Clevedon Wildlife

I have been assiduously searching for rare pipits this autumn. This has involved many early mornings on Wains Hill with a recorder just waiting for that fly-over Olive-backed or Red-throated . Numerous trips to the Yeo through ideal Richard's habitat, Slogs around Steart (the day before a Richard's turned up) and scrutiny of every Rock Pipit in case it was the very similar, Buff-bellied Pipit from America. The results so far have been ..........lovely views of Meadow Pipits. Some of which seemed less than happy to meet me And truly super views of Rock Pipits But nothing else, Nada, Zip, Zilch I will keep trying though and eventually I will turn up something. As usual I tried to spend one day off the patch each week and again, as I often do I headed for the levels I decided that I would love to see an Otter again as it has been a long time since my last one. So I drove to Westhay reserve and quizzed the Somerset Wildlife Trust officer there as to my best approach. He suggested t

 Numbers of overflying migrants at Wains Hill definitely increased over the past two weeks with a boost in variety and a real highlight in the form of a flock of 10 Crossbills. You will need headphones or the sound up loud for this. I am still struggling with getting sounds onto here despite following lots of good advice about extra add-ons for audacity etc which just have not worked for me yet. With luck this will though My efforts at photographing migrants shooting past are equally dire for example these Chaffinches I wish I could better convey the excitement of feeling that something rare just could appear in the next thirty seconds. Yellow-browed Warblers are increasingly common but usually elusive and always, to me anyway, exciting. Ever since I found my first at Girdleness, while a student at Aberdeen University in the 1970s,    I have looked for them every autumn with mixed success.  This year I heard one call by the car, literally as soon as I parked on Saturday (12th Oct). It

Wain's hill vizmigging has continued to be dire with literally ones and twos of Siskins, Mipits, Redpolls and Chaffinches most times when I have tried. The high background noise has also not helped with recordings. The local Peregrines and Sparrowhawks keep trying though. This young falcon has been having a go at everything from Ravens to Blue Tits, without success as far as I know. How it thinks it can take a Raven down is beyond me There have been at least a couple of Sparrowhawks dashing through bushes too. I've noticed that the Magpies are happy to mob the Sparrowhawks but not the Peregrines, which seems a wise move. Down at the seawall I had the good fortune to come across a relatively tame Bar-tailed Godwit this week which allowed a couple of photos They are dangerously close to being sharp. Another trip to the levels was needed to confirm that the cafe at the Avalon Marshes Center, near Westhay village, really was as good as it seemed last week. It was with an excellent