Saturday 25 April 2020

25-04-20 Saturday - Arctic Skua

Temp 11 to 21°C - a warm and sunny day

Arctic Skua, "Commic" Tern 
Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit 
Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher, Swift 
Wood Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, 
Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit

BRISTOL


25-04-20 Grey Heron, Eastville Park (Jon Mortin)

Eastville Park:
6 Mute Swan, 3 Moorhen, 3 Coot (& 7 chicks), 1 Herring Gull, 6 LBB Gull, 1 Grey Heron, Kingfisher

St Andrews Park:
1 Jay

Crews Hole:
Peregrine, chased by two gulls

Cycling in Bristol:
Some Garden Warblers and Whitethroats heard

Stapleton:
1 Cuckoo - a great garden record!

Blaise Estate:
1 Spotted Flycatcher


25-04-20 Coot family, Eastville Park (Jon Mortin)

An interesting conundrum sent in...
My wife's parents live at Henbury. If you walk down to the shops there, you come across quite reasonable numbers of Rooks, walking around on the grass and on the pavements. I live at Westbury-on-Trym but all I ever see are Carrion Crows, particularly common in Badocks's Wood, where I counted 47 on both my last two visits. But there are no Rooks either there or anywhere else in and around Henleaze. Today though, three Rooks flew low over our garden - a long awaited garden tick! It seems odd that the two species are so well and truly separated.

SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE

25-04-20 Long-tailed Tit nest, Chipping Sodbury (Peter Bryant)

OPS:
1 imm. Arctic Skua (upriver)

Severn Beach:
3 Shelduck, 2 Gadwall, 5 Mallard, 11 BH Gull, 10 "Commic" Tern, 2 Arctic Skua (one pale phase & one dark phase - upriver), 2 Curlew, 1 Swallow, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Whitethroat

Siston, Webbs Heath:
Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 6+ Whitethroat, 1 Greenfinch

Tubbs Bottom Bridge:
3 Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 2 Raven, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Whitethroat, 2 Grey Wagtail

Hortham:
1 Buzzard, c. 30 Starling, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Swallow, lots of Chifchaff, 1 Whitethroat
25-04-20 Chiffchaff, Hortham (Vera Carpenter)

NORTH SOMERSET

Portishead:
10 Raven, 2 Siskin (ringed)

Clevedon (Garden):
1 m Mallard, 6 Swift, 5 Sparrowhawk sightings (possibly same bird), 3 Buzzard, 2 Raven

Clevedon (Dowlais):
1 Egyptian Goose, 30 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 30 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Sparrowhawk (an influence on the diminished number of waders...)

Easton-in-Gordano:
Green Woodpecker, 2 Rook, 3 Skylark, Long-tailed Tit, Blackcap - on feeder in the garden yesterday, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Yellowhammer

Sand Bay/Point:
74 Whimbrel, 7 Curlew, 8 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Knot, 100+ Dunlin, Redshank, 10 Swallow, Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Yellow WagtailTree PipitLesser RedpollSiskin

Woodspring Priory:
Wood Warbler

Weston-super-Mare:
2 Swift, many Buzzard, many Swallow, 7 sp. of warbler heard, 1 Grey Wagtail

Bleadon (Hellenge, Bleadon and Purn Hills):
1 Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat (all three warblers in song), many Dunnock, Linnet

BELOW M4 & BANES

Bath, Lansdown:
8 Skylark, 9 Swallow, 3 Willow Warbler, 10 Chiffchaff, 12 Blackcap, 3 Garden Warbler, 8 Whitethroat, 6 Starling, 5 Mistle Thrush, 4 Wheatear, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Linnet

25-04-20 Buzzard, Lansdown (Robert Hargreaves)

Newton St Loe:
No Whooper Swan, 2 Canada Goose, 5 Buzzard, 1 Raven, 5 Starling, 16 Swallow, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 5 Whitethroat, 1 Bullfinch, 3 Greenfinch, 1 Yellowhammer

Hanham Lock:
Not a bird but...1 Common Seal (eating a Chub this morning)

Publow & Pensford:
1 Swift, 1 Dipper

Highfield Lodge Farm:
1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Dipper (Wick Weir)

Dundry:
Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Whitethroat

Paulton:
Swift (and more over the houses), 2 Stock Dove, 1 Buzzard, 8 Skylark, 2 Swallow, 2 House Martin (and more over the houses), 2 Whitethroat, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Linnet, 3 Yellowhammer

Whitchurch:
1 Peregrine - hunting unsuccessfully

RESERVOIRS

Closed

Lockdown Updates

Home Patch 6 Caledonia Place, Clifton - a re-run of a Bird News series from 2018, apt for the present

Cryptic Puzzle 3

2018 BOC QUIZ - large variety of questions. Now with answers at the bottom

Reports: Rich Andrews, Peter Bryant, Karle Burford, Vera Carpenter, Judy Copeland, Peter Coslett, Barry Dursley, William Earp, Lee Gardiner, Patrick Hancock, Robert Hargreaves, Peter Hazelwood, Adrian Hockey, David Howes, Matt Hull, Nigel Jones, Timothy Marks, John Mortin, Michael Moxon, Phil Quinn, Dean Reeves, Paul Sawyer, Tony Scott, Howard Taffs, Martin Tayler, Keith Vinicombe, Jason Williams, Paul Williams blagdonlakebirdsBUPPCVRSnsl-birding, opsbirding, severnsidebirdsTBOSG