Eldernell, Eyebrook Reservoir & Draycote Water :: 18 January 2025

Kev had chosen to return to Cornwall after previously missing the booted eagle, but I had commitments on Saturday night and Sunday, making a late return on Saturday impossible. Instead, I decided to bird on my own and make a full day of it, visiting several sites to add a few species to my year list. As usual, I planned to start at the furthest location and gradually work my way home, ensuring a shorter final leg at the end of the day. My itinerary included Eldernell for owls -specifically tawny and long-eared - Eyebrook Reservoir for smew - and Draycote Water for the ferruginous duck.

After a quick breakfast stop, I arrived at Eldernell to find the cold accompanied by a lingering mist, far from ideal conditions for photography. I hoped the owls would cooperate and stay within close range. Unfortunately, I seemed to have missed the barn owl, as there was no sign of one on the wing, and I couldn’t spot any short- or long-eared owls in their usual roosting hedge. Rather than making another pass, I headed straight for the tree where a tawny owl often "suns" itself, offering excellent views as it roosts before its evening hunt.

scanned the water as flocks of whooper swans lifted off and flew overhead, making up for my recent miss at Slimbridge. They passed in groups of three to twelve, heading east. A flock of pink-footed geese also moved through before a raven appeared, landing in the distance to join another on the footpath along the raised bank. Among the ducks and wildfowl, nothing particularly noteworthy stood out.

I decided to walk back and check the hedge again for any owls. Along the way, I encountered a group of young lads accompanied by a couple of adults. They hadn’t seen any short- or long-eared owls, and I confirmed that I hadn’t either. They opted to head toward the tawny owl, while I continued working my way toward the car park and back, ultimately coming up empty-handed. Out on the marsh, a pair of common cranes flew through, though they remained at a distance.

I headed back once more, carefully scanning the hedge, taking my time to search through the branches and foliage. Before long, the lads returned and joined the effort - one of them had a thermal scope, so I decided to stay close as he picked out a few small tit species in the hedge. We formed the advanced guard, with the rest of the group following behind.

After about ten minutes, the young lad suddenly stopped, raised his binoculars, then his scope, and gestured to his friend. I paused and joined them just in time to hear him say that this was the first significant find he’d made with his scope. He pointed out where to look, and sure enough, there it was ... a long-eared owl. I had begun to wonder if I might need to make a detour to Deeping Lakes, but with this find, I could stick to my original plan.

Out in front of the car park, I spotted my first marsh harrier of the year, gliding over the pools and occasionally stalling, though it never made a move on any unsuspecting prey. Raptors were scarce, with only a lone kestrel perched in a tree. As I left the lads behind, I caught sight of half a dozen cranes touching down on the distant far bank, too far for photos and only really visible through the scope.

As I approached the car park, I came across a pair of stonechats, though only the female lingered long enough for a photo. They always seem to show well in this area. With other sites still to visit, I needed to keep moving, so I jumped into the car and set off for Eyebrook Reservoir.

arrival, I parked opposite the viewing area and scanned the water. Realistically, any smew were likely in the next bay, out of sight from this spot. As usual, a handful of red-legged partridges roamed the area, with one perched on a fallen tree, seemingly standing guard. As another approached, there was a noticeable hint of aggression from the bird holding the vantage point.

After spotting groups of pintails among the wigeon and teal, I moved back out and walked along the roadside to a gap in the hedge, which offered a clear view of the bay. Before long, I spotted a drake smew diving near the point, gradually working its way closer. Within minutes, another drake and a redhead suddenly appeared alongside it. I had no idea where they had been hiding, as I hadn't seen them among the other ducks; it's not as if a drake smew is particularly inconspicuous! Moments later, the entire group was spooked by an unseen threat and took to the air, with the smew following suit, heading left and disappearing down the reservoir. Some of the teal and wigeon circled back and settled again, but the smew remained out of sight.

I walked further down the road and eventually saw the three smew at distance before they disappeared again. There were now numbers of goldeneye and they were also a year tick, a few of the males displaying - the mating display is a fascinating and elaborate courtship ritual performed by drake goldeneyes to attract females, typically in late winter and early spring. The drake dramatically throws his head backward until it nearly touches his back, then snaps it forward while giving a nasal, high-pitched call.

I returned to the spot where I had watched the smew, only to find they hadn’t yet returned. Scanning the bay, I noticed some movement and quickly realized it was an otter - my second consecutive visit with a sighting. This time, however, there was no diving, just a swift, purposeful cruise across the bay before it disappeared from view.

I logged my sightings and returned to the car, setting off for Draycote Water. On arrival, I found the car park still quite full and after paying for a couple of hours of parking, I stopped to chat with a fellow birder who was packing up his gear into the boot of his car. He mentioned that he had checked round to the hide at Toft Bay but hadn’t seen the ferruginous duck; it was therefore likely somewhere beyond the sailing club. That saved me some time, and before long, I was joining another birder who was scanning the water with his scope. As we worked through the tufted ducks and coots, I picked up another year tick, a small group of goosanders.

In the far distance near the valve tower, we managed to spot the long-staying red-throated diver. As we shifted our focus back to the ducks closer to the bank, we finally located the ferruginous duck, diving only occasionally. To get a better view, we moved further along the bank. The light was fading, but there was still enough to capture a few photos.

As I made my way back to the car, I came across John Judge and Theo de Clermont setting up for the gull roost and decided to join them. A glaucous gull had been seen in recent days, and it was a great opportunity to learn. They picked out a distant yellow-legged gull, and we spotted the red-throated diver now working along the edge of a group of large gulls; mostly lesser black-backed, great black-backed, and a few herring gulls. Common gulls were plentiful, with black-headed gulls making up the majority.

I kept watching, but eventually, my parking limit ran out, and I had to head back to the car. Later, I found out that the glaucous gull had dropped in just 15 minutes after I left; though it must have been quite dark by then, it still would have been great to see.

Year list: 105.

WWT Steart & Slimbridge :: 11 January 2025

While I was in Scotland, a Least sandpiper had been spotted at WWT Steart, causing quite a bit of interest. Kev @kev07713 had gone to see it over the weekend and returned with his wife on Thursday. By then, I had been back at work. On both occasions, he saw the bird at the water's edge, off to the left of the Quantock Hide. As we discussed plans for Friday night, Kev guessed I’d want to go down and tick off a lifer. He was happy to go again, provided we headed somewhere else afterward.

Saturday morning arrived, and we set out for WWT Steart under icy conditions and some fog, which made progress slow. However, we had left on time, so there was no need to rush. By the time we stopped for breakfast near Bridgwater, the temperature had risen into positive figures. Soon after, we reached the reserve car park.

As we got out of the car and started booting up, we noticed a couple further along doing the same, equipping themselves with scopes, binoculars, and cameras before heading out just ahead of us. Kev, familiar with the route, led the way along the track and we were overtaken by a buggy carrying two men, likely reserve staff, as we neared the hide.

From a distance, we saw the men walking around the back of the hide, heading toward the water’s edge, close to where Kev had previously seen the bird - Kev didn’t seem too pleased. We joined a group of birders already stationed in the hide and they mentioned that they "might" have seen the bird earlier, as two small waders had been spotted: one was a little stint, but the other had not been identified.

A short while later, a little stint appeared in a channel about 75 meters away. I had brought my new scope and was able to follow the bird as it foraged constantly, moving steadily to the left.

The Least sandpiper is a rare vagrant to Western Europe, with approximately one sighting annually in Britain and Ireland, mostly between July and October. It breeds primarily in the Arctic tundra and migrates to Central and South America for the winter. This tiny shorebird can be distinguished from other stints by its pale, typically greenish or yellowish legs, more extensive breast streaking, and browner colouration. It holds the title of the smallest shorebird in the world, comparable in size to a sparrow or robin and roughly three-quarters the size of a Dunlin.

A call suddenly went up from a lady, who we later learned was Steph Murphy, standing beside her husband Rob. They turned out to be the couple who had arrived just before us. Steph had spotted a small wader flying across from the left, near where the reserve staff had been earlier, and landing at about 12 o’clock relative to where we stood. Despite her sighting, none of us could relocate the bird.

After about 10 minutes, one of the birders at the front of the viewing screen announced that he’d found it. Following his directions, there it was, the Least Ssndpiper, a life tick for me, foraging at the water’s edge in much the same manner as the little stint earlier.

At roughly 75 meters away, and given the bird’s size, it was challenging to capture even a record shot, but that didn’t stop me from trying. The sandpiper frequently disappeared into gullies, only to reappear moments later. By this time, Kev had joined another birder, Rich Mooney, in the hide itself, and I decided to retreat and join them.

As I reached the hide, the bird, which had been out of sight for about five minutes, reappeared. It was joined by a couple of dunlins and later by two little stints. Seeing the size comparison between these small waders in the same field of view was fascinating.

As people began to pack up and discuss their next moves, I assumed a few would stay behind, hoping the bird might venture closer. However, since this was Kev's third visit, we decided to head back up the motorway to WWT Slimbridge.

The car park at Slimbridge was, as usual, quite full, but we passed through reception without encountering any queues. Before long, we were out of the Centre and heading toward Rushy Pen to see the Bewick's swans and a whooper swan that had been reported earlier. When we arrived, we found only a handful of Bewick's Swans and no sign of the Whooper. There was much more ice on the water here compared to what we had seen earlier in Somerset. Most of the ducks and geese were crowded onto the right-hand pool, which likely explained why the swans had largely deserted the area.

Despite this, the usual suspects were present, including one of my favorites, the elegant pintails.

We decided to head toward the Estuary Tower Hide, hoping to spot more of the Bewick's swans from there. On the way, we paused to check under the feeders, and as we’d hoped, a water rail was feeding out in the open, giving fantastic views. For such a typically secretive bird, they show remarkably well here.

I tried not to linger too long, mindful that Kev had already seen one earlier in the month, and we were keen to make our way around the rest of the reserve.

Arriving in the Estuary Hide we climbed up to the enlosed viewing area, rather than to the open area above - it was cold and there was frost/ice on the glass walls. Looking out from here we still couldn't see the Bewick's swans and there was little life looking back along the track. Out on the horizon were a couple of flocks of geese, mostly Canadas and greylags but also some barnacles with a Ross's.

We watched for a while, and had a few swigs from our coffee flasks before making tracks back to the Centre. I stopped to see the water rail again briefly but soon had a call from Kev that some cranes had dropped in at the back of Rushy. We set up and watched two groups of four birds, one with two juveniles. After a few minutes one of the groups took to the wing and departed left.

We didn't stop at the Centre and made our way to the hides over the other side, stopping when I spotted a flock of finches around the top of a tree. We wandered over to find that they had dropped into some closer alders and found there were goldfinches, siskins and lesser redpolls all feeding on the conical fruits. People must have seen us watching as we were joined by a couple of handfuls of others coming to see what we were on. We watched for a while and completely failed to get a clear shot of a siskin.

We turned to move on and almost instantly came across a Cetti's warbler working through some reeds against a fence. It was showing beautifully but never out of some cover and so I could only manage a record shot. A minute or so later it flew back through the fence and over to the far bank of a pool.

We were still hopeful of location more of the Bewick's swans but had seen that the white-fronted geese had been reported from the Van de Bovenkamp hide and showing well. Even before reaching the hide we spotted a few in a distant grass field and as I took some record shots (just in case), a water rail flew up to our left and dropped almost as soon as we got on it - apparently very active at the moment. We entered the hide and could see handfuls of white-fronted geese, and a single pink-footed goose. They fed on the grass and stayed their distance.

We moved on to the Kingfisher hide and looked out across the grass, eventually spotted more than a couple of dozen snipe and a handful of dunlin foraging. There were three more white-fronted geese beyond and quite a few tits and finches around the feeder but nothing more of particular note.

As time was getting on, we decided to leave and make a quick stop to see some owls on the way home. When we arrived, we found plenty of people already there. We circled around to find a good vantage point, pulling off the road to let traffic pass.

It was getting late, and within minutes, a barn owl flew up the field from some nearby barns and disappeared into the field beyond. Kev set up his scope and managed to spot a short-eared owl perched on a distant wall, though it was partly obscured. We waited, hoping for some action from the short-eared owls as the light faded, but none came. It wasn’t until the light had nearly disappeared altogether that we finally saw a couple of shorties hunting over the field behind us. Unfortunately, in such poor light and at that distance, getting a photo was impossible. Perhaps another day.

Another lovely day out and a lifer (for me).

Year list: 90.