It's A Robin? It's A Wheatear? It's A Ringed Plover?!?

No, it was the Blyth's Pipit!

Such were some of the likenesses it showed when I toddled up Blagdon way yesterday.


Cracking little bird, if somewhat mobile...

Bigger, paler below, and a very different jizz to the Mipits

Coverts hard to see due to the scaps hanging over them

And so streaky above - almost like a Sedge Warbler..

All those legs, and it used them

It wasn't alone, either. All the birds there.. brilliant!

Like 10 Great White Egrets. TEN...

"How many??"

 

 "Two? No, he said ten!"

But that would mean bays of them....

Subtle? Moi?

And ten is the minimum figure..

Ten GWEs in view at a time.. [With another early flyover which could be 11, and another on the far side down near the dam that might be 12.. but 10 seems quite enough to me.]
Ahem.


Yeah, so all the egrets [only not, as we shall see]. Also 3 Bewick's Swans tarting about up the Top End;

One, two

Three

With a large cast of wildfowl also present, including Pintail, Goosander, Goldeneye, pleasing numbers of Pochard [there are some around], a flock of Shoveler, vast numbers of GC Grebes and Cormorants..
It was a lovely spot and a pleasure to be there.

Yeah, a 'turn up and there it is' Lifer wasn't bad, either.

After finding a Warden [and major respect to BW for letting the crowd twitch first and permit later, btw], I decided to wander over to CVL and see what was up there.



Even more birds! [Shock!]

Some quite close..

Yeah, another one..

There were at least 3 more GWEs at Chew; that one at Nunnery and one either side of Herriott's Bridge.
Yup, 13 for the day. Ye Gods and Little Fishies....

Also;

Showy Goosander

Some birds were very close indeed.

The real Teal.

Some were less close..

Those Barnies get everywhere..

Some were waaaaay off..

Seven o'clock from the white van [centre top] is a GC Grebe facing left

Eight o'clock from the grebe 

Three ducks in a row, below white van
[Note posing Tufty below dark van and compare]

Oh never mind....

Yeah, so lots of stuff on the Big Lake, too. At least 8 Goosander, 19+ Goldeneye, with Tufties and Pochard [and Coot!] in numbers, plus Gadwall and GC Grebes and.. You get the idea.
Waders were not at Blagdon [no sign of Little Stint], while at Chew I saw a Common Sand in Nunnery Bay and a scattering of Lapwings [a half dozen at Nunnery and a score at Herriott's]. Also plenty of gulls at both sites, with Common and LBB well represented [the latter mostly at Chew].


I did zip around to Herriott's* in a vain attempt to get better angle/distance/light on that last subject, but the weather had had enough of 'bright sun cold wind' and it absolutely tipped down on me, and so carried on until dark stopped play. [Not that it would have probably helped, the birds were well out even from there, and the vis isn't exactly great from the causeway anyway..]. I did see a couple more Pintail and the usual Shelducks on the other side, though.


Switching on shore, here's two other shots that had to be taken.

Roe Deer at Blagdon

Anyone else remember that one?

On my way back, I stopped off at Taunton Deane for a quick cuppa, and met this noisy lot;

Hmm, let's look closer;

No, those blobs aren't leaves..

They're wagtails!

It was quite dark and they were not sitting still, so all I can say is that there were lots. [I wasn't about to zap roosting birds with a flash, btw]



Be Seeing You..


[[*Yes, really I should have gone to Moreton..]]