The route varies every year, but my usual start point is Ashcott Corner on the Avalon Marshes to get off to a strong start. However, the appearance of a Cattle Egret at Wet Moor in late December 2007 (they were rare then) threw a spanner in the works, and required some last-minute rejigging of the route. So, with the weather set fair, on 1 January 2008 I arrived at its favourite fields near Long Load a little before 7.30 am, just as it was starting to get light. Nearly an hour later the Cattle Egret had not shown, I was already behind the clock, and had only 28 common species under the belt. Crucially, however, some of that total were birds that are easily missable on a daylist, but which had given themselves up: the Little Owl was in the same tree it had been in a few days before, but Green Woodpecker, Yellowhammer, and Bullfinch were all distinct bonuses.
Pausing only to note House Sparrow and Collared Dove in Long Load itself, I headed up to Ashcott Corner and the Natural England car park, arriving at 8.50 am. I could only allow myself just over an hour at Shapwick Heath, just enough to get out to Noah’s Hide and back, but I still got most of my target species, including a good selection of wildfowl and some ‘one-hitters’ I was unlikely to see elsewhere such as Greylag Goose, Lesser Redpoll, and Reed Bunting. Unusually, a Water Rail showed itself, but I had to settle for only hearing Cetti’s Warbler, Siskin, and Kingfisher. Even with limited time, I was a bit surprised not to get Marsh Harrier (though there were fewer around then than now), but as I was leaving another birder pointed out a big bonus – a ringtail Hen Harrier! It was now after 10 am, though, and I was still ‘only’ on 55 species (compared to 60 when I set my then record of 94 species in 2003). Momentum is an important factor in daylisting, and a slow start can mean you either miss species entirely or spend too much time trying to see them at secondary sites later in the day.
I normally do Westhay Moor next, but passed on it this time and headed straight to Wookey Hole, where a Dipper showed well, as did Marsh Tit. Next stop was my usual spot for Marsh Tit back then – the now-defunct feeders by the car park at Ebbor Gorge, just a few minutes’ drive away. Nuthatch, Treecreeper, and a calling Jay (all again easily missable daylist birds) were added quickly there – great! I had clawed back some time and was now only 10 minutes behind schedule.
Another bonus was a Mistle Thrush flying across the road near Cheddar – my luck appeared to be in with uncommon resident species, and my optimism had returned. Paul Bowyer had already texted me to say that the goodies of recent days were all still at Cheddar Reservoir – Great Northern Diver, Black-necked Grebe, Scaup, and Ruddy Duck all fell easily, plus the more usual wildfowl and gulls (including Goldeneye, easy then, rather trickier now). An excellent result, leaving me on 71 species as the last minutes of the morning ticked away.
On the spur of the moment I decided to squeeze in a visit to Brean Down (another regular spot, but one I had initially decided to leave out this time). It quickly felt like a mistake, as there were lots of people around, and while Raven and Stonechat fell, the other main targets – Rock Pipit and Black Redstart – didn’t. Moving on swiftly to Burnham-on-Sea, quick looks at the scrub and beach behind Andy Slade’s house and off the bottom end of the seafront came up trumps with more ‘one-hitters’ – Blackcap, Sanderling, and Ringed Plover – as well as several commoner coastal species. I was up to 85 species with still four hours of daylight to go!
At Combwich Pill the staked-out wintering Common Sandpiper played ball and was quickly added to the total, then a Grey Wagtail (a regular New Year’s Day bogey bird) landed on the road in front of me as I drove through Otterhampton. Surely I had by now used up my quota of luck for the day, but apparently not, as virtually the first bird I saw when scanning at Wall Common was a Short-eared Owl drifting along the beach! I picked up more waders too, coming in on the rising tide, and a good stomp round the saltmarsh was productive too – Meadow Pipit and Skylark were duly seen, and the hoped-for Jack Snipe flushed from under my feet, but a Rock Pipit was an unexpected retrieve after the earlier miss. This was getting ridiculous – now on 96 species, I’d broken my previous record and it was still only just gone 2 pm! On the way back out, a Stock Dove in roadside fields on the Bridgwater side of Cannington was another score from a good but not 100% reliable stakeout spot, continuing an unreal hit rate on these on the day.
Meanwhile, the Cattle Egret had been seen at Long Load, and, flushed with success, I decided to give it another go. It was a long drive and a risk in the context of the day, but yet again I got lucky and the bird showed almost immediately walking across a gap in a hedge. A good thing too, as time was now running short, and even visits to the remaining stakeout sites would have to be lightning quick, never mind having time to walk in good habitat in the hope of cadging a few more species. Catcott Lows obliged with Pintail but not Golden Plover or Black-tailed Godwit (perhaps my most glaring misses on the day). The honour of being the 100th species fell to a Sparrowhawk shooting across roadside fields near Clewer – a late score for another hit-or-miss daylist bird. Back at Cheddar Reservoir, the Goosanders were now in for the night, and scouring the gull roost produced another real bonus bird – an adult Yellow-legged Gull.
As 4 pm came and went, I dashed back down to the Avalon Marshes to finish off at Ham Wall, in the hope of Bittern or Barn Owl. No joy with either of those, but as the light finally faded, a calling Tawny Owl became the 103rd species recorded on a memorable day.
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