Chew Valley Lake - 9.10.10

With the possibility of seeing some good birds we travelled down to the lake. On the way a Raven flew over us near the village of Cross. We popped into Woodford Lodge for our permits and then first port of call was Herons Green Bay. There was a large number of birds to be seen from the layby starting off with another 2 Ravens overhead. Little and Great-Crested Grebes were in good numbers along with numerous ducks. All of a sudden while scanning through them I picked up 1 of the 3 male Ferruginous Ducks on the lake. I got my camera ready and just as I was about to take a photo it flew off and out of sight!!
Across the road were 2 Snipe and 4 Green Sandpipers on the small pool.

Next stop was the hide at Stratford Bay. From here it was obvious that picking out any of the other Ferruginous Ducks would be tricky as there were many hundreds of ducks but I gave it a go and 15 minutes later I mangaed to pick one out on the far side though it was mainly spending its time asleep. The 4th Raven of the day flew over and 3 Black-Necked Grebes were also seen. 8 Little Egrets were dotted around the lake.

The 2 Fudge Ducks were the first i'd seen in the UK for 7 years and take my tally to 6 birds.