03-01-26 Saturday - Red-breasted Merganser

Temp 01°C to 04°C - Overnight frost and felt cold all day.  Clear day with a slight breeze from the NNW of 6-13mph gusting to 20mph.

Calling all photographers -- the 2025 Avon Bird Report

As we have now entered 2026 planning and preparation has already begun for the next Avon Bird Report to be published in the autumn.  We are now using a full colour printing system and we will need a good range of photographs, some of these could be quite small (say a quarter page) while others  might be full page.  They need to have been taken in Avon in 2025. So if you have anything that you think might be suitable could you please send them to me at blacktgodwit@gmail.com  the e-mail address I use for all matters relating to the Report. Most will be in 'landscape' style but a few in 'portrait' are also welcome, we will use one of the best shots for the cover. Any of the usual print formats are acceptable.  Although the Report will not appear until the autumn we need to get started and so the earlier we receive your photos the better..  Finally I would like to extend this invitation to include both drawings and paintings.

White-fronted Goose

Ring-necked Duck

Red-breasted Merganser

Jack Snipe

Penduline Tit

Firecrest

BRISTOL

Blaise Estate - Kings Weston Drive:

2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Coal Tit, 9 Blue Tit. 8 Great Tit, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Firecrest, 4 Goldcrest, 1 Nuthatch, 1 Treecreeper, 3 Blackbird, 7 Robin

Bristol Cathedral Churchyard:

1 Raven, 1 Chiffchaff

Avocet, Lamplighters Marsh (David Minshall)

Lamplighters Marsh:

1 Oystercatcher, 50+ Avocet, 3 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, c10 Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 1 Song Thrush,  6+ Redwing, 8+ Linnet

Leigh Woods:

1 Firecrest

SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Penduline Tit and Reed Bunting, Aust Warth ( Caron Thornton-Trippit and Vera Carpenter)

Aust Warth:
1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Jack Snipe, 1 Kestrel, 3 Penduline Tit, 1 Stonechat, 2 Reed Bunting

Easter Compton:

1 Kestrel, c40 Rook, 5 Blackcap(1f, 4m), c50 Starling, 1 Song Thrush, 12 Redwing, 10 Fieldfare, 1 Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinch.

Iron Acton:

1 Shelduck (unusual inland flyover)

Yate - Coopers/Stanshaws Lake:

2 Gadwall, 9 Tufted Duck, 7 Goosander (3f,4m), 1 Kingfisher

Chipping Sodbury Common:
1 Teal (f), 7 Snipe, 4 Stock Dove, 1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Red Kite, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine

NORTH SOMERSET

Avon Bridge:

54 Avocet (N Somerset side)

Clevedon - Dowlais:
Scrape:

2 Teal, 1 Snipe

Estuary:

1 Grey Plover, 5 Curlew, 12 Turnstone, 500 Dunlin, 15 Redshank

Track:

6 Redwing

Nailsea - Towerhouse Wood:

1 Firecrest

Nailsea Moor:

2  Mallard, 1 Common Gull, 6 Cormorant,1 Little Egret, 3 Great White Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Song Thrush, 4 Stonechat, 2 Pied Wagtail, 5 Greenfinch, 1 Reed Bunting

Little Egret, Yatton - Little River (Emily Lomas)

Yatton - Little River:

34 Mute Swan, 1 Stock Dove, 8 Woodpigeon, 4 Moorhen, 2 Cormorant, 9 Little Egret, 2 Great White Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kingfisher, 5 Magpie, 3 Jackdaw, 5 Rook, 9 Carrion Crow, 4 Wren, 15 Starling, 7 Redwing, 5 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare, 5 Robin, 2 Stonechat, 1 Dunnock, 1 Pied Wagtail

Yatton - Wemberham:
38 Mute Swan, 3 Moorhen, 1 Cormorant, 3 Little Egret, 1 Great White Egret, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Green Woodpecker,  1 Skylark, 6 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Mistle Thrush, 4 Redwing, 4 Blackbird, 3 Robin, 2  Dunnock, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Reed Bunting

Red-breasted Merganser, Uphill (Merv Carylon)

Uphill - boating lake:

1 Red-breasted Merganser

BELOW M4 & BANES

Holm Meads - River Avon:

2 Canada x Greylag Goose (hybrid), 5 White-fronted Goose, 

Newton St Loe:
3 Teal, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Red Kite, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Raven, 1 Firecrest (1st since 2019), 1 Treecreeper, 3 Mistle Thrush, 40+ Redwing, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Stonechat

RESERVOIRS

Chew Valley Lake

Nunnery:
1 Ring-necked Duck

Marsh Harrier, Stratford (Lucy Masters)

Stratford:

6 Lapwing, 9 Cattle Egret (fly past), 1 Marsh Harrier (m), 1 Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Chiffchaff 

Reported by: Ruth, Dru Brooke-Taylor, Peter Bryant, Diana Bunniss, Merv Carlyon, Vera Carpenter, Mark Coller, Ben Crabb, Chris Craig, Emily Lomas, Lucy Masters, David Minshall, Lois Pryce, Trevor Riddle, Tony Scott, Howard Taffs, Caron Thornton-Trippit, Wayne Tucker, Penny Wills,

blagdonlakebirds, CVRS, opsbirding, severnsidebirds