Laughing Gull at Burnham-on-sea, 1989

This Second-winter bird was the second for Somerset and was present 2nd to 29th September. It spent many hours on the holiday camp grounds during the day, and roosted on Steart Island in the evening.

Wryneck at Burnham 1993

This is a very rare visitor to our part of the world, although many are probably missed due to their unobtrusive behaviour. This bird spent an afternoon feeding on ants in a non-birders garden.

Spotted Sandpiper at Burnham 1991 &1992/3

The left hand photograph is of an adult in summer plumage bird which was seen flying along the seafront at Burnham, and later rediscovered on the Brue Estuary, 17th May 1991.The right hand photograph is of the wintering bird  which stayed from 29th October 1992 until 10th May 1993, by which time it had acquired summer plumage.

Common Cranes at Berrow, 2002

These two (presumed a pair on size) were located on the mudflats early in the morning on 6th May. They appeared as if they had roosted here, gradually becoming more active and vocal. They eventually headed off inland.

Sabine's Gull at Burnham-on-sea, September 1983

These superb adult Sabine's Gulls were part of an exceptional influx into Southwest Britain. They appeared after a deep Atlantic low hit our coastline on the 3rd September 1983. At least 13 adults and one juvenile were seen on this day, many of which fed together in the shelter of the Brue Estuary, birds were still being reported up to the 16th September 1983. Sabine's Gulls have been recorded only occasionally before and since this day, in much smaller numbers and almost always after strong westerly winds.

Little Bittern at Apex, April 1997

This fine Little Bittern spent 6th-10th April at Apex and on the sides of the Brue Estuary, feeding in the ponds often quite confidingly.

Skuas at Burnham & Berrow

All four species of skua have been record along our stretch of coastline. Long-tailed Skua is by far the rarest, with only a handful of records. Great Skua and Arctic Skua are the most common, seen annually in recent years in varying numbers. The best conditions for all the species is during or just after strong westerly winds, but they are not exclusive to these conditions and can turn up in at anytime of the year.

Great Skua at Berrow, 9th May 1986 and Pomarine Skua at Berrow, 24th May 1986.

Long-tailed Skua, Burnham-on-sea, 5th September 1983.

Short-toed Lark at Berrow, April 1993

This is a record shot of the bird which spent 26th & 27th April 1993 feeding amongst the dunes at Berrow. It was the third Somerset record, the second was also at Berrow in May 1984.

Waxwing at Burnham

This bird was found by a local school teacher in his garden and luckily stayed long enough for local birders to see this fine winter visitor. It is the only recent record in our area and was present 12th - 21st February 1986

Leach's Petrels at Burnham.

Leach's petrel are now a regular feature of seawatching at Burnham, usually when fast moving depressions move in from the Atlantic bringing gale force westerly winds. The numbers seen vary considerably from year to year, sometimes though exceptional numbers are funneled into the Parrett Estuary at Burnham. In 1952 it was reported that many hundreds if not a thousand birds were blown inshore, because of the windy weather these birds were unable to feed, and most were believed to have died. Smaller wrecks have occured more recently, in 1989 there were 75 birds present in the Parrett Estuary on one day.

Leach's Petrels at Burnham, December 1989

Twite, Burnham seafront, 6th March1994.

Dotterel, Brean Down, 21st-23rd October 1990

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Axe Estuary, 8th October 1993

Long-tailed Duck and Scaup, Brue Estuary, 27th November 1988

American Black Tern, Weston Sewage Treatment Works, 6th October 1999.