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An almost spring day in Somerset with a stunning Merlin and booming Bitterns

    
Finally, it feels as though we may have turned the page on this everlasting winter. As I write this the sun has finally appeared and is shining brightly over our small holding. The salad tomatoes and pepper seedlings  have almost forgiven me for planting them in the gloom of winter and are starting to grow. The hanging basket annuals, petunias, bidens and lobelias, are out of the heated propagator and looking promising in the sunny greenhouse.

 

I’ve been toying with the idea of a visit to RSPB Greylake in Somerset to see and hopefully photograph a showy overwintering female Merlin. With the sun starting to warm the countryside and metrological spring starting on Saturday, she will soon be heading to her northern breeding grounds. So it was now or never and with some sun promised I made my way to Greylake a couple of days ago.

 

Greylake this time of year is absolutely teaming with winter wildfowl, mainly Widgeon and Teal with a smattering of Shoveler and  Gadwall, all of which will soon be heading northwards. When I arrived the Merlin was perched up distantly on some pollarded  willows but she looked very restless and soon flew down to one of the muddy banks close to the hide. Flew doesn’t really do this supersonic falcon justice as she flashed by at full speed, applied her air brakes and landed.

 

The Merlin is by far the UK's smallest bird of prey. In winter the UK population increases as most of the Icelandic breeding birds migrate to our warmer climate. Although recovering from a population crash in the late 20th century, it is on the red list and is a schedule 1 bird afforded enhanced protection, especially in the breeding season. As with all falcons, the female is larger than the male who is pretty much Blackbird sized. Female Merlins are brownish grey to dark brown above, and whitish buff spotted with brown below. 

 

The Greylake female has been mainly feeding on Snipe, quite an achievement given that a Snipe weighs some 70% of her average weight. Perched on the bank she was surrounded by Widgeon and Teal who clearly saw her as no threat. I guess they were too big for her to take. When she was on the wing though it was an entirely different matter as the entire wildfowl flock would take flight in what seemed like blind panic. I guess her generic falcon silhouette was alarming to them. I believe she will only take prey on the wing which makes their flight response seem somewhat counterproductive. I have seen Teal flushed and then taken on the wing by Peregrines when all they had to do was stay on the ground where they  would have probably been safe!

 

She clearly had one or two favourite perches as most of the photos I have seen of her are on the same ones. She alternated between the pollarded willows and the muddy bank for the whole morning. She was posing photogenically but the key challenge was getting a clear shot of her away from the multitude of wildfowl surrounding her.



Come midday I had taken far too many photographs of this stunning falcon and so retired to have my sandwich lunch in the car before moving onto the nearby Ham Wall RSPB for an afternoons laid back birding.

 

I’ve seen some very rare birds at Ham Wall over the years including River Warbler and Little Bittern but this afternoon was all about chilling out and enjoying the commoner birds. This Somerset reserve is a true gem where extensive wetlands are managed particularly with the  reedbed specialists in mind like  Bitterns, and Marsh Harriers. Strolling along the main path I could hear male Bitterns calling to females in their unique booming manner, a sure sign that spring really is just around the corner. I idled for some time by a group of Alder trees where Siskins were feeding acrobatically on the remaining seeds. I took some pictures of them hanging upside down prising the seeds out of the little cones but against a bright sky and with many small twigs in the way they weren’t very satisfactory. I have taken so many pictures of birds over the years such that there often seems a better one in the library somewhere. I’m thinking of renaming my blog ‘ here’s one I did earlier”! 


  

Siskin from "here's one I did earlier" blog

I sat for some time at one of the several excellent viewpoints watching Marsh Harrier quarter back and forth over the reedbeds, so wonderful to see after they nearly became extinct as a UK breeding bird not so many years ago. Pairs of Great White Egrets, recent colonists of UK reedbeds were very active and looked as though they were prospecting nest sites.

 

As the afternoon draw on the reserve started to become busier with people hoping to see the Starling murmuration. Being not particular a fan of birdwatching in crowds, I bid my temporary farewell to the Somerset levels.  Until the next time …..


Footnote – my blogs are posted with sometimes rather imaginative spelling and grammar due to my extreme dyslexia!  

 

 

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