The day before storm Ciara was beautiful, just right for joining a group privileged to visit an RSPB hide not normally open to the public, (for complicated reasons). West Sedgemoor is just about the southernmost extent of the Somerset Moors and Levels, and much of it is an RSPB reserve, acquisition of which has been built up over the decades. This means the RSPB is now able to control the water levels, to the advantage of wildlife of course, by the management of sluices, these days remotely.
We were given this information en route to the hide, having stopped here to overlook part of the moor.
And before we reached the hide we saw, looking right,
A Great egretA swan family, a species often seen on the Levels; sometimes dozens of them in one fieldA field full of lapwings. I heard that there are 35,000 here some winters.‘Common’ cranes. Not so common here though. There has been a very successful reintroduction scheme on Sedgemoor in recent years, and these were the first I had seen of them.
Also seen en route, looking left:
Burton Pynsent Monument. Pynsent was a successful 18th century cider businessman. To the great displeasure of his family, he left his estate to Pitt the Elder, in gratitude for the latter’s approach to cider tax laws! The monument was erected by the statesman, presumably to show his own gratitude.The hideThe view directly ahead of me from my spot in the hide. Thank goodness for binoculars, and a zoom on my camera!
We stayed for about 90 minutes. Here are some of the dozens and dozens of photos I took. It should be said that nearly all of them were taken with my camera on its maximum zoom. The other caveat I would make is that there were too many people to make it easy to ask our expert leader for identifications, so some of them given here are tentative. I hope a knowledgeable reader may offer suggestions and corrections.
Just a few lapwingsWigeon (?)Greylag geese (?)The glossy green flashes on the wing identify these as teal.Great egrets, Canada geeseThere are pintail ducks hereNot starlings, but lapwings…… spooked by this, a marsh harrier,Someone said that there were 35,000 lapwings wintering on the moor.Two Marsh harriers, a raven(?), lapwings, and the village of Stoke St GregoryThere was said to be a Peregrine putting the birds up as well, but I think these (see also the flat one at 4 o’clock to the main one) are Marsh harriers.(?)Way over to my left, hundreds and hundreds of ducks of various kinds, impossible for me to identify at the distance, and blurred even more by the requirement of the blog host for a very reduced number of pixels A final look at some Little egrets, and it was time to leave
We are up in the foothills of the Cascade Range, with the Pacific about 2 hrs away to the west. we do get a lot of Canada geese with the rivers and lakes.
We had a gorgeous day pre-Ciara too – and what a lovely place to spend it! Helen lives beside a wildfowl reserve in Co Wexford and we visited the hide on the one near Wexford town one year but didn’t see anything like these numbers! Great shots!
Quelle belle journée pré-tempête. Les oiseaux aussi en profitaient, une chance pour toi ! Peut-être certains étaient-ils des bernaches cravant (Brant Goose) ? Une espèce commune en hivernage dans le Golfe du Morbihan, mais leur nombre a malheureusement terriblement baissé ces dernières années.
Ciara a soufflé bien fort ici aussi, mais le plus gros est passé plus au nord. As-tu eu à en souffrir ?
Personally I didn’t suffer from Ciara, and we got off fairly lightly in Somerset. Staying indoors for one day was no hardship. As for the geese – I await hopefully the advice from an LPO expert. (For English music fans, that’s the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, not the London Philharmonic Orchestra!)
The calm, beautiful day before the storm! I enjoyed the virtual tour of the reserve.
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Perhaps a rather different landscape from around your way?! Not to mention fauna and flora…
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We are up in the foothills of the Cascade Range, with the Pacific about 2 hrs away to the west. we do get a lot of Canada geese with the rivers and lakes.
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Sounds lovely!
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We had a gorgeous day pre-Ciara too – and what a lovely place to spend it! Helen lives beside a wildfowl reserve in Co Wexford and we visited the hide on the one near Wexford town one year but didn’t see anything like these numbers! Great shots!
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Thanks Olive. Sometimes I wish I had a bigger camera, but this one I can just sling around my neck with my binoculars.
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Sounds and looks like a most exciting day out. Thanks for sharing.
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It was very stimulating in a gentle way!
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So glad you had such lovely weather for your visit, and saw such a variety of birds. Exciting to see those marsh harriers.
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A real treat.
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What a treat. It must be good to see lapwings. They have all but disappeared from round Langholm.
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It was thrilling. My favourite bird.
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Quelle belle journée pré-tempête. Les oiseaux aussi en profitaient, une chance pour toi ! Peut-être certains étaient-ils des bernaches cravant (Brant Goose) ? Une espèce commune en hivernage dans le Golfe du Morbihan, mais leur nombre a malheureusement terriblement baissé ces dernières années.
Ciara a soufflé bien fort ici aussi, mais le plus gros est passé plus au nord. As-tu eu à en souffrir ?
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Personally I didn’t suffer from Ciara, and we got off fairly lightly in Somerset. Staying indoors for one day was no hardship. As for the geese – I await hopefully the advice from an LPO expert. (For English music fans, that’s the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, not the London Philharmonic Orchestra!)
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