2nd October 2015

Went to Exmouth this evening, but poor light and a low tide mean't we couldn't locate the ridgway's cackling goose amongst the Dark-Bellied Brent Geese. Only species of any interest was a Kingfisher.

26th September 2015

Went to Hawkridge Reservoir this evening, had singles of Mandarin, Yellow Wagtail, Kingfisher, Raven and a pair of Jays. Refound the probable escaped hooded merganser, which was nearer to adult plumage than I had expected (Apparently there is a private collection in Spaxton).

Hooded Merganser - Most likely an escaped bird.

The pale-based bill and messy underpart markings show it is immature

Edit: The wildfowl collection in Spaxton confirmed that it has a free-flying male hooded merg, so natural vagrancy can be almost certainly be ruled out.

19th September 2015

Headed down to White Nothe this morning and had good views of the Buff-Breasted Sandpiper in the 4th field east of the NT car park. Also had singles of Corn Bunting, Yellow Wagtail and Peregrine. Also heard a tree pipit but failed to locate it.

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper

Corn Bunting

Stopped off at Lodmoor, but saw very little except for a Green Sandpiper, a Sandwich Tern and the usual Med Gulls.

A walk around the top fields at Portland Bill produced 4 Whinchat and a female Common Redstart.

Common Redstart

17th September 2015

Had a flock of c.15 Siskin this morning which lingered in the Larkhill area of Yeovil. Also singles of flyover grey wagtail and grey heron.

12th September 2015

Headed up to Shapwick Heath this afternoon. Saw a report of 6 black terns on Noah's Lake, so we headed that way, and had a singles of sparrowhawk and marsh harrier, 2 Great White Egrets, 3 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2+ Greenshank on Meare Heath on the way over. Arrived at Noah's hide, and had 2 hobbies over the far side of the lake. Scanning through the cormorants, I unexpectedly picked up the Cattle Egret found by Tom Raven this morning! This is my first sighting of cattle egret in the uk since 2008, so a good species for me. The light wasn't great, so had to settle for some poor record shots.

Cattle Egret

Unfortunatly, my dodgy phone decided it was going to run out of charge, so I wasn't able to report it for over an hour. Also had the 6 Black Terns at the back of the lake. Saw little on the Ham Wall side apart from 2 more Great White Egrets and another Hobby. Returned to Noah's Lake later but there was no further sign of the cattle egret, though the numbers of Black Terns had increased to 9.

Black Terns

8th September 2015

Another early morning visit to Yeovil Openspace produced 2 Siskins (quite a scarce bird in Yeovil) which associated with a flock of 30+ Goldfinch, before flying West. Large drop in warbler numbers, with only 4 Chiffchaffs and 6 Blackcaps seen. Also of interest was singles of Grey Heron, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, 3 each of Coal Tit and Greenfinch and the first returning Grey Wagtail of the autumn.

2nd September 2015

Watched Yeovil Openspace 0800hrs - 1020hrs this morning.
The area of vegetation opposite the field produced an acrocephalus warbler at c.0815hrs, the bird looked reddish-brown (though the low light may have emphasized this) so probably a Reed Warbler, My first for this site and only my second in Yeovil. Also had singles of Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest, 3 Willow Warblers and 4 Blackcaps. Heard a Bullinch a couple times but never saw it.

An brief early-afternoon visit to Sutton Bingham Res produced nothing of interest, but on the way home had a Common Pheasant by Watercombe Lane, a Yeovil Tick for me.