April Migrants up to the 19th

Winter migrants

• 1 green sandpiper- Chew Valley lake on the 6/4/13
• Redwings and fieldfare at Neigh Bridge Country Park on the 2/4/13
• 3 smews (2 drakes and 1 red head)
• 1 sisken at Chew valley lake on the 6/4/13
• Another green sandpiper at Berkeley by-past in the river on the 9/4/13
• 2 siskens in Berkeley on the 7/4/13
• Redwings at Oldbury Power station on the 7/4/13

Summer migrants

• 7 chiffchaffs at Neigh Bridge Country park (Cotswold water park) on the 2/4/13
• 10+ chiffchaffs at Chew Valley Lake on the 6/4/13
• 5 chiffchaffs at Oldbury power station on the 7/4/13
• 6 chiffchaffs on the 12/4/13 at SARA  Sharpness
• 4 chiffchaffs at Slimbridge WWT 13/4/13
• 8 chiffchaffs at SARA on the 15/4/13
• 7 sand martins at Chew Valley Lake on the 6/4/13
• 1 Garganey at Oldbury Power Station on the 7/4/13
• 1 sandwich tern at SARA on the 12/4/13
• 7 swallows at SARA on the 12/4/13
• 7 swallows at Dursley on the 12/4/13
• 2 swallows at Berkeley on the 12/4/13
• 6 swallows at Slimbridge WWT on the 13/4/13
• 20+ swallows at St Fagans on the 14/4/13
• 11+ swallows in Berkeley on the 15/4/13
• 2 swallows flew over on the 16/4/13
• 2 swallows at Tytherington on the 18/4/13
• 10+ swallows in Berkeley on the 19/4/13
• 3 swallows at Berkeley Heath on the 17/4/13
• 1 garden blackcap on the 13/4/13
• 1 singing blackcap at Slimbridge WWT on the 13/4/13
• 4 house martins at St Fagans on the 14/4/13
• 14 house martins in Berkeley on the 15/4/13
• 1 house martin at Tytherington on the 18/4/13
• 8 house martins in Berkeley on the 19/4/13
• 1 willow warbler in Berkeley on the 19/4/13
• 1 lesser whitethroat in Berkeley on he 19/4/13

Recent Garden Birds

A great change in weather from snow to sun

Flying over

• 1 raven 7/4/13
• 1 buzzard
• 5 redwings
• 1 JAY 1st of the year
• 1 mallard
• Wood pigeons

Garden birds

• 1 GOLD CREST 30/3/13 1st ever garden sighting
• 1 CHIFFCHAFF 29/3/13 1st ever garden sighting
• house sparrows
• Jackdaws
• Wood pigeons
• Wrens
• Blue tits
• Pied wagtail
• Collard dove
• Blackbirds
• Robins

Tree  Highlight sightings

• 1 magpie pair making a nest
• 5 gold finches

Recent garden sightings

Snow fell on the 23rd/3/13

Highlights flying over

• 2 mallards
• 2 canada geese
• 1 buzzard
• 1 perigrene
• 1 female sparrowhawk
• 5 redwing
• 1 little egret

Garden highlights

• House sparrows
• collard doves
• Wood pigeons
• Chaffinches
• wrens
• Starlings
• Jackdaws

Berkeley shore sightings on the 24/3/13

• 2 redshank
• 2 oystercatchers
• 10+ dunlin
• 2 canada geese
• 12 shelducks
• 2 curlews
• 2 mute swans
• 3 mallards
• No Whetear or swallow past through between the Power station and the farm (south) although 3 whetears at Oldbury Power station

Other highlights

• 2 short eared owls at Slimbridge WWT on the
• 1 imm male goshawk at Slimbridge WWT on the
• 1 chiffchaff at the Little river avon (Between Ham and Berkeley) on the
• 2 little egrets at Berkeley Castle entrance on the 23/3/13
• 4 grey herons at Berkeley Castle entrance on the 23/3/13
• 4 little ringed plovers at Slimbridge WWT on the 23/3/13 (1st ever sighting)

Other garden hopes

• 1st swallow of the year for me in 2012 was at Aust Warth from Moterway on the 1/4/12.
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Spring migrants already this year in the UK

Spring migrants

• Hoopoe- 1 overwintered in the UK in Dorset
• Common Rosefinch
• Sand martins
• Whetears- 1 sighted at Berkeley Shore (Berkeley) on the 23rd
• White wagtails
• Swallow
• Sandwich tern
• House martin
• Gargany- 1 drake at Slimbridge on the 23rd/24th and a pair at Cotswald water park on the 24th.
• Stone Curlew- 1 arrived on the 23/3/13 at Northwick Warth but wasn't sighted on the 24th
• Whimbreil
• Redstart- Arrived first on the 24/3/13in Scilly
• Artic tern
• Osprey- 2 sighted on the 24th at Blagdon lake
• Common tern
• Little ringed plover- 4 at Slimbridge WWT on the 23rd/24th (3 at Holden tower+ 1 on tack piece)
• Hobby
• Spoonbill- 1 at Slimbridge WWT 23rd/24th
• Ring ouzel- 5 at Middle hope NR (somerset)
• Turtle dove
• Pomaraine skua
• Great skua

Garden sightings. Spring is coming ever closer!

Migrants

Roughly 9 more days until the first Wheatear arrives. 11th March.
Then arrives Britians first sea bird, the sandwich tern on the 22nd March 
A few days later, comes the sand martin on the 25th March.
After March the first swallow will arrive normally in the middle of April. 1st sighting for me in 2012 was on the 1st April at Aust.
Then House martins and swifts arrive later on in April. 1st house martin sighting for me in 2012 was on the 15th April sighted from my garden. 1st swift sighting for me in 2012 was at Chew Valley lake on the 20th. 


Garden sightings 2/3/13

• 2 chaffinches- 1st of the year
• 5 house sparrows
• 2 ad males and 2 ad female blackbirds
• 1 wood pigeon
• 1 juv pied or white wagtail on the roof
• 2 blue tits
• 1 starling

Other sightings from the garden

• The 10 feral pigeons
• 10 starlings
• 10 chaffinches
• 10 goldfinches
• Jackdaws
• 2 magpies
• House sparrows
• 1 Yellow legged gull adult flew north with 3 adult herring gulls. Originally sighted at Oldbury Power Station flying upriver towards Berkeley where i saw it.   
• 1 GLAUCOUS GULL 1st winter flew south with 3 adult herring gulls on the 3/3/13. Very high up and not sighted again down river. This may be the bird which was sighted at Slimbridge WWT earlier in the year.

Ham Wall NNR sightings for the 24/2/13. Great birding.

For one week now they has been one very rare PIED BILLED GREBE at Ham Wall. I haven't been able to see it through the week so i decided to go on the 24th. There was lots of people a the 2nd viewing point on the track, all with scopes. The grebe was very distant but i did get one photo of the adult summer but its not that good.
I came to Shapwick Heath NNR which is right next to Ham Wall in 2012 to see the first ever great white egret nest. There was to pairs. The first pair raised 3 juvs but i don't know how many the second pair raised. There is already at least 2-4 pairs on the reserve so i hope that they will successfully breed again this year.
Other sightings:

• 1 deer
• 2 robins
• Blackbirds
• Mute swans
• 1 snipe
• 1 buzzard
• 20 lapwing
• 3 wrens
• A flock of starlings. Usually at dusk over one thousand perform their roost flocks over the reedbeds.
• A range of ducks. Most wigeon, tufted and shovelers with mallards and others
• 1 little egret
• 1 Great white egret adult
• 1 marsh harrier juv
•  The adult summer PIED BILLED GREBE. 1st ever for me.

i didn't see the water pipit which has been seen regually at one of the view points neither the 2 smews which have been at Shapwick Heath (partly because i didn't go to Shapwick Heath).

A weekend trip tp see Wales birds 24- 27/2/13 sightings

We stayed near Snowdon and sighings were:
House sightings (garden sightings)

• 1 tree creeper
• 1 nuthatch
• 1 jay
• 2 ravens flew over
• 10+ blue tits
• 2 blackbirds
• 2 robins
• 2 great tits
• 10+ house sparrows
• 4 canada geese flew over
• 1 buzzard flew over getting mobbed by jackdaws

Snowdons sightings

• 2 ravens
• 5 herring gulls in one of the lakes

Harlec Beach sightings

• 1 owl pellet discovered
• 1 barn owl flew almost into a persons face but we did not see it
• 2 meadow pipits
• 2 stonechats
• 5 house sparrows
• 1 robin
• 2 oystercatchers
• 1 SLAVONIAN GREBE out at sea. Very hard to spot but i possibly saw it where as other birders sighted it with their scopes. A first for me
• 1 great crested grebe

From Harlec to our house sightings

• 50+ red kites around a feeding station
• 30+ buzzards
• A few ravens
• 2 Golden eyes. A male and a female at Power Mountain.
• 2 Marsh tits. A first for me at CAT- Centre of Alternative Technology