Tuesday 16 October – Uphill Leader Jane Cumming

On an overcast but very mild day, seventeen people gathered at Uphill beach despite the threat of being made to
count ducks and waders all morning. The beach here at the mouth of the River Axe is so flat that there is a huge
difference between the height of the spring and neap tides. Today’s high tide got nowhere near the sea defences
and Black Rock was hardly surrounded by water at all. This allows a lot of waders to hide in the long grass across
the river without getting flushed out to higher ground so it’s difficult to know whether we managed to see them all.
We only saw 30 Dunlin but there could have been a lot more in deep vegetation on the Brean Down side. We
started with the very numerous Shelducks scattered across the estuary, making a rough count of 380. Freshwater
duck numbers were lower with 60 Mallard, 31 Teal (mainly on pools and along the muddy banks of the Axe) and
42 Wigeon, just back for the winter. We turned our attention to the Oystercatchers, some on Black Rock and
others scattered about the tidal margins, and got to 69 of those, with a few Black-tailed Godwits feeding amongst
them – eight at the final count. There were very few Curlews, only nine for certain, but at least 35 Lapwings
feeding on the tidal mud and well over 150 Redshank in small parties along the river’s edge. We walked over the
salt marsh towards the marina. A Sparrowhawk shot low over our heads and swooped up to do battle with a
Kestrel over the marshes. There was the usual wintering Little Grebe on the freshwater pool by the caravan park,
but no sign of the Black Redstart that sometimes spends the winter around the quarry. Along the hedgerow we
looked and listened for small birds; the tit flock included a Chiffchaff but all the Redwings were flyovers, not
settling in the berry bushes. On Walborough Hill we scanned the river, where we had better views of a couple of
Little Egrets and roosts of mainly Black-headed Gulls of which there were about 450 all told. No Mute Swans – the
winter herd is not back yet. Hundreds of Starlings were flying in close formation, some swirling around over the
Levels, others apparently moving north-east overhead. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits drifted over the hilltop in
small groups. Those with telescopes picked out a couple of Roe Deer browsing peacefully in the meadows behind
Brean. It was a pleasant if not an outstanding morning. The numbers of birds using the estuary are starting to rise
towards winter levels, but there will certainly be more next time. (Thanks to Jane for leading) Jane Cumming