So, first thing on Sunday 15/11, we set off, stopping briefly at Gloucester services en-route. Twitter provided encouraging news of a Leach's already having gone past Severn Beach, excellent! On we went, getting good views of a Merlin unexpectedly zipping across the M5 near Tewkesbury. We arrived at the little village of Severn Beach in heavy winds (around 50mph according to the forecast).
We got our stuff together, before purposefully making our way to the shoreline, full of optimism! There were plenty of birders about and we soon got news of a Leach's a short way further east along the seawall, close to the bridge. It wasn't long before I got onto it busily flying around low to the choppy Severn waters. My first Leach's Petrel...wey hey!! After a couple of minutes it began to come closer...& closer...& closer, to the point where at speed, it shot over the heads of the several assembled birders and crashed into scrub the other side of the sea wall. Oh bugger!
Dan and another guy, a mate of Gareth's, headed into the bushes to take a look. After a few minutes, Gareth's mate re-appeared with the bird safely in his hand. He found it a little stunned sitting on the ground under the bushes. It was unsurprisingly a little shaken, but appeared undamaged and importantly alive. Pheww!
After a short bit of deliberation, the bird was passed onto local birder Paul Bowerman, who has plenty of previous experience in taking care of exhausted seabirds, living where he does. Into a shoe box it went and away to his house. It turned out the bird was 10 grams under weight, so was to be fed-up and hopefully released the following day.
So, on with the birding! The wind was pretty savage and soon sent my scope/tripod flying, much to my horror. Thankfully it was alright, but annoyingly has caused slight damage to the eyepiece...f**k it!
We set ourselves up under the seawall, largely out of the wind and began scouring the water. Increasing numbers of Kittiwakes were gathering offshore, totalling as many as 80 birds. Streams of Curlews headed west fairly regularly, as well as a few Turnstone. An adult Med Gull then flew around for a bit too.
A little while later, we caught sight of a bird flying east not too far offshore, probably just a Teal I thought before getting my bins on it. At the same moment my mind told me "that's no Teal", Dan shouted Black Guillemot! Flipping hell it was too, turning as it approached the bridge, showing it's frosty plumage & big white wing panels. How mega was that! Such an unusual bird for the area (later we found to be the 3rd ever!). While the numbers of birds weren't massive, the quality was pretty damn good! The boys were buzzing for it!
We took a wander under the bridge and a little further east towards Northwick Warth in an attempt to re-locate the Guillemot. But no luck, just tonnes of Wigeon and another lone Kittiwake.
With the tide swiftly heading out, our chances of further seabirds was probably diminishing, however we decided to give it one more go, while at the same time having a chat with the locals, a real friendly bunch. This turned out to be a good move as our second Leach's Petrel appeared a fair way offshore. It came a bit closer and we watched it darting around for a bit, ducking and weaving away from a local Herring Gull on it's tail!
A few minutes later it, or probably another was picked up very distantly over the water, this time with a good 20 big gulls chasing it. This one was probably doomed unfortunately! A lone Kittiwake then performed very well (below) very close to the seawall
We were just about to head off to try somewhere different when Dan picked up a distant Skua. It quickly became clear it was a Great Skua, slowly but surely coming closer. An adult, it was soon joined by a second bird, a first year. They ended up flying right over our heads and off inland roughly south-east. Cool!
Furthermore, a juvenile Gannet headed strongly up river soon after. It was all happening! We waited a little longer, but nothing further happened. So, we drove the short distance east to Northwick Warth and Pilning Wetlands.
Here, there were tonnes of Wigeon along the river shore, as well as a handful of Black Tailed Godwit, Curlews, Redshanks, Dunlin and a single Oystercatcher. A large boggy area between the river and Pilning wetland held lots of Pipits and Pied Wagtails. Sadly we couldn't track down the hoped for Water Pipit, however there was a single Rock Pipit in with the numerous Meadows. A pair of Stonechat were also seen nearby.
The main purpose of our visit here was the Glossy Ibis, present for a little while now. We got on the bird fairly promptly, watching it strutting about, actively feeding. This was in fact only my third Glossy so nice to see!
To be honest, that was pretty much it for the day. We had a bit of a look around nearby Aust Warth in the hope we may encounter a late after Short Eared Owl, however it was just too windy. But what a flipping quality day it'd had been!
A few minutes later it, or probably another was picked up very distantly over the water, this time with a good 20 big gulls chasing it. This one was probably doomed unfortunately! A lone Kittiwake then performed very well (below) very close to the seawall
We were just about to head off to try somewhere different when Dan picked up a distant Skua. It quickly became clear it was a Great Skua, slowly but surely coming closer. An adult, it was soon joined by a second bird, a first year. They ended up flying right over our heads and off inland roughly south-east. Cool!
Furthermore, a juvenile Gannet headed strongly up river soon after. It was all happening! We waited a little longer, but nothing further happened. So, we drove the short distance east to Northwick Warth and Pilning Wetlands.
Here, there were tonnes of Wigeon along the river shore, as well as a handful of Black Tailed Godwit, Curlews, Redshanks, Dunlin and a single Oystercatcher. A large boggy area between the river and Pilning wetland held lots of Pipits and Pied Wagtails. Sadly we couldn't track down the hoped for Water Pipit, however there was a single Rock Pipit in with the numerous Meadows. A pair of Stonechat were also seen nearby.
The main purpose of our visit here was the Glossy Ibis, present for a little while now. We got on the bird fairly promptly, watching it strutting about, actively feeding. This was in fact only my third Glossy so nice to see!
To be honest, that was pretty much it for the day. We had a bit of a look around nearby Aust Warth in the hope we may encounter a late after Short Eared Owl, however it was just too windy. But what a flipping quality day it'd had been!
No comments:
Post a Comment