Monthly Summary August 2016

Summary August 2016

Species this month = 88

New Species added to 2016 Year List in August= 5

Green Sandpiper (WWT Slimbridge) on 20th, Curlew Sandpiper (WWT Slimbridge) on 21st, Litle Owl (Studland Bay) on 27th, Sparrowhawk (at WWT Steart Marshes) on 28th, Glossy Ibis (Shapwick Heath) on 30th.

New UK Life List Birds In August = 0

Running Total for the 2016 UK So Far = 184

We were in Canada for the first threeweeks of July so the end of July and the start of August were spent getting the house and our general affdairs back into order before our next holiday away which was to be ten days around Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset and Avon. This took us from the 20th to the 31st August and included the following highlights :

We travelled south to stay at Montacute with our friends for a couple of days but we broke our trip by staying overnight in Slimbridge which gave us the chance to visit WWT Slimbridge on the 20th where we got our first Green Sandpiper of the Year and again on the morning of the 21st where we got another year tick in the form of Curlew Sandpiper. We went from there to Montacute via Shapwick Heath where we had great views of an Osprey perched on a dead tree. The next day was not a birding day as we went to lunch with our friends in Wells where we also walked in the Bishop’s Gardens. We still managed to poip back down to Shapwick  Heath on our way back to show our friends the Osprey – or we would have done more if my scope had not been commandeered by some very enthusiastic children.

We left Montacute for the New Forest on the 23rd August but we stopped off at Eyeworth Pond at Fritham looking – in vain – for Mandarin Ducks. This was about all the time we had available so we got too the hotel in Lyndhurst eventually (traffic hell) and settled in there. We booked an Italian restaurant for the evening and this gave us a little time to wander around the green at Lyndhurst which was full of Starlings and Pied Wagtails feeding in the evening sun.

On the morning of the 24th of August, we were decided on looking for Dartford Warblers on the walk from Beaulieu Road Station to Denny Woods and back. Unfortunately we didn’t see any but we did get lots of Stonechats and a few nice Redstarts. A boat trip at Keyhaven over to Hurst Castle later that day gave us a highlight of two to three-hundred Ringed Plovers on the shingle as well as Wheatears and a showy group of Turnstones roosting on the boats in the harbour. After our two days around the New Forest we had planned a couple more around Poole so we continued our day by driving over there.

The 25th saw us take another boat, this time out to Brownsea Island where we spent most of the day. Highlights were Spoonbills, Avocets and a single Whimbrel but there were lots of other birds as well including Sandwich and Common Terns. Our second day in the Poole area involves a continuation of our search for a Dartford Warbler, this time at RSPB Arne and Studland Bay on the 26th but we had no more joy there than in New Forest. It was a great walk in hot weather and we did get an Osprey as consolation.

On the 27th we left  the Poole area to return to Montacute but en route we paid a visit to a rather wet Portland Bill gave us a year tick in Little Owl, a bird we rarely see these days and one which is always a joy to find. We rounded the afternoon off with a visit to RSPB Radipole Lake where we got lovely close views of Green and Common Sandpipers together.

That evening we spent in Montacute and on the 28th we paid our first visit to the new reserve WWT Steart Marshes where we had a fantastic time despite some early rain and we also managed to get our first Sparrowhawk of the year.

The  following day, the 29th, was an off day for us. It was really warm and sunny but we both felt that we could do with a chill-out day.

Normal service was resumed on the 30th when we set off for Slimbridge where we were staying the night again to break up our journey back home. We stopped off first at Shapwick Heath where our attempts to see “year tick” Glossy Ibises was rewarded and with a vengeance as we got lots of Great White and Little Egrets all in the same view.

We left Shapwick Heath around 11.30am and just managed to get to Slimbridge in time to get a couple of seats on the WWT Slimbrige Land Rover Tour, something we had been trying to do for a while now – and not only this year ! We didn’t see anything new but it was a great treat to see more of the, normally private bits, of the reserve. We also learned quite a bit from the warden who drove us around.

Our last day was the 31st and we only had time for a few hours again at WWT Slimbrige. We didn’t get anything new but in a small time we still managed to see thirty-two species including lots of waders.

By noon we had to be off to miss the rush hour at home so that marked the end of our break. In all we had seen 88 species of birds and added five new species to our year list which now stood at 184. It is my hope to get to 200  this year for the first time so we will have to see. In general I would say that we were perhaps a little disappointed that we did not see more species but I concluded that it was a bit of an intermediate time. Too late for Spring and too early for full-scale migration. It was the time slot we had available however and we had several memorable experiences which just proves that there is more to birding than counting “ticks”. In the end, we considered that we had had a great ime, largely avoiding bank holiday traffic and crowds and although the weather was mixed, we had some really good weather in the mix.

Holiday Bird List : 88 Species