Clevedon Wildlife

At dowlais this week there have been a few more waders moving and continued signs of breeding waders but no chicks yet. Dowlais is a very small area, the main section is one field beside the coastal path that has been allowed to stay wetter and a slightly larger area where hedges have been removed to encourage birds that like more open spaces. This video is taken from the seaward (OK estuary) side at the south-westernmost corner. The video pans North and round to show the estuary past the main dog-walking path. The Kenn estuary is a tiny inlet about 300 yards further south west along the track. This still also shows the main field and the picture below is of some new arrivals, a small group of cows which always seem to herald the arrival of wader chicks, so here's hoping it happens this year too. We have had two uncommon waders on the scrape this week; a Greenshank and this Spotted Redshank For some reason the breeding Redshanks took a real disli

This week has been largely about listening. I was getting concerned that this would be the year that I could not hear a grasshopper warbler singing as everyone's movements are so limited and they only pass through here in a short window or not at all. This song is far from everybody's favourite but I love it and look forward to the few days each spring when I have a hope of not being taken in by wrens or goldfinches for once. I decided to move my walk to 6am when a day seemed suitable for migration and hope ! Brilliantly this succeeded and I found two of them on my short circuit and recorded one on my phone. As is usual neither showed themselves at any point despite being less than 10 feet away I was really pleased to come across a mixed flock of yellow, white and pied wagtails on one cloudy visit to Dowlais. Up till now I had only seen or heard brief flyover yellow wagtails ; so 40 scattered through the marshy area with a couple close enough to be within range

Good weather has again allowed me to spend a great deal of time in the garden, sometimes doing much needed jobs but often just watching. Since I was a teenager I have had an interest in insects and learnt about butterflies first from a man who followed the Victorian practises of catching and pinning them. These days a camera is all you really need and there are loads of books that help you identify all kinds of insect groups. For some of the tricky groups, though, a live insect, cooled down a bit is sometimes essential in order to examine it with a hand lens to see subtle differences. Butterflies are at last starting to pass through the garden with greater regularity. Unfortunately these rarely stop at present so I have put together a variety of pictures from this week, of things that I did get a good look at. First up are a couple of amphibians that use my small pond, frogs appear in March and have already mostly moved back into the garden itself after spawning. some year

April is easily my favourite month on the patch as I love the sights and sounds of migration. This year is obviously going to be very different with us all under a form of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic which has now really taken hold in Britain. I will keep reporting on Dowlais for as long as possible as its a fairly straightforward walk from my house The best harbingers of summer here, as elsewhere, are of course swallows and a group of 4 were present during both my visits this week, resting on wires or examining roadside buildings as potential nest sites. The first blackcaps and willow warblers joined the newly arrived and singing chiffchaffs. At one point I believe I had up to 6 willow warblers visible from my garden, though, as ever difficult to photograph At the start of the Dowlais track there is a gate. Staring across the first field from this gate you view a short piece of hedge. A few years ago, in conversation with Ian the Postie, we discussed

Just one trip to the Yeo this week so more from Dowlais and, inevitably the garden. With Spring seemingly still delayed by a persistent blocking system there have been very few migrants around. An early walk up to Blake's pools only produced a handful of meadow pipits at most which was well below the expected bounty. This Egyptian goose was back, without its partner this time, but with a small group pf canadas. Three black-tailed godwits flew out of the curlew roost at one point. Also I managed to almost sneak up on a kestrel. It was so intent on watching for a vole that it did not notice me approaching but still left before I got especially close Without even a wheatear, though, I did not think it worth while visiting again. Dowlais is looking particularly wader friendly at the moment, way wetter than usual at this time of year. The deprivations of the crows last year does seem to have had a devastating impact on the lapwings. All 9 nests failed last year,