birding...

Officially the county of Avon no longer exists. In the mid-1990s it was replaced by four Unitary Authorities each responsible for all local government tasks in their respective areas. However, although it is no longer in existence as a geopolitical entity, Avon is still very much a county from a birding point of view. There is a large and active community of birders centred on Bristol (the city which holds about 50% of the county’s 1 million population) and consequently Avon is one of the better-recorded counties in the region.

In Britain, Avon holds an in-between position in zoo-geographical terms. We have no real uplands to speak of and thus we lack habitats such as heather moor-land and the large Sessile Oak woods that characterise areas further west such as Devon and Wales- consequently species such as Pied Flycatcher and Ring Ouzel are just passage migrants (even Tree Pipit is almost absent - it occurs in summer in just one area); Red Grouse is absent, and species such as Merlin are winter visitors only. However, there is a strong population of Buzzards in the county, Grey Wagtail and Dipper are well-represented on the county's faster-flowing rivers. On the other hand, the eastern part of the county (which contains the southern parts of the Cotswold Hills) has large areas of arable farmland which hold bird communities more usually associated with eastern England (Quail regularly occurs in one area, Corn Bunting in two, and Red-legged Partridge in several areas). Most of the remainder of the county is a mixture of ridges and valleys with grass fields, hedgerows and mostly small woodlands, with the following exceptions:

(i) most of the south west corner of the county is Levels habitat - mostly uninteresting flat fields with ditches etween them - like a smaller version of the Somerset Levels. Birds such as Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler are common in this area.

(ii) (the area to the south-west of Bristol contains several large woodlands. In addition to the usual woodland bird community in Avon (woodpeckers, Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Nuthatch etc.) these often turn up interesting bird records - Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Hawfinch are periodically reported from Leigh Woods for example (but breeding there is rarely proved)

(iii) the Mendip fringe, which leads up to the upland heath of Blackdown in neighbouring Somerset is interesting. Stonechats, Whinchats, Tree Pipits and Grasshopper Warblers are here, and if we`re lucky, a Nightjar or Dartford Warbler may cross the boundary from Somerset to breed.

(iv) two large lakes, Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon Lake occupy a central position in the southern half of the county. More about these two sites later. There are also a couple of smaller water bodies e.g. Barrow Gurney tanks (3 large concrete bowls which hold waterfowl in winter and get the occasional interesting passage migrant).

Avon's coast isn't really coastline at all - its the eastern shore of one of Britain's largest and most important estuaries, the Severn (and so we don't have things like Red-breasted Merganser, divers, grebes regularly). The estuary has huge numbers of waders, and Avon gets its share of these, with sites such as Clevedon Bay, the Axe Estuary, Severn Beach/New Passage, Portbury Wharf and the Oldbury Power Station area attracting good numbers of species such as Dunlin, Ringed and Grey Plover, Curlew, Redshank. Species associated with sandier shores, such as Sanderling and Bar-tailed Godwit are, however, largely absent in winter from the county.

The estuary also gets good numbers of wildfowl - Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck are common (but geese are not regular here, unlike in neighbouring Gloucestershire). Flocks of passerines use the salt-marsh and rocky shores and recent years have seen records of Lapland Bunting, Twite and Shore Larkas well as the more common species such as Linnet, Skylark and Rock Pipit. Among the waders, rare species have been found by a dedicated few observers, including Kentish Plover, White-rumped and Pectoral Sandpipers in recent years. Peregrine, Merlin and Short-eared Owl are all found in winter, although not in large numbers. Hen Harrier is not regular in Avon though. The estuary sees a regular spring passage of Common and Arctic Terns, and Bar-tailed Godwits and Whimbrel also move through in good numbers in spring. Seabird movements in the estuary can be good in most seasons, given the right weather conditions. Pomarine Skua and Leach`s Petrel are the Severn Beach specialities, but more common species such as Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake and Arctic and Great skuas are annual.

Chew Valley Lake is Avon's most popular birdwatching site. As well as vantage points from two causeways, there are two picnic areas and a public trail, and in addition, four hides which are accessible by permit from Bristol Water. Chew attracts large number of winter wildfowl - Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Goosander are here in nationally important numbers, and the lake is also a stronghold for wintering Ruddy Duck, Wigeon, Goldeneye, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard Cormorant and Canada Goose. Smew is regularly present (up to 14 in recent winters, making it the best site for this species in south-west England). Rare wildfowl are a frequent occurrence with Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck recently (Lesser Scaup must surely be next?). Chew also gets its fair share of wildfowl of unknown origin, including regular Ruddy Shelduck each summer, and occasional Red-crested Pochards.

The lake's most important habitat for breeding birds is its reed-bed, which is one of the largest in south-west England. Large numbers of Reed Buntings and Reed & Sedge Warblers breed here, and Cetti's Warblers have colonised in the last five years. Bittern, traditionally a wintering species at Chew, has been staying later in recent years and so perhaps we can look forward to this species becoming a regular breeder here too. Elsewhere around the lake, Great Crested Grebes breed in nationally important numbers, there is a large population of Kingfishers, a Grey Heron colony, and occasionally, Garganey breed successfully, although in most years, we just get passage birds (but in good numbers e.g. flocks of up to 9). Water Rail probably breed each year, and are certainly abundant in winter.

Chew has a huge gull roost, with 30,000 Black-headed Gulls, 10,000 Common Gulls and 1000+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a few hundred Herring Gulls (Great Black-backed Gull is usually only present in single figures). Of the rarer species, Med Gull is regular (with annual totals of up to 20, although seldom more than 5 present at once - they peak in early March); Western Yellow-legged Gull is present in small numbers from June through to January, peaking in September at usually about 10 individuals, and Ring-billed Gull is almost annual. Iceland and Glaucous are genuinely rare here though. Surprisingly, none of the rarer gulls on the British list have been found at Chew so far.

However, the lake has made up for this as a rarity hotspot in other ways - in the 1970s, rare waders (particularly Nearctic species in autumn) were turning up at the rate of several per year, but the pace has slowed in recent years. Spotted Crakes, after a lean patch in the late 80s/early 90s, have been regularly seen again in the last few years. With the heavy coverage the lake gets, a few scarce migrant passerines have been recorded e.g. Little Bunting. More of the rare species are picked up by ringers however. Chew Valley Ringing Station operates at the southern end of the lake and has produced records of Marsh and Aquatic Warblers in recent years. The lake has also had its share of outstanding rarities over the years including Greater Sand Plover, Black-winged Pratincole, and over-wintering Gyrfalcon and Britain’s first Pied-billed Grebe (shared with Blagdon Lake).

Blagdon is a smaller and older reservoir, but nevertheless has good populations of most of the species of wildfowl found at Chew. There are no reedbeds though so Blagdon only has small populations of things like Sedge Warbler. Recent rare birds have included Black-winged Pratincole, Red-necked Phalarope, Blue-winged Teal.

Migration at the reservoirs is good - Black, Common and Arctic Terns are a feature of spring along with Little Gulls. Waders in autumn pick the reservoir with the lowest water levels and include good numbers of Common and Green Sandpipers, Ruff, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and regular Spotted Redshank, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper. Passage of hirundines and Swifts is impressive. Yellow Wagtails pass through in small numbers, sometimes overlapping with Water Pipits, which winter here (usually less than 10) and can stay into April by which time they acquire summer plumage. One or two Hobbies visit frequently throughout the summer. Scaup and Long-tailed Duck pass through most springs. Osprey is seen each year and regularly stays for a week or more, but Marsh Harriers are usually frustrating fly-throughs. Little Egrets are now appearing annually at Chew (and on the Severn estuary) in autumn, but we haven’t reached the double-figures counts yet that counties further south have. We wait our turn!

A feature of both Chew and Blagdon (and Barrow Gurney) is that during strong winds, seabirds turn up, having been blown up the estuary. Sabine's Gull and Grey Phalarope are semi-regular, and most of the other British seabirds have put in an appearance at one time or another (except the auks). At least one representative from either the divers or the rarer grebes is to be expected each winter.

The City of Bristol's parks have turned up a few good birds in recent years, including our only Nearctic passerine, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, a Black-throated Thrush and a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers. Other than that the city is pretty poor for birds compared with other cities such as Plymouth or Swansea - the gull flocks hardly ever contain any goodies (with the exception of a Laughing Gull in July 1999!) Other features of note among Avon's avifauna, in no particular order, are:

(i) Tortworth Lake, in the far north of the county, has breeding Mandarins, an offshoot of the populations further north in Gloucestershire.
(ii) several breeding pairs of Peregrine, including a celebrity pair in the Avon Gorge, which are wardened by Bristol Ornithological Club. Raven are being seen more and more regularly and have also established several breeding sites.
(iii) Little Ringed Plover, which have colonised the new Bathampton Oxbow scrape, and are also apparently also now breeding on dry ground next to Bristol airport runway!
(iv) several regular inland sites for Golden Plover in winter.
(v) The complex of woodlands at Inglestone Common/Wetmoor in the north of the county has up to 10 pairs of Nightingale, which elsewhere in the county is only found in small numbers. This is also our only Redstart breeding site.

Absentees as breeding species include Woodcock, Turtle Dove, Willow Tit. If the current rate of decline continues, Tree Sparrow may well join them, although a nest-box scheme operates by the Wildlife Trust for Bristol Bath and Avon may just save the day. Ornithology in Avon is well-served by Bristol Ornithological Club, the county`s main bird study group. There is also an active team of BTO surveyors, managed by Richard Bland and John Tully. Compared to our neighbouring counties, Somerset and Gloucestershire, the bird conservation movement is somewhat under-developed in Avon. For example, we have no RSPB reserves, and only a handful of the Wildlife Trust for Bristol, Bath and Avon`s reserves are important bird sites. Even the English Nature office is based out-of-county.

The county bird report is produced jointly by Bristol Ornithological Club and Bristol Naturalists Society. For further information contact the reports editor, Andy Davies. There is at present no modern avifauna for the county, but a team has started work on the initial stages of a project to produce one sometime in the next millennium. A tetrad survey of breeding birds has been completed, and the results will appear in the book. One of the major tasks will be to try to sort out the old records of rarities though - as with most counties, this might prove problematical - the county list has records of species such as Ivory Gull and Two-barred Crossbill from the last century - it will be interesting to see whether these stand up to scrutiny. I welcome opinions on this county summary from birders both within and outside the county. Please let me know of any errors in or omissions from this summary, and Ill endeavour to correct them.