Trip reports

Field Trip to Ham Wall

RSPB Images

Sunday, 14 June 2009

The car park was full - and I mean full! Unbeknownst to us, a little bittern had been at Ham Wall for some 8 days. We followed the boardwalk until we arrived at the trodden down vegetation and crowd of twitchers which indicated where the bird could be seen. Best viewing times were between 6 & 8 am and 6 & 7 pm. We waited a while but seeing nothing but reeds, cut our losses. Many other visitors did not and were rewarded with views of reeds. As we arrived a cuckoo flew over, reed and sedge warblers were calling and many damselflies were in the bushes. From the hides, bittern were seen in flight and a marsh harrier made several forays over the reeds. Hobbies were seen as were swifts and house and sand martins. Swallows again were conspicuous by being few in number. There were pochard, teal mallard and gadwall on the water with lapwing on the banks.
It was a fine day with some nice birds on a very attractive reserve.