrine, 4 Chiffchaff, 7 Redwing, 1 Wheatear, 1 Yellowhammer

Aust Wharf:
2 Short-eared Owl

22-3-19 Water Pipit at New Passage (Paul Bowerman)

NewPassage/Northwick Warth:
2 Bar-headed Geese, 1 Skua Sp drifting upstream 07.40, 1 Water Pipit

NORTH SOMERSET

Portbury Wharf:
1 Black-tailed Godwit, 45 Redshank, 1 Little Gull, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler (five days earlier than 2017), lots Chiffchaff, 5 Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting

Clevedon-Yeo:
265 Shelduck, 160 Wigeon, 105 Teal, 1 Gadwall, 10 Tufted Duck, 9 Cormorant, 5 Little Egret, 6 Grey Heron, 5 Little Grebe, 7 Coot, 12 Oystercatcher, 15 Lapwing, 3 Ringed Plover, 275 Curlew, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 15 Redshank, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Kestrel, 75 Sand Martin, 21 Skylark, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 14 Chiffchaff, 5 Wheatear, 460 Meadow Pipit, 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Reed Bunting

BELOW M4 & BANES

Oldland Common;
singing Blackcap

22-3-19 Green Woodpecker at Compton Dando (Chris Perry)

Compton Dando:
6 Pheasants, 1 Sparrowhawk, 11 Buzzards, 1 Tawny Owl, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 10+ Blue Tits, 10+ Great Tits, 5 Skylarks, 6 Long-tailed Tits, 8 Chiffchaffs, 2 Goldcrests, 1 Nuthatch, 8 Blackbirds, 3 Redwing, 2 Song Thrushes, 20+ Chaffinches, 15+ Goldfinch, 20+ Yellowhammers

Bath, Claverton Down:
5+ Brambling

RESERVOIRS

Blagdon Lake:

1 Lesser Scaup

The summer migrants table in the sidebar has been updated with today's Willow Warbler

The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS)  commences in April

The BBS is the main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s common breeding birds, providing an important indicator of the health of the countryside.  BBS trends (measuring increases/decreases in populations) are produced each year for over one hundred species, and the results are widely used to set priorities and inform conservation action.  More details can be found at www.bto.org/bbs .

Volunteers are needed for the next breeding season for the following squares in the Avon BTO Region.  Please contact me (dave.stoddard@tiscali.co.uk  (tel 0117 9246968)) if you would like to take on one of these.  Squares marked with an asterisk have not been surveyed previously as part of BBS.  They will be allocated on a 'first come first served' basis.–

B&NES ST5665 - S of Dundry ST5958 - White Cross, S of Bishop Sutton ST6159 -Farmland W of Clutton ST6356 - Hallatrow ST6954 - E Radstock * ST7057- Peasedown St John* ST7160 - Farmland N of Dunkerton * ST7257 - Wellow Road, E of Peasedown St John ST7264 - Twerton ST7368 - Nr Lansdown ST7559  - Twinhoe, NE of Wellow* ST7669 - SE of Charmy Down North Somerset ST3962 - Rolstone, E of St George's * ST4158 - N of Winscombe* ST4257 - Sidcot * ST4659 - Upper Langford* ST4668 - Chelvey (S of Nailsea)*

South Glos ST5485 - Severn Beach ST5580 - Hallen* ST6088 - Elberton ST6389 - SW Thornbury ST6873 - Bridgeyate Somerset (but in Avon BTO Region) ST3150 - N of Burnham-on-Sea* ST3650 - Levels South of Rooksbridge ST3754 - Levels S of Loxton* ST3850 - Levels W of Chapel Allerton* ST4456 -  S of Shipham * ST4651 - Cheddar Moor Drove* ST4953 - Cheddar Head* ST5050 - Westbury Beacon, Mendip* ST5153 - Yoxter Farm, Mendip ST5256 - Green Plantation, S. of Ubley

ST5454 - Lamb Bottom ST5650 - Tower Hill (E of Priddy (Mendip)) * ST5851 - Mendip, W of GreenOre* ST6050 - SW of Emborough (W of Old Down)* ST6054 - Farmland E of Litton ST6154 - NW of Ston Easton * ST6250 - N of Gurney Slade ST6251 - Old Down (Mendip) ST6750 - N of Holcombe (E of Stratton on the Fosse)* ST6850 - Lipyeate ST7050 - Wincanton Racecourse * ST7452 - Hardington & surrounding farmland  ST7652 - E of Hardington ST7853 - W of Woolverton (nr Rode but W of A36)*

The skills required to take part in the BBS are simply the ability to identify common birds by sight and sound.  A training morning (see below) is also available.  The time commitment is three mornings in the first year (one to assess the route/habitat) and then two in subsequent years.  Visits normally take between one and a half and two hours and are made early in the morning in the breeding season (April to about mid-June).  Returns can be made online and most people contributing to the survey find it a rewarding and worthwhile activity.

BBS Training Morning – Sunday 31 March 2019

We are holding a BBS training session on 31 March meeting outside Westbury-on-Trym Library (ST569773) at 7.30am.  Practical fieldwork will be followed by coffee and discussion.  We should be finished before 11am.  Please contact me if interested.  You are welcome to attend even if you have not yet decided to take on a square but simply want to know more about what is involved.

Local Breeding Bird Survey

We also use the basic BBS methodology to survey additional squares in the Avon BTO Region in order to get a more complete picture of our local bird populations.  Unlike the BTO’s National scheme you may choose any square of your choice though please check with me to avoid duplication.  You might like to consider doing the kilometre square around your home – additional urban/suburban squares would provide particularly valuable additional data.

If you are interested in taking on a square, wish to attend the training session or if you have any queries about any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes

Dave Stoddard

BBS Organiser for Avon

Reports: Adrian Adams, Blagdonlakebirds, Paul Bowerman, John Budd, BUPP, Paul Francis, Hayden James, Lisegirl, Andy Middleton, Nigel Milbourne, Chris Perry, Steve Sanins, Rich Scantlebury, Howard Taffs, Chris Vines, F D Williams