CATCOTT LOWS - HAM WALL NATURE RESERVE (VP1 & VP2) - STARLING ROOST
WEATHER: overcast with bright spells, very light breeze, very cold.
The Tour started at 12 noon at the Farm Guest House in Westhay. We stood near entrance to the farmyard and scanned the nearby fields, our first birds went onto the trip list in quick succession. A flock of about 1,000 Starlings went onto the list first followed by Jackdaw, Wood Pigeon, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Blackbird.
In the surrounding fields we found Mute Swans, Great and Little Egrets and a flyover Cormorant. From there we drove the short distance to Catcott Lows marshland, a Kestrel flew across the entrance track as we arrived. As in previous days most of the marsh was frozen over which had forced the attending wildfowl to gather very close to the hide where the only unfrozen remained.
We had great close-up views of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Pintail, unfortunately none of them was very active. We aslo saw a single Lapwing, and one or two Great Egrets were dotted about the marsh, we saw no Geese or small passerines.
the delicate and intricate plumage of the male Pintail
At Ham Wall we drank a hot drink before we started our long walk, it was lovely out there, prefectly still, with some periods of brighter conditions. We added Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tit, with Dunnock, Wren and Robin all seen in the car park area and at the hump-backed bridge we saw a Kingfisher perched on a distant fence post.
the aptly named Shoveler, the duck with the shovel-like bill, surrounded by Wigeon and Teal
We made a quick scan of Godwin's Pool hoping for a sighting of the mythical Ring-necked Duck, (this was my 8th failure to see this bird in 2025). Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Little Grebe were added to the list in the first open water and at VP1 we saw Marsh Harrier and a single Snipe.
Marsh Harrier in the reeds around Loxten's Pool
In Loxten's Pool Lorna found a group of Common Pochard, that was our eighth species of duck so far! Walking along the main track to VP2 nothing very exciting happened, we did have a close encounter with a Goldcrest and we saw half a dozen Marsh Harriers.
Just past VP2 we bumped into a feeding flock of finches in the canopy of an Alder Tree, we found Goldfinch,Siskin (10) and a single RedpollThey we joined by Blue and Great Tits. By the time we got back to VP2 it was getting dark and the Starlings were arriving for their nightly roost in the reedbeds.
record shot of a female Siskin
As in previous evenings this year, the Starlings decided to roost about a mile away in the distant reeds!! They didn't perfom at all, but we did enjoy watching up to 10 Marsh Harriers patrolling the reeds before dropping into their roost.
We left around 4:30pm and got back to our Guest House just after 5pm. It was a nice and easy start with 43 species on the trip list.