Winter and Spring on the Somerset Levels 24/25.

 Flock of Wigeon

 

I've been fortunate to have led 4 tours of the Somerset Levels for Naturetrek recently, 3 in the winter and one last week in mid April. I also spent a few days there with friends in February as well, so I thought it was time to post a few of my photos. It's not been easy to lead groups and get photos so I'll just post a selection of some of the amazing birdlife that call these marshes their winter home.

Most of our time has been spent on the Avalon Marshes which include RSPB Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath and Westhay. Our other favourite sites to visit include RSPB Greylake & RSPB Swell Wood on the western side of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor section of marshes.

During the winter several million Starlings come into roost every evening in the Avalon marshes and their arrival is an amazing spectacle and one high up the list of our clients. Photographing it is rarely easy as they time their arrival to coincide with dusk and rapidly falling light levels. However sometimes blurred images can show their numbers off to good effect. Often video clips can capture the spectacle even better and I find that my phone can produce high quality images.

Here is a short clip of a Starling murmuration at Shapwick Heath in January 2025.

Starlings at Shapwick Heath

Starlings at Shapwick Heath

 

Another feature of the area in the winter is the huge number of wintering wildfowl. Large flocks of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Pintail, Gadwall and other ducks frequent some of the larger lakes and marshes such as at Noah's Lake, Decoy Lake, Ham Wall and Greylake.

Wildfowl at Noah's Lake at Shapwick Heath.

 

Gadwall pair

Wigeon pair

Drake Teal displaying

Drake Wigeon bathing

Drake Teal

 

North American Ring-necked Duck at Decoy Lake

Large flocks of Lapwing over-winter in the area and Snipe are regularly spotted close to the hides pulled out resting. This winter however they had to be on their toes as there were 2 female Merlin hunting in the Greylake complex and Snipe was their favoured prey.

Snipe

Snipe

 

 

 

 

 

Female Merlin

Female Merlin

 

 

Female Merlin

Lapwing

Water Rail

Whooper Swan

 

Whooper Swans

 

There were 3 Whooper Swans at Noah's lake at Shapwick for most of the winter, as last winter, but they rarely showed well until on one of our tours in February they passed by directly in front of the hide giving us all incredible views.

Another bird that is on most people's wishlist to watch is the Beared Tit or Bearded Reedling. They have been difficult to see all winter other than the one time I called into Greylake on my way up to the area from Cornwall. On this visit I was in the hide when someone shouted that they were feeding on grit on the path behind the hide. I managed to grab a couple of shots.

Bearded Tit pair

Male Bearded Tit

 

 

Male Reed Bunting

An over-wintering Chiffchaff

 

 Common Cranes were reintroduced onto the Levels in 2010 and are successfully breeding in the area now, we usually manage to see some cranes during our tour although usually distant but as a leader I always have my telescope to help clients get better views. Last week we were fortunate to have a fly past from 2 birds at Greylake.

Common Crane at Greylake

Common Crane at Greylake

 

 

Great White Egrets are also breeding across the marshes now and are a regular sight on our tours.

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

 

The Egrets are now almost as common as the Grey Herons, with 3 species now breeding, the Great, Little and Cattle Egrets.

This year there have been at least 5 pairs of Grey Herons nesting in the reeds by the Tor hide and they were easy to watch back in February whilst nest building and last week it was good to see young birds in some of the nests.

Grey Heron

Grey Heron with nest material

Grey Heron with nest material

 

Grey Heron with nest material

 

As Spring kicks in we started to see more species nesting and a few summer visitors such as Swallows, Sand Martins, Reed Warblers, Blackcaps and Garden Warblers returning. 

Great-crested Grebes were nesting and Cormorants were sporting their breeding thigh patches.

Marsh Harriers were everywhere and we watched some carrying long strands of reeds into nesting areas.

Great-crested Grebes on nest

Cormorant.

 

 

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

A surprise visitor in the Ham Wall car park was this Weasel which peaked out from under the decking and proceeded to stroll around the car park in broad daylight... always a treat to watch.

Weasel

 

 

Finally to mark the coming of Spring we found a super Brimstone butterfly last week at Westhay reserve in glorious sunshine!

Brimstone butterfly

 

I will be returning to the Levels for Naturetrek next winter with several tours planned so if anyone fancies joining us then take a look at the the Naturetrek website for dates.