Saturday 08 August – Chew Valley Lake

Twelve members met at Herriott’s Bridge on a fairly warm and sunny morning. There were a number of Black-tailed Godwit and Lapwing in the Pool on the opposite side to the main lake along with Gadwall, Teal, and a small number of Shoveler. A female Goldeneye was spotted by Louise,-well done, and later we all had close views of the male. A Kingfisher darted across the pool to end the stop and then we moved on to Stratford Hide. Whilst there we had Great Crested Grebe, Shelduck, Tufted Duck and Pochard all feeding nearby. In the reeds we had a Reed Bunting and also a Reed Warbler was noted. Just before we left the hide we observed a single Greenshank and a small number of Green Sandpiper. We then moved off on foot to the Moreton Hide and on the way had Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, and a Common Whitethroat. A Sparrowhawk made a slow pass over the trees as well as a distant soaring Buzzard and a croaking Raven was noted. In the hide our leader located a small number of Black Tern as well as two Common Tern, all observed dipping in the lake opposite the hide. We then walked back to our cars at Stratford and drove to Heron’s Green. In the bay we had Little Grebe, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Grey Heron and numerous Pied Wagtails. This was a morning only meeting and as the time had moved past 13:00 hrs the members started to disperse. It was nice to see a number of new members present who told the leader that they looked forward to going out with the Club again. The total number of species seen during this meet was 42. (Our thanks to Charles for leading this most enjoyable morning’s birding.) Charles Stapleton.