High tide!

A dawn visit to Goldcliff with my friend Blair ended with a nice cuppa and me being shown how to get to the other side of Hill Farm.  Quarter past seven in the morning was cold, and we made our way slowly to the seawall. En-route we heard the calls of White-fronted Geese and overhead the five that had been seen sporadically in the area passed over us and out past the Point. That was a good start to the day. The water level was high on the lagoons and there wasn't a great deal about.

Picture: N Davies

The high tide had brought some water birds onto the lagoons, and apart from a single Dunlin we counted 60 Shoveler, 210 Shelduck (some of which are pictured), the male Peregrine on its usual rock perch on the first island and a nice fly-by from the female Marsh Harrier. Ten Grey Plovers and 72 Curlew were out on the mudflats and tried as we may we couldn't find the Black Redstart along the fence line of the seawall.

We enjoyed views out over the sea where several small fishing boats were making use of the high water and the fish to be found. A group of anglers had cast out over both sides of the boat which was rocking back and forth but stationary due to it being anchored. The odd Herring Gull took a close fly-past on the off chance of their being some easy food.

We were joined by a friend of Blair's and soon we headed back to the car stopping off at one of the viewing platforms, where out on the lagoon we watched a single Black-tailed Godwit, 98 Teal, 332 Wigeon, Grey Herons and two distant Buzzards. The Peregrine was still sat on the rock contented with its full crop.

Dunlin from the Hill Farm side of the seawall. N Davies.

We headed around to the Seawall Tearooms and settled down for some hot drinks and spoke with several cyclists and runners who had a similar idea. From here we headed up to Hill Farm which was a new site for me. This is the farm you can see from the Goldcliff side so it was nice to see what the other side actually looked like. The farm is well placed with commanding views over the sea towards Weston and Portishead. Finally, as we headed back, we made our way up the grass bank to scan over the sea from a different direction. There in the only area of exposed mud ahead of us and close in, were 2 Turnstones, 42 Dunlin and 27 Ringed Plovers feeding amongst the seawaeed and probing around in the soft mud.  What a lovely end to a nice morning.


Dunlin and Ringed Plovers feeding together in the exposed mud. Picture: N Davies.




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