CHEDDAR RESERVOIR - CHEW VALLEY LAKE ( HERON'S GREEN - WOODFORD LODGE - THE DAM - MORTON'S HIDE) - BLAGDON LAKE
WEATHER: wall to wall sunshine, very cold and very light winds
The weather was just great today, a clear blue sky and all-day sunshine, a light breeze at the lakes but nothing that winter clothing couldn't handle.
Guy picked me up at 7:45, he was late and had left me standing on the roadside for 15 minutes in sub-zero temperatures, but what are mates for??
He drove us to Cheddar where we parked in the Axbridge Car Park and walked up the ramp. It was amazing, the light was exquisite and the water was flat calm, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We scanned the hundreds of birds spread out across the water, we were looking for Black-necked Grebes and Greater Scaup. Thousands of Common Coots dotted the water with groups of Common Pochard, Tufted Ducks, lots of Great Crested Grebes and dozens of Cormorants.
The sun was in our eyes when we looked eastward so we walked to the Yachting Clubhouse and scanned from there. Guy picked out a female Greater Scaup and much later I found the two Black-necked Grebes, they were about 1 mile away at ther far side of the reservoir, just dots in the scope.
Flat, calm water at Cheddar Reservoir
Around the Yacht Club we found Glodfinch, Meadow Pipits, Pied and Grey Wagtails and our first Linnets of the year. We continued scanning the water for more Scaup without success, we did see Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls and a couple of Shovelers.
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
We then drive through the impressive Cheddar Gorge, it was magical through there, frost and snow had turned the rocky landscape into a winter wonderland, we got out of the car to take a few picks.
Cheddar Gorge
Meadow Pipit
At Chew Valley we stopped at Heron's Green first, where we saw very little. We added a pair of distant Goldeneye to our list, also dotted about we saw Great Egrets, lots of Tufted Ducks, Mallards and Grebes. We didn't stay long because frankly there wasn't too many birds to look at.
Chew Valley lake from Herons Green
Guy wanted a toasted teacake and a hot chocolate so we drove around to the restaurant at Woodford Lodge and we enjoyed our little break except that the teacakes are no longer an option at the restuarant. A quick scan from the terrace at the restaurant of the central part of the Lake produced nothing new.
Our visit to the main visitor's centre came next, we parked in a position next to the dam, we set up our scopes and scanned the water in front of the dam looking for Goosanders, of which, we found four. The Goosanders were very distant close to the far bank along with a good number of Egrets, both Great and Little.
We then found a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, wowza!! This is a very rare bird for the Chew Valley Lake and a very good find indeed. However, it was very far away and we could only get scope views. We ate our picnic lunch sitting in the car before driving away back to Heron's Green and on to Blagdon Lake.
Red-breasted Merganser at the Dam, Chew Valley
At Blagdon a very cold wind was present, we spent an hour or so looking for a RING-NECKED DUCK which has been present for a few weeks but it can very elusive. Well, it eluded us, if it was still there it was hiding well. Hundreds of look-alike Tufted Ducks roamed the lake in groups of up to twenty, there was also lots of Pochard, Coots, Grebes and Ccormorants. We found several Goldeneye and another single, female Greater Scaup.
Goldeneye
From Blagdon we returned to Chew Valley Lake and walked to the Morton Hide, from there reports of both Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes had been reported earlier today. We got there around 3pm the light was still good and the colours reflected in the water were amazing. We found the Black-necked Grebe very easily but the Slavonian had disappeared. According to a couple of local birders sitting in the hide it swam off to the left and headed to Herons Green Bay.
more Goldeneye taken at Blagdon Lake
We made a quick visit to Herons Green Bay and searched the area, the Slavonian Grebe was not there. It was now 4pm so we decided to call it a day! What a lovely day it had been, especially the superb weather.