Birding The Levels

With our success on the 31st December with the Blue Rock Thrush Jackie and I took a trip down to the Somerset Levels to check out the Starling murmuration. 

We arrived mid morning and didn't waste much time before heading off towards Noah's Lake on the Shapwick Heath reserve.  Starting birding in the car park we checked off many of the common species before we really got going.  Though as we crossed the road and walked past the alders we had our first of several Chiffchaff that we would see during the day.  The reserve was fairly quiet on our walk out only recording just a few waterfowl, a few Pintail flying over, a single Stonechat and Redwing, also our first sighting of a Great White Egret of the day flying over.  

Great White Egret © Nick Hull

From the Noah's hide there was good numbers of wildfowl on the lake but limited in number of species. Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Duck predominated with Mute Swan, Greylag Geese and Cormorant in lesser numbers.  We were treated to close views of a Water Rail which kept dashing out from its reed cover to snap up small fish that was rippling the calm water near to the hide.  We heard that the Whooper Swans were in the far right corner of the lake but they couldn't be seen from our location so we headed off in search of view of these super northern breeding swans.  In fact we didn't have far to walk just a few hundred metres and we were able to scope an adult Whooper out on the lake.  

Pied Wagtail © Nick Hull

We lunched in good company with Stonechat and various tit species coming and going at the feeders and this female Pied Wagtail was hanging around waiting for us to move on so she could feed on any crumbs we'd left.  So after finishing lunch we set off to explore Ham Wall.  It's hard to imagine most of all this reserve has been transformed from a peat extraction site to extensive reed beds with areas of open water ideal for Bittern, wildfowl and harriers and many reed nesting species in summer.  Walking to to the first viewing platform it didn't take us long before we saw our first Marsh Harrier, a stunning male, also our second Great White Egret which seemed to be coming into breeding plumage showing plumes. We moved on towards the second viewing platform checking off Goldcrest, more Chiffchaff and Reed Buntings.  On the open water there were Shoveler and Gadwall and we came across a small roost of three Great White Egrets with two Grey Heron and a Little Egret.  On reaching the platform I was watching two male Marsh Harrier when Jackie called my attention to a flock of finches feeding in an alder to my rear.  She said "I'm sure I just heard Redpoll" after a scanning through a number of Goldfinch I spotted two Lesser Redpoll and soon got Jackie onto them a good bird to get as they seem to be a little scarce this year.  

Time was by now getting on and it was thought that the Starlings would start arriving around 16:00hrs as it was a very bright day, so we started back towards the first platform.  By the time we reached the first platform people were arriving to see the murmuration so we joined them and waited.  It was about half an hour before we saw the first single Starling arrive, then a few groups then one or two large flocks and then came several really massive flocks.  These flocks you would have been happy to see murmuring and thinking Wow! but once all these joined together all the sky that we could see had Starling several deep in it.

Starling Murmuration in the setting sun - Ham Wall © Nick Hull

The birds were roosting in two main areas one opposite us at the first platform and the others maybe larger numbers going in behind the second platform.  They certainly put on a spectacle for the many people that were watching probably up to a thousand people were stretched along the path, it just shows the effect that a single TV programme can do.

Starlings still arriving after the sun had set.