Browse by Tags

The weather was pretty dour early in the week and the blog was looking a bit lean a couple of days ago but the brighter weather has woken everything up again and the last few days has seen plenty more activity on the reserve. Last weekend saw a huge influx of Swallows and Martins and Swifts in particular...

May's always a good month for Bitterns at Ham Wall and this year is no exception. Males are still booming well and the chase is on for females. Birds can be seen chasing each other round in courtship displays and males often have disputes with each other over territories. It's not uncommon to...

The amazing weather of last week continued into the early part of this week and with it the interesting sightings continued to flow. The weekend saw a huge influx of Swifts over the Avalon Marshes, with 1000's seen and there were several hundred flying over the reserve today as well along with...

Another great week nearly over, with once again plenty to report. The wonderful weather and the amazing variety of birds on show at Ham Wall & Shapwick Heath has proved to be a big draw for visitors and we have been very busy all week. The new car park for Ham Wall (work should begin in August) can't...

Drop into Ham Wall on Thursdays in May and join the Wardens to watch Bitterns take to the air to perform their exciting aerial courtship displays. May is the best month at Ham Wall to catch sight of this often secretive bird. Several males are still booming on the reserve (at least 8) and by now the...

Another bumper week of sightings on the reserve this week, with yet again plenty to report. In fact one of our volunteers and local birdwatcher Joe Cockram got over 90 species from Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath on his visits to the reserves on Monday. That's pretty impressive and shows just how well...

Spring has finally sprung for good this week and what a week it's been on the reserve, with an awful lot to report. The warmer weather of the last week to 10 days has made an amazing difference to the reserve. There are warblers galore along the treelines of the old rail path and the reedbeds...

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the missing blog last Friday, I was away from work for the whole week, so this week we have a bit of catching up to do. Overview of last week (30th Mar-5th April) Sand Martins and Swallows continued to arrive on the reserve and were greeted by some quite...

A very cold week on the reserve this week but spring is just around the corner. A number of Sand Martins have been seen on a daily basis. You got to feel for them though - they must be wondering what the hell they are doing here at the moment. As many as 20 have been seen daily from several locations...

Although there is a hint of spring on the reserve, it seems the winter is reluctant to release its grip for the moment. It's been a cold and wet couple of days on the reserve and wildlife has seemed more reluctant too to show its face - not surprising (I've felt the same way). There has been...

The last 2 days have been a bit of a contrast here at Ham Wall. A very cold start yesterday led to a gloriously sunny day and today the slightly warmer start has lead to some miserable and wet conditions this afternoon. It looks like they chose the right day to undertake the Bittern survey yesterday...

Staff and around 40 volunteers from the RSPB, Natural England and the Somerset Wildlife Trust braved the cold and darkness yesterday morning to record the number of booming bitterns in the Avalon Marshes. One hour before dawn they patrolled the reedbeds and marshes counting the numbers of calling...

Spring hasn't exactly sprung on Ham Wall but it's certainly stirring from its winter slumber. There's been plenty of bird song of all kinds on the reserve this week including: Great Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Robin and Wren amongst others. Song Thrush too has been...

Good numbers of visitors have been enjoying the Ham Wall sunshine today and been treated to sightings of several of our more unusual visitors. The Pied Billed Grebe is still present form the second viewing platform and has actually been seen a lot closer in than it has been over the last few days...

The drier weather has continued this week and this has been a great help to staff in lowering water levels around the site to get them at the optimum level for our breeding birds. Fairly large numbers of visitors have continued to flow through the reserve this week in search of the Pied Billed Grebe...

Firstly, apologies for the lack of recent sightings blogs for the last 2 Friday's. I was on annual leave last week and the week before I had to stay home and nurse my 2 daughters through chicken pox - mildly bird related I guess but I'm back now and ready to blog away. With all the stories of...

Always nice to report a rarity on site. This bird was first sighted on Ham Wall on Friday 15th in the afternoon from the second viewing platform. It was still there yesterday and has been attracting quite a lot of attention from birders - many whom have travelled considerable distances to see it. ...

Thankfully the snow we had in midweek came to nothing, although the temperature has remained low as I have found out to my cost after slipping in a ditch up to my waist on Wednesday morning and filling my wellingtons with more icy water this morning - I seem to be making a habit of this lately. Thank...

It's been a very snowy day today so was unable to get into work myself what with school closures etc. I also can't be of too much assistance in giving info about the state of the roads close to the reserve but if you are out and about take great care or seek other local knowledge before traveling...

Firstly apologies for the lack of blogs recently. Of course, it was the Christmas break but then I had a bout of sickness which means I have only just returned to work. This means there is plenty to catch up with and I have done my best to gleen information from wherever possible - thanks to John Crispin...

Some more great sightings for you this week. The stars of the week turned up yesterday (x2) and more joined them today. This morning 6 Waxwings were present (and still there at lunchtime when I left) in the Alder trees surrounding the car park at Ashcott Corner and also feeding in the small Rowan Tree...

It's been a mixed week weather-wise on the reserve this week but the heavy rain still continues to cause problems for our breeding birds. Last weekend however, saw some interesting sightings with Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, Stonechat, Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret & Bittern all seen. The highlight...

People often ask how we know how many Booming males there are in total or how we know how many nests we have, so I thought I would write a quick blog to explain how we do it. Of course booming Bitterns are quite obvious but they can move around a bit so the best way to get an accurate total is to have...

Well, with a pretty wet weekend, 2 bank holidays & two days of consistent rain and high wind it could of been a tall order to find much to blog about this week, but I've gathered together as much info as I could, so here goes. Last weekend saw the Avalon 24 event held over local reserves,...

After all the headlines in the media this week about Buzzards and its happy outcome (for now at least) thought we should celebrate with a couple of Buzzard pictures to get us started. Of course buzzards can be seen every day at Ham Wall almost without exception, often in pairs or larger groups...