Avalon

The Levels in winter are a wonderful place. Even when it's bone freezingly cold or tipping down.

When the mistyfog strikes, the place gets seriously mythic

Pictures can't get even get close to expressing the magic of the place.


Of course, they also don't show the 0° at sunrise, the interesting mix of ice and mud underfoot, or the wonderful bouquet of the latter... Let alone the vexation in hunting a Ferruginous Duck in that visibility. It pains me to admit, but if I'd just been there to amble, I'd have had more fun. Not to say that I didn't. Oh no, not at all. It just would have been better if the Fudge had behaved.

Scwewy duckth and all that.



But the Fudge did not behave. Yes, spoilers and all that.
There were also reports of a RND about, and while he was a slippery bleep, I did eventually get him, at range, in the rain.

Gotcha.

Furthermore, there were reports of a Scaup. Hmm, went I. Scaup amongst the reeds, eh?

I managed to find that. And it was.. this;

'Greater Scaup'??

I do not think so.

Some patient pursuit [of the Fudge] led to this;

Yes, it is indeed an
Absolute Classic example of

Tufted Duck x Pochard

:D
Note the smooth grey back - not vermiculated or finely barred - and of course the Tufted Duck style bill!

I didn't just sit and wait at 'the spot' - or 'the spots' in this case - I was properly proactive and stalked about in the mist. I saw a few things, though not a sniff of a white-eyed Pochard.

Wait a minute.. you're not a Beardie!

Every blind approached with care

Yeah, no end of those mystic mist shots

Snipe

Floating Shoveler

Gadwall

Grrrrreat

The RND went thattaway...

Close bird! Gasp!

Lovely female ReedBunt

Mr Marshie

Yes, he's posing in front of Glastonbury Tor...

I went so far as to check over at Shapwick, in case the Fudge had snuck over there. When the sun magically came out, I could see - after a lot of scoping - that no it hadn't.


Another report I chased, twice, which ended up with me stood in the rain trying to get my dratted camera to focus through reeds, was of this;

This one wasn't Mute

Though it did get beaten up by one

Then the glorious Whooping Whooper drifted off amongst the reeds of Noah's and met.. Another! :)

You can just see bill pattern on r/h bird

They've switched, but again you can see different [it's the one up there] bill pattern

So two Whooper Swans. Very nice.

Not just Whoopers on Noah's, but an awful lot of ducks, mostly Wigeon

Dots in the drizzle

Ducks in the mist

The second shot from my earlier visit to Noah's, when the mist was there and then.. just gone. Very impressive use of the 'off' switch, as I later congratulated the RSPB bods ;)  There were a fair few Pintail, plus Shoveler, Tufty, Teal, and a lone female Goldeneye with the Wigeon horde. Also the inevitable Canadas, Mutes, and a few GC Grebes.

Speaking of Noah's..

Chevron shaped hide

Though unfortunately it also has many of the same problems as the Avalon Hide on HW; untreated wood already warping [one window couldn't be shut], lots of unused internal space [with football marks on the wall - that much room] but most of all the 'more wall than window' thing again..
You can see the one side window - it's too high and not wide enough for two to use comfortably with anything bigger than binoculars. The dead space between - you can see it at the corner of the building - blocks sight lines and encourages lenses [and worse] to be stuck outside. Which negates the primary purpose of a hide.

But what can you do?

Well, get hides designed by someone who is an actual birder, for a start? And built by somebody who knows how to use wood? It's not impossible - look at the Black Hole, people!

Just a few personal thoughts.


Anyway...

Despite the bad things [and it wasn't all bad; you can at least fit more people in, even if they can't see as well and the seating is better than in Avalon; proper benches with proper footrests, well done], there were still good views to be had;

Strike a pose

Mirror

 Play time?

Much fancier duds than at Beesands

Play time? Well, it didn't seem that aggressive between those two

Marsh Harrier and Peregrine

I find the relative sizes interesting - you don't realise how small all harriers are just watching them fly.. [And how could they be such a threat when they're so teeny, eh?]

Speaking of..

Different bird from above

1w

And now we cut to the finale.
I had not had a sniff of Bittern all day, and as time was getting on [not just the rain dimming things in those Whooper shots] I decided to try another spot, so I toddled up to the Meare hide to see if a Bittern would fly past to see the Starlings roosting at Ham Wall.

Nice plan, right?

Well, total failure - not a Bittern at all! - but also total success. First were birds wandering over Ham Wall way.. then, well, they came back. All of them.
I apologise in advance, as the low light means there's not a sharp pic to come, and some are awful even by my standards. But all are here for a reason...

3cy male - note grey in tail

Presumably the same bird, later on

Adult female

Two 2cy

Different adult female;

note tail damage

Adult male

At least seven - seven!! - Marsh Harriers showed up after 1600; two different males and females, the 3cy male and the two 2cys. Just to rub it in, I had seven harriers in view at once on two occasions!

Wait, why 'harriers'..???

Now THAT is not a Marsh!

Things got even sillier, when I got on it again more than twenty minutes after I took that, thought 'ooh', then looked off to the right and..wait?!? ARGH! Two Hen Harriers!!!

Yes, NINE harriers. Nine.

Insane. Mad. Craaaaaazy.

Why all the raptor fun [yes, other raptors about too - they didn't linger in the mind for some reason]?

These guys

Dots

A lot of dots

A Very Loud Murmuration

Zoom in

Zoom out

They came to me. I couldn't believe it... The noise was insane, 'murmuration' implies a soft sort of sound, not something you have to raise your voice to be heard over. In a way they were too close, I had not a hope of a count!
Many years ago [pre LBD], I talked the Folks into wandering up onto the Levels for the day and we stayed on for the Starlings - guessing Loxton's and being joyously right. Stood on the railway line with the crowd going 'ooohh' and being glad we had hats! ;)  It was the only close Starling view I'd had before this, I'd reckoned there wasn't a likely way to get closer.. Wrong. :D



So I really wasn't bothered by the bashful Bitterns, and I've almost forgiven that scwewy duck. Almost.


Not a bad day on the Levels.


Be Seeing You..