Bittell Reservoirs and Hopwood area (3 Viewers)

[keithr]

Looked earlier and the path still closed....it says 6 months from December 13th...

..or 7

...8



...or more....

LOWER.....Great Crested Grebe sitting on (4 ? ) eggs.....seems a bit late !

 

[JackRabbit]

The path along the dam at Upper Bittell is now open, accessed just down from the sailing club (although I doubt there will much sailing there for a while).

Just over 50 species seen or heard including - lapwing, teal, grey wag, swifts & hirundines on upper; 2 common terns, male Pochard, singing reed warblers on lower.

 

[JoshT01]

..or 7

...8



...or more....

LOWER.....Great Crested Grebe sitting on (4 ? ) eggs.....seems a bit late !

Hi Keith, the Grebes first nesting attempt often fails on Lower, but when plants grow to the surface of the water in June, the problem of attaching their floating nests without resting them on the ground (where they are liable to flooding) poses less of a threat. I think... lol.

Peregrine flew over the fishing ponds yesterday.

 

[keithr]

Hi Keith, the Grebes first nesting attempt often fails on Lower, but when plants grow to the surface of the water in June, the problem of attaching their floating nests without resting them on the ground (where they are liable to flooding) poses less of a threat. I think... lol.

Peregrine flew over the fishing ponds yesterday.

Looking back they had some very young chicks this day last year ..not checked if these eggs have hatched yet today....fantastic seeing the Peregrine...

 

[Rob_S]

The path along the dam at Upper Bittell is now open, accessed just down from the sailing club (although I doubt there will much sailing there for a while).

Just over 50 species seen or heard including - lapwing, teal, grey wag, swifts & hirundines on upper; 2 common terns, male Pochard, singing reed warblers on lower.

Good news, but let's hope they're not refilling it now and potentially disturbing ground-nesting birds.

 

[keithr]

I crept up by the Sailing Club car park some while ago and there was quite a bit of water and it looked a lot better than when its full as there are green shorelines.....will be popping in a bit later.

The Grebe is still sitting on her eggs.

UPDATE...
20 Mallard + Female and 6 young and Female 2 young.
11 Tufted
2 BH Gull.
2 Larger Gulls ??
2 Adult Mute Swans and 5 Cygnets...off Mill Shrub.....or not..just seen them on Lower with 6 young...lol

Loads of Swallow and Martins over the water and on the old jetty.

Glad the hedges are sorted at Lower now...

 

[keithr]

Lower 6.30 pm..

Grebe still sitting.
Little Egret came up off old Canal to Mill Shrub then onto Upper.

Upper...
No sign of Egret.
Loads of Martins and Swallow + a few Swift.
Buzzard
5 Raven flew across Resa from left to right into fields back of Scouts place.

 

[keithr]

LOWER....yesterday and today late evening ..
2 Common Tern hunting on far shore area...lot of time out of sight by canal.

Grebe still sitting...
June Grey Wagtail on ramp.
A few Swallow flew around me for a while then gone.

A large. ..maybe 6x3...solar panel placed at far end of Mill Shrub just in the water.....pump.....oxygenator...who.knows.

UPPER....
Alive with Martins and some Swallow as usual.

 

[keithr]

LOCAL INTEREST.......a kady came up tome today and asked if we get Beaver or Otter on Lower.....as she had seen a dead one by the canal bridge at far end of Lower.
I asked when this was...hoping today but she said 6 months ago and it was dead....described it as dark tan...flipper feet and teeth......
Funny thing is I have a bell going off in my head about a dead Otter being found....anyone able to confirm this ...not here maybe but somewhere in wider area.

 

[JoshT01]

LOCAL INTEREST.......a kady came up tome today and asked if we get Beaver or Otter on Lower.....as she had seen a dead one by the canal bridge at far end of Lower.
I asked when this was...hoping today but she said 6 months ago and it was dead....described it as dark tan...flipper feet and teeth......
Funny thing is I have a bell going off in my head about a dead Otter being found....anyone able to confirm this ...not here maybe but somewhere in wider area.

All I can confirm is that people (fishermen, sailors etc) have scarcely reported otters at Bittell in the past (most likely mink), but there has never, to my knowledge, been a confirmed/legitimate sighting of an Otter. I’m sure at some point Otters will have been in the area, but if so this is a very infrequent event. As such, I find it even more unlikely that a Beaver has ever frequented the area!

 

[keithr]

All I can confirm is that people (fishermen, sailors etc) have scarcely reported otters at Bittell in the past (most likely mink), but there has never, to my knowledge, been a confirmed/legitimate sighting of an Otter. I’m sure at some point Otters will have been in the area, but if so this is a very infrequent event. As such, I find it even more unlikely that a Beaver has ever frequented the area!

Yes I told the lady it was probably a Mink but she said it was huge and a different colour LOL


G.C.Grebe still sitting tight around lunchtime.

 

[zomerset]

Yes I told the lady it was probably a Mink but she said it was huge and a different colour LOL

Hi Keith, I saw a mink along the River Cole a couple weeks back. Second time I've seen one along the Cole.
Are there any Kingfisher back at Bittell?
I saw one on the Rea for the first time in 3 months.
The BTO said their local KF had gone missing and numbers are down.
Some good news though today, the Kingfisher fledged on the River Cole. I saw four fledge.
https://flic.kr/p/28fqAnE
https://flic.kr/p/Md3Brd
https://flic.kr/p/26A3yXm
https://flic.kr/p/KEgY62

 

[keithr]

Hi Jason. ..still not had a King around here but not birding as much as before.
Great to see your baby pics...even more special this year.

 

[zomerset]

Hi Jason. ..still not had a King around here but not birding as much as before.
Great to see your baby pics...even more special this year.

I shall start stopping by Bittell Reservoir again then to check for KF. It was always good to find them by the wall or along that river/canal lol.
Yeah I have been spoilt in the past few years with KF, dead lucky to have them on the Cole this year.

 

[Rob_S]

3pm - Hobby over the pools by the sailing club, heading south carrying fresh prey. Prey looked to be a small bird, probably one of the many Swallow and House Martin whizzing around.

Several Buzzards around - two over towards the Lickeys, high up, and a third (juvenile?) bird hunting around Lower. Saw this bird dive a couple of times but don't think it caught anything.

Grey Herons on the fishing pools, on Lower and on Mill Shrub.
Lapwing at Upper.

 

[keithr]

UPPER....The G.C.Grebe still sitting but on young now...Male had them under wings and female catching tiddlers.

 

[keithr]

LOWER...evening
Grebes feeding the chicks well...only seen 2 at any one time.

A Common Tern fishing then taking a good sized fish over to Upper.....lots of places for a nest there at the moment.

 

[keithr]

A catch up from a few recent visits........
Common Tern
Grebes
White
A variant Small Copper

COMMON TERN WITH FISH by Keith Reilly, on Flickr

GREBE FAMILY by Keith Reilly, on Flickr

LARGE WHITE by Keith Reilly, on Flickr
SMALL COPPER by Keith Reilly, on Flickr

 

[keithr]

LOWER...7.30pm

Finally I have SEEN a Kingfisher this year around the area....it flew in a panic around the big outfall slope...landed on a low branch sticking out the water....then back down the right side...

Also the Great Crested Grebes left the nest area after the earlier rainy spell and not seen them since.

Last few visits seen Little Grebe feeding a young one....think each adult is looking after one chock each.

Both Common Terns still around ...coming quite close...for them....lol

 

[zomerset]

LOWER...7.30pm

Finally I have SEEN a Kingfisher this year around the area....it flew in a panic around the big outfall slope...landed on a low branch sticking out the water....then back down the right side...

Nice one Keith!