Some colder weather brought a couple of woodcock to Littlewood on Kenn Moor and John Croxton, who is the honorary warden there, spotted a couple of roosting barn owls there. Out on the moor the Swan numbers have increased. It is thought that this herd moved to Kenn Moor from Bristol Docks when feeding there ceased. At the other end of the moor at Kenn Pier, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Little Egret have all been reported this month.
The sea wall Short Eared Owls have either moved on or changed to nocturnal hunting as there has only been the occasional sighting of a single bird there recently. Some compensation came in the build up of the Dunlin flock – it had reached 5,000 birds by mid month and was providing some spectacular aerial displays. Up to 500 Lapwings were in the area as well as large groups of Starlings. In fact there seem to be more Starlings on the local moors than for several years and regular sightings of Peregrines feeding on pylons may well be connected to this.
Just south of Weston the Axe Estuary had a purple patch, particularly in the form of four Twite aka the mountain linnet. Twite used to winter there regularly in the 1980’s but as the breeding population dwindled they were not seen. Conservation measures in the north of England have stimulated some recovery in numbers and it is quite amazing that after a 30 year absence they have returned to traditional winter site. There was a Snow Bunting, a Lapland Bunting and a Short Eared Owl in the area with a super male Black Redstart at Brean Cove so this attracted more than a few birdwatchers.
The colder and perhaps windier weather produced a fantastic adult male Long Tailed Duck 
to Cheddar reservoir. Immatures of this species turn up fairly regularly ( on Clevedon Marine Lake once!) but this is the first adult male, with a long tail, that I have ever seen in our area.
For good measure a Great Northern Diver also put in appearance, but it was a bit tricky to locate among thousands of Coot and hundreds of ducks.
Trevor Riddle 01934 835208
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