We stayed in Bath with a couple of friends this weekend as we had booked in to go and see the Great Bustard on the Sunday. Chew Valley Lake was first as there had been a plethora of great birds reported.
Of course, we didn't see any of them, but did get some distant views in the mist of lovely Goosander and Goldeneye. It was then on to Salisbury Plain where the Great Bustard Group run their reintroduction scheme. There were a group of 5 of us going out that day to see the birds and we hopped in the 4x4 and were driven to the hide, passing many a MOD warning sign!
From the hide there was a bird instantly recognisable, even to someone who had never seen one before. We soon spotted another bird sitting down and had a great time watching them for a while. It was then on over the hill to see if we could find a larger flock of Great Bustard outside of the release zone where we had watched the first pair of birds.
We were in luck as there were a flock easily viewable - it was very interesting to compare the size of the female bird to the male bird. We also saw the first Fieldfare for the Autumn/Winter and a lovely perched Kestrel took the focus away from the Bustard briefly. It is definitely a trip I would recommend although you need to book quite far in advance - apparently April/May trips are already booked up!
Trip list: 28
Year list: 193
Lifers of year list: 28
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| Chew Valley Lake |
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| Mallard time |
.JPG) |
| Great Bustard! |
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| Cow. |
We were in luck as there were a flock easily viewable - it was very interesting to compare the size of the female bird to the male bird. We also saw the first Fieldfare for the Autumn/Winter and a lovely perched Kestrel took the focus away from the Bustard briefly. It is definitely a trip I would recommend although you need to book quite far in advance - apparently April/May trips are already booked up!
Trip list: 28
Year list: 193
Lifers of year list: 28
