A few birds of interest this morning. 30 Swift and an unusual mid summer Sand Martin. 1 Peregrine, 3 Buzzard, Grey Wagtails feeding young and the first post breeding flock of c35 Starling.

one little ringed plover this am on the "shore" nearest the football pitches, seemingly with a dodgy right leg,, ,couple of willow warblers ,a male bullfinch, and 15 swans, been a steady build up over the week from Monday when there were just two

A pair of Redshank and a Grey Wagtail of note this morning. All 4 varieties of Hirudine yesterday am.

Hi Chris,

Forgive me for being pedantic but 'Hirundine' is a rather general term adopted by some birders to refer to members of the family Hirundinidae (Swallows and Martins). It's often used when one or more birds are not seen well enough to be identified to the species level. There are only three common Hirundines on the British List so if you saw four species yesterday morning, please tell us more!

However, I'm wondering if perhaps you were including Common Swift in your tally? If so, please note that it's classified in a completely separate family called Apodidae (Swifts) and should be readily separable from any Hirundine even at extreme distances.

Best regards and good birding,

Nick

PS. A useful BTO Bird ID VideoGuide can be found by following the weblink (below).

Apologies - you are correct - Swallows, Sand Martins & House Martins + Swifts! Still learning!

as the res' level gets lower and reveals more area for waders and such like, there were 3 heron fishing on the exposed area on the Axbridge side this AM, and in the field off the res in the same area there were about 20 female blackbirds massed in one small area, almost redwing stlye, not seen Blackbirds in a gathering like this before, usual or otherwise?

Yes, Neville, it is looking promising for some good mud this year!It is a few years since we had mud for the wader migration, but if the weather holds we should get it in August. 2 Little Egret on the 'spit' this morning along with a Heron. Also 3 Common Sand, and the star bird- a hobby. It was watched for a few minutes near the stables before drifting off south west.

a single lapwing was present early sunday morning

4 heron this morning, 3 common sand' and a green woody [3 the previous morning, with a female blackcap along the cycle path]

To add to that I also saw a Kingfisher and a Little Owl yesterday evening. The Kingfisher looked like a young male and was behaving much as the Pied Wagtails usually do by keep flying ahead 20 yards as we approached and re-perching on the inner reservoir bank - all the way along the western edge. Very obliging!

a group of approx 12 common sand this evening, on far west area of the res

couple of common sands , ,single heron and a little egret on the "peninsular" large area of exposed silt , seems to be a slow build up of coots this week, around 20 odd this morning

Singles of Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper this am plus a large group of Mute Swans. Water level continues to drop!

solitary tufted duck this teusday morning ,single common sand,and two heron , ......i seen what i believe there was an oystercatcher MONDAY AM , seemed unusual for here but markings and sound were consistent with a few books at home,

over a dozen tufted duck friday morning[06:30], also single common sand, there has been a gathering of canada geese this week up to 60 in number, all tending to fly off by 07:00 . water level still falling albiet still slowly,