2011

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It wouldn't be inappropriate to describe 2011 as the best year ever at Chew. As well as having another 'low' autumn with in excess of ten thousand birds counted at the lake on a WeBS day (for only the third time ever), and a high total of 185 species being recorded during the year, 2011 will above all be remembered for the rarities which were found in the autumn.

Although we had a few rare wildfowl, including Lesser Scaup and Blue-winged Teal, we never imagined that so many rare waders would arrive. Thirty-four species were recorded between July and November, including five Pectoral Sandpipers, two Long-billed Dowitchers, two Semipalmated Sandpipers, and one each of Temminck's Stint, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

On one weekend it was possible to see Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and two Long-billed Dowitchers from the same spot on Herriott's Bridge! It would have been churlish not to have produced a wader table this year; scroll down for it, and some photographs of the 2011 rarities.

The breeding species had a mixed year; the unusually low water level in the spring saw to it that for the second consecutive year, no Little Grebe or Great Crested Grebe broods were raised. Coots also had one of their worst years ever, and Gadwall and Tufted Duck both had poor seasons. Just 71 waterfowl broods were found (two less than 2010) - since regular counting began in the late 1960s, only 1973, 1976 and 2005 have recorded a lower total. Kingfishers, too were very scarce; in fact I managed to see more Pectoral Sandpipers at Chew than Kingfishers this autumn. Not everything can be blamed on low reservoir levels and the cold winter however; Ruddy Ducks barely managed double figures all year following the eradication scheme; they have not bred at Chew since a single brood was seen in 2008.

Not all breeding species suffered due to the low water level; two Lapwing broods were only the second and third at Chew in the last 20 years, although at least one of them may have been hatched in the surrounding farmland. In fact another chick from a third brood was seen near the lake in Stratford Lane. Shelduck had one of their best years ever, with four broods producing 23 young, all of which survived. Some years the parents abandon the chicks and they are all predated.

Waterbird highlights:
Mute Swan - a record count of 180 in August, beating the previous maximum of 166 in July 1996. 14 broods (48 young) was the equal highest number of broods recorded at Chew, although productivity was below average.
Whooper Swan - now just about annual, being recorded each year since 2008 after an absence of 35 years!
Pink-footed Goose - a family group of four from Blagdon on December 27th; the eighth or ninth Chew record, and our highest count as well.
Greylag - a group of nine on Nov. 17th were thought to be genuinely wild migrants from Europe. See here (entry dated Nov 25th).
Cackling Goose - one from November 2nd to 5th; can a captive origin be excluded given the other American wildfowl and waders arriving at the time? Several others appeared in the UK in November, including one at Goldcliff (Gwent) on 13th.
Shelduck - excellent numbers in the first half of the year, and an excellent breeding season with four broods (23 young, all of which survived).
Wigeon - the emerging pattern of increasing numbers in autumn continues, with a peak of 855 on November 17th; the highest count since 1210 in January 1987 (see graph below).
Gadwall - our biggest autumn passage ever - the peak of 650 on September 15th easily beat the previous record of 425 in September 1991 (see graph below).
Teal - another big autumn count; 2305 on November 17th was Chew's sixth highest annual maximum.
Garganey - once again, continuing poor numbers in the autumn, but a female until December 12th was our latest ever, surpassing one seen on December 7th 1978.
Blue-winged Teal - a female from June 12th to 24th; the sixth Chew record.
Ferruginous Duck - just the 'usual' male this year, on many dates throughout. See photo above.
Ring-necked Duck - the adult male from 2010 on a few dates during the year, with a first-winter male appearing on November 7th.
Lesser Scaup - an adult male on November 3rd and 4th - the third Chew record (all of which have been males).
Smew - a blank year, after what we thought was a return to form in 2010.
Ruddy Duck - the decline continues; will next year be the first year since 1974 with only single-figure counts?
Great White Egret - our second (or is that third?) record was one briefly at Herriott's Pool on October 14th. We ought to be seeing more of these seeing as up to six were recorded together on the Somerset Levels this year.
Spoonbill - a record year, with at least nine birds seen, including a flock of five in September. The previous 13 records are all of single birds.
Little Grebe - another cold winter and the low spring water level are probably responsible for our second consecutive total breeding failure. Only two pairs were found, neither of which raised any young. But migrants from elsewhere moulting at Chew in the autumn still managed to exceed 100.
Great Crested Grebe - another breeding failure (cf. Little Grebe), and the lowest autumn numbers since 1979; counts were half what we would normally expect, even after a poor breeding season.
Coot - Only 11 broods (35 young) were found - a dismal season, again due to the low water level in spring and summer (cf. 2005).

Wader highlights:
Little Ringed Plover - record numbers on autumn passage, peaking at 16 on August 2nd. The previous maximum count was ten in August 1989.
Ringed Plover - a very good, sustained autumn passage this year; 110 on September 19th was a few birds shy of being the second-highest count ever made at Chew, but a long way short of the 150 recorded in August 1989.
Lapwing - as well as a rare four-figure count in autumn, two broods raised this year were only the second and third broods at Chew in the last 20 years.
Semipalmated Sandpiper - in what was an exceptional year nationally for this species, the two juveniles found this year were the first to be recorded at Chew. The ID of the second bird was only confirmed after examination of photos of the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (see bottom of page, and here - entry dated Dec 22nd).
Temminck' Stint - one at Herriott's on August 26th and 27th.
Pectoral Sandpiper - a remarkable five birds were seen this autumn (the previous best year was 1970, with four), including three together in Stratford Bay from October 3rd to 6th. See photo further down the page.
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper - the highlight of the year; a juvenile arrived at Blagdon on November 18th, and then appeared in Stratford Bay the following day. It remained until December 11th, when it moved back to Blagdon. It was last seen there on December 16th. See photo at the bottom of the page.
Long-billed Dowitcher - two arrived at Blagdon on October 9th; they then commuted between there and Chew until December 14th. The third Chew record (the fourth and fifth birds, as the first record was also of two birds seen at both Chew and Blagdon).
Spotted Redshank - it was looking like another rubbish autumn for the Spotshank until a flock of 24 arrived on November 12th; easily the highest count since 29 in September 1978.
Lesser Yellowlegs - an adult on July 8th. There is an old accepted record of one seen briefly in September 1967.
Spotted Sandpiper - an adult moulting out of summer plumage from September 24th remained at Herriott's Bridge into 2012.
Grey Phalarope - Five birds were recorded, including an exceptionally long-stayer from to November 1st to 27th. A flock of three on September 15th was the highest count since three in September 1989.

  2011

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

  Mute Swan

54

42

60

85

105

140

175

180

145

155

145

135

  Bewick's Swan

5

13

6

  Whooper Swan

1

  Black Swan

1

  Pink-footed Goose

4

  White-fronted Goose

1

1

  Greylag Goose

1

1

1

3

1

9

  Canada Goose

60

40

85

60

30

400

495

505

50

40

205

120

  Cackling Goose

1

  Barnacle Goose

18

14

2

9

3

5

7

9

21

10

20

  Egyptian Goose

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

  Shelduck

34

29

29

31

32

30

29

9

6

7

13

20

  Wigeon

120

155

4

1

6

3

147

620

855

700

  Gadwall

75

80

15

40

100

195

125

430

650

555

535

250

  Teal

580

380

270

10

2

26

50

225

995

1670

2305

1135

  Mallard

665

560

430

310

350

705

1185

1045

865

745

700

720

  Pintail

12

14

4

3

18

18

16

28

  Garganey

2

2

2

4

1

4

2

1

1

1

  Blue-winged Teal

1

  Shoveler

180

190

135

5

4

8

12

85

295

435

560

175

  Red-crested Pochard

1

4

3

2

4

  Pochard

1200

1145

195

24

45

41

11

70

275

490

965

920

  Ring-necked Duck

1

1

1

1

  Ferruginous Duck

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

  Tufted Duck

950

885

605

345

100

90

155

510

2100

1895

1055

1090

  Greater Scaup

1

2

4

3

1

3

2

  Lesser Scaup

1

  Long-tailed Duck

1

  Common Scoter

2

8

1

3

4

  Goldeneye

130

130

155

4

1

2

2

1

19

55

98

  Red-breasted Merganser

1

1

2

5

1

  Goosander

65

30

15

2

4

11

14

  Ruddy Duck

7

11

6

3

2

1

1

2

2

4

4

4

  Great Northern Diver

1

  Cormorant

75

65

40

15

10

15

30

50

165

110

45

45

  Bittern

2

1

3

1

1

  Little Egret

5

1

2

2

2

4

12

13

14

9

4

2

  Great White Egret

1

  Grey Heron

10

12

8

10

10

35

25

25

25

16

16

6

  Spoonbill

1

2

5

1

  Little Grebe

6

7

4

4

4

3

35

75

105

95

60

25

  Great Crested Grebe

20

21

95

90

100

225

250

180

145

110

30

25

  Black-necked Grebe

1

2

3

2

  Water Rail

1

2

5

5

5

5

7

5

  Moorhen

35

10

5

5

15

40

45

75

50

30

15

  Coot

290

510

345

385

455

920

1490

1940

2805

3110

2850

2290

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

  wildfowl total

4158

3711

2021

936

777

1661

2256

3081

5559

6692

7476

5423

  all species total

4602

4338

2523

1442

1364

2880

4145

5415

8905

10202

10522

7837

There are a few species for which we can glean seasonal maxima from old bird reports right back to the when the lake was flooded. Three such species are Wigeon, Gadwall and Tufted Duck, and with all of them increasing in recent years, let's see how they're doing compared with the days of old. The single biggest factor which influences wildfowl numbers at Chew is the availability of food, and whilst good feeding conditions for species such as Teal are inextricably tied to water levels, others are not so immediately obvious.

Wigeon have declined considerably since the 1970s and 80s as the lakeside habitat changed and their grassy winter feeding areas disappeared, but their increase in the last two years is due to the fact that a combination of low summer water levels and the subsequent proliferation of pondweed has provided ideal feeding conditions in the autumn. This may also account for the massive increase in Gadwall numbers this year. This species was a rarity in the 1950s; the first to arrive at Chew in 1955 were believed to have descended from birds reared at Slimbridge. Tufted Duck are thought to have benefited from a sustained rise in the number of aquatic invertebrates in the lake, such as Corixa (lesser water boatmen).

  2011

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

  Oystercatcher

1

1

1

2

1

5

1

  Little Ringed Plover

4

3

2

14

16

1

  Ringed Plover

1

2

64

110

3

1

  Golden Plover

2

10

35

  Grey Plover

1

1

1

3

1

  Lapwing

415

170

4

10

3

45

90

75

100

230

1045

470

  Knot

1

10

4

1

1

  Sanderling

1

1

3

  Little Stint

2

4

2

1

  Semipalmated Sandpiper

1

1

  Temminck's Stint

1

  Pectoral Sandpiper

2

3

  Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

1

1

  Curlew Sandpiper

1

6

1

  Dunlin

16

26

2

15

5

12

72

33

55

50

  Ruff

3

1

4

8

4

2

1

  Jack Snipe

1

  Common Snipe

1

2

2

1

1

5

15

29

25

  Long-billed Dowitcher

2

2

2

  Woodcock

1

1

  Black-tailed Godwit

13

14

9

5

24

11

8

3

4

3

  Bar-tailed Godwit

1

2

  Whimbrel

3

4

1

1

1

  Curlew

5

3

2

1

2

2

1

1

  Spotted Redshank

1

1

1

24

  Lesser Yellowlegs

1

  Redshank

3

2

4

1

11

1

  Greenshank

1

4

7

8

  Green Sandpiper

3

3

1

3

1

6

16

9

7

6

11

  Wood Sandpiper

1

1

1

  Common Sandpiper

5

2

2

9

18

6

1

  Spotted Sandpiper

1

1

1

1

  Turnstone

1

2

1

2

  Grey Phalarope

3

1

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

  wader total

440

205

28

47

36

63

167

250

372

320

1216

568

The tables on this page show monthly maxima - for conventions and background information, please see the bird counts index page.