CHEDDAR RESERVOIR AND THE RIVER BRUE AT MEARE
WEATHER: acold crsip morning with a light breeze. Temp 5C
I spent a morning out with my local Birding Guru, Guy, on the shortest day of the year, we had maximum of 5 hours (probably our shortest birding session of the year too!) because I am still dog-sitting at the moment and Dawn is away in Kent, with family.
There are a few 'goodies' out and about but we decided to go for the Black-necked Grebes on Cheddar Reservoir. Guy picked me up at 8:30am, we drove through the Levels at Shapwick and Westhay and onto Wedmore before arriving at the Reservoir at Cheddar 50 minutes later. We saw a large group of Cattle Egrets near Tealham Moor, probably 100+, also Little Egret, Lapwing, Mute Swans and groups of Redwings, Starlings and Canada Geese.
We scanned the reservoir from the Cheddar Tower viewing area, and quickly found two Black-necked Grebes, they were very typically right out in the centre of the water. A Local birder walked up to us and pointed out a female Scaup not too far off and then he found a male Scaup some distance away. That saved us some scanning time!!
female Scaup
Typically, the male Scaup was fast asleep whilst the female was busy gathering food for breakfast, she showed well and he didn't!
The male Scaup, fast aslep behind a Common Pochard
The water was flat calm we could see hundreds of birds sitting on the water, mostly Coots but also Teal, Wigeon, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebes, a few gulls and the odd Moorhen. Pied Wagtails flitted along the stepped-perimiter of the reservoir. We walked a few hundred meters to view the male Scaup but he refused to wake up and give us a show.
our view of the reservoir from Cheddar Tower, The perimiter walk is 3.5km long, that's about 2.3 miles.
The local birder gave us good directions to an area we had not visited before and where three Whooper Swans were residing for the winter. So, we drove back through Wedmore and into Meare, taking a track to the river Brue. The whole area was somewhat flooded but we located the Whoopers on the bank of the river about 400 meters away. Two adults and their presumed offspring sat preening whilst Mute Swans fed along the river either side of them.
The three Whoopers! The juvenile in the middle hasn't devolped a yellow bill just yet.
We spent nearly an hour there watching many birds. A huge flock of Lapwings took to the air a kilometer away, Guy then picked out at least 300 Golden Plover, they flew above the Lapwings in a typically close-knit flock. We also found a Peregrine sitting in the canopy of an oak tree, a Buzzard on a fence post and a Mistle Thrush in flight.
Before we left the area we decided to have a hot chocolate drink and a Toasted Tea-Cake at the Avalon Visitor's centre, yum, yum. It tasted even better as Guy paid for the lot, as I had inadvertently left my wallet at home, Merry Christmas Guru.
As we sat eating we noticed small numbers of Redwings, Song Thrushes and Fieldfares dashing about and sometimes perching in a nearby tree. In the car park we sat in the car and had better views of both Redwings and Fieldfares and at least three Blackcaps flitted about in the hawthorn bushes.
We had to call it a day and we got back to my flat to let the dogs out. Guy and me enjoyed a hot drink and a mince pie.
This will probably be my last blog of the year, many more will follow in the New Year, thank you all for following the blog and reading of our escapades throughout the year. I am looking forward to a full spring programme of tours and local birding in 2026.