Birds and Moths

 of Burnham-on-Sea

   
       
Birds 2007

18th May: At Berrow today there was a fine summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper, Little Tern and a Little Stint with the Common Scoter also still offshore.

17th May: Today there were 2 Little Stints, and a Little Tern at Berrow and the 3 Common Scoter were still drifted about offshore. Around midday 2 Red Kites drifted slowly north over Berrow Village. The only other sighting was a Hobby at Apex.

Red Kite, Berrow, 17th May 2008.© P. Gay.

16th May: There was a good mixture of waders at Berrow this evening with 1 Little Stint, Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Also here were 3 Common Scoter, and around 100 "Commic" Terns.

5th May: A great start to Bank Holiday Monday with a Whiskered Tern seen several times along the beach between Burnham and Brean. Also seen from Berrow was a Pomarine Skua, a Sandwich Tern, 2 Black Terns, 5 Gannets, 16 "commic" Terns, 150 Sanderling and 100 Dunlin. Another rare bird these days was a Turtle Dove on Brean Down.

Whiskered Tern, Berrow, 5th May 2008.

4th May: The best birds today were three Common Redpolls on Brean Down.

3rd May:  A few odds and ends at Berrow this morning. On the beach were 37 Whimbrel, 57 Oystercatchers, 5 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 62 Dunlin, 1 Greenshank, 3 Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper. There are now plenty of Warblers around, 35 Reed Warblers, 12 Sedge Warblers, 15 Whitethroats, 5 Blackcaps, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, 1 Whinchat and 4 Chiffchaffs. There were 2 Common Terns offshore, and a sprinkling of Swifts and Swallows coming in off the sea, at one point several Swifts were accompanied by 2 Hobbies together.

Rubbish pictures of Bar-tailed Godwits and  a Hobby, Berrow, 3rd May 2008.

April

27th April: Surprise of the day was a Cattle Egret in the company of 3 Little Egrets at Brean Down seen heading south, these birds were then seen at Berrow still heading in a southerly direction. The Short-eared Owl is still hanging around the Golf Course/Dunes.

25th April: The first two Swifts were at Apex this afternoon, where there was also a Garden Warbler.

23rd April: At Berrow this morning there were 4 Grasshopper Warblers, a Redstart, 23 Whimbrel and 44 Arctic Terns.

20th April: At Brean Down there was a fall of migrants with 5 Ring Ouzel, 150+ Willow Warbler, 5 Redstart, 1 Yellowhammer, 3 Tree Pipit, 20 Whimbrel, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Whitethroat, 3 Whinchat, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 20 Wheatear present. Overhead passage included 2,000 Swallow, 100 Sand Martin and 10 House Martin, 100+ Goldfinch, 20 Meadow Pipit and a Redpoll through.

17th April: Sightings from Brean Down with some interesting birds seen: 2 Red Kites flew east in quick succession, 1 Fieldfare east, 2 Redpoll in/off the sea. 2 Yellow Wagtail north, 5 Tree Pipit, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Wheatear, 55 Meadow Pipit north, 2 Siskin east.

16th April: At Brean Down there were 50 Willow Warbler, 7 Wheatear, 5 Tree Pipits, 3 Redstart, 2 Grasshopper Warblers, 2 White Wagtails and a Whitethroat.

15th April: A quiet morning at Brean Down with 1 Merlin at the fort, 2 Tree Pipits and just 2 Swallows through and a  Redpoll flew out to sea. At Berrow there was a Short-eared Owl over the dunes.

14th April: At Brean Down a Marsh Harrier flew north, and the first Whitethroat heard singing.

13th April: At Brean Down this morning, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 5 Tree Pipit, 120 Swallow west, 60 House Martin west, 10 Sand Martin west. Also 40 Willow Warbler and 15 Blackcaps.

12th April: A singing male Siberian Chiffchaff was at Apex this morning click here to listen to it.. There were 2 Reed Warblers at Berrow.

Siberian Chiffchaff, Apex, 12th April 2008.

5th April: An Arctic Skua passed Berrow this morning.

4th April: Much quieter today. The wintering Black Redstart with a manky head is still at Brean Down. While at Apex there were 10 Willow Warblers, 6 Chiffchaffs, 15 Sand Martins and 5 Swallows.

Sand Martin, Apex, 4th April 2008.

2nd April: At Apex this afternoon there were 5 Willow Warblers and 6 Chiffchaffs.

March

31st March: Brean Down produced a male Redstart, 1 Willow Warblers, 5 Wheatears and 25 Chiffchaffs.

15th March: At Brean Down today there were 30 Chiffchaffs, 16 Sand Martins, 3 Wheatears, 2 Siskin south, 4 Skylarks, 20 Meadow Pipits.

14th March: A single Black Redstart was in Brean Cove this morning.

13th March: The first signs of spring today, bird wise if not weather wise, with the first Wheatear at Brean Cove.

12th March: There were a few seabirds driven inshore by the overnight storms.  At least 40 Kittiwakes, an Arctic Skua, A Manx Shearwater, 3 Fulmar and an Auk sp. were seen in the morning of Berrow.

February

There has has been pretty much nothing to report throughout February. A couple of Black Redstarts have been at Brean Cove during the month and that's about it.

January

31st January: Strong winds produced 70 Kittiwakes off Burnham today.

29th January: On the Brue / Parrett Estuaries today were 2 Scaup (male on Parrett, female on the Brue pools), a Little Grebe, 1 Shoveler, 14 Avocet, a Common Sandpiper,  at least 2 Water Pipits , a Raven  and a Peregrine.

27th January: After a short absence the drake Scaup returned to Apex, but rather surprisingly had managed to persuade a female to join him.

female Scaup, Apex, 27th January 2008.

12th January: A bright day for a change. The were 2 Common Scoter over the sea off Berrow this morning. From the Brue Estuary a female Marsh Harrier could be seen hunting Stert Point before it drifted off west. The Scaup was back on the ponds at Apex.

1st winter drake Scaup, Apex, 12th January 2007.

8th January: In the Brue and Parrett Estuaries today were 6 Avocet, 600 Wigeon, 40 Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, a Grey Plover and the Scaup was with the Wigeon off Stert Island.

6th January: The first winter Scaup was on Apex.

5th January: The Scaup had returned to Apex today.

3rd January: On Apex the Scaup was still present and a Gadwall had joined the Mallard.

2nd January: There are still two Black Redstarts at Brean Down.