Dave Helliar

Hi Robin, Forde Abbey is in Dorset (it has a Somerset postal address only)

Purple Sandpiper in the drizzle & murk!

At least 7 Purple Sandpiper & Turnstones sheltering from the high tide on boulders at end of The Cobb breakwater.

Purple Sandpipers & Turnstones hunkering down at high tide.

At least 8 Purple Sandpiper on the rocks at end of The Cobb at Lyme Regis this am & 28+ Turnstone. Couldn't find a single Rock Pipit on the beaches, but not surprising with the number of dogs everywhere! Awful weather with driving drizzle & murk. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Unlimited fines for dog attacks on farm animals New law strengthening protections for sheep, cows and other farm animals.

Amazed by negative reactions seen on social media from some dog owners w regard to new Govt ruling on livestock worrying, despite fact that almost 87% of sheep farmers experienced a dog attack on their flock in 2025. Yet still this: "why should I put my dog on a lead?" 🙄
www.gov.uk/government/n...

Red Kite in blue skies for a change!

Red Kite flew west after heavy showers ceased & the sun appeared at my Dorset patch this pm (NFY 3km #PWC2026 ) c.35 Siskin feeding in Alder trees is probably the largest flock I've seen here. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Nice one. It flew south from the res at 16:35 yesterday.

Greylag Goose

4 (of 6 present) Great Tit & 3 (of at least 4 present) Blue Tit, which were actively anting in warm sunshine!

Greylag Goose NFY at #ChardRes today. Nearby at Chaffcombe I watched 6 Great Tit & at least 4 Blue Tit 'actively anting' along this kerb. @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Two Shelduck at a drizzly Chard Resevoir.

2 Shelduck were NFY at #ChardRes this morning. Pair Wigeon also present. #PWC2026 @somersetbirds.bsky.social At the Dorset patch a flushed Woodcock was also NFY. Drake Gadwall, 12 Teal, 30+ Tufties also present here. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Dipper taken with Nikon P900 super zoom.

Pair of Dipper in display & singing on spillway

First Frog spawn (2 clumps seen) in ditch.

Pair of displaying & singing Dipper on The Blackdown Hills today. My first Frog Spawn seen. Nearby 42 Snipe, 14 Golden Plover, 3 Skylark (inc singing) & 4 Stonechat @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Hope you're seen by NHS soon Leon, all the best 👍

Water now spilling through tunnels under road. Very rare occurrence, I think I've seen it happen once before in over 50 years!

Footpath near hide under several feet of water.

Entrance path to hide!

Hide submerged in at least 2 feet of water!

A few more photos of #ChardRes taken yesterday after #StormChandra had finished dumping at least 2" of rain. Anyone who knows the hide, I reckon the water level is at least seat height! @somersetbirds.bsky.social

River Axe flooding the road, with an abandoned car & a tractor driving through safely!

I couldn't visit my Dorset patch at Chard Junction yesterday! River Axe in full flood mode. #PWC2026

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Likewise at a reserve I manage, it's a recently disused quarry & the aggregate company doesn't allow any burning of brash, so dead hedging & habitat piles are the norm!

Sluice on dam not coping with the volume of water!

View from dam car park

East shoreline & all fishing swims are submerged & fishing suspended.

Hide under at least a foot of water & obviously closed at present

#ChardRes is well & truly flooded at present, the highest level I've seen for decades & that's before tonights deluge from #StormChandra Many birds seem to move on when it's like this! @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Distant photo of Killdeer, an American wader, similar to Ringed Plover, but with a double breast band.

The birders enjoying the Killdeer at Ripley Farm Lake

Great-tailed Grackle on telephone wire.

Great-tailed Grackle feeding on lawn ridiculously close!

A rare day off patch today to see the Killdeer at Ripley, Hampshire, always distant & with the sun behind, but nice views thru scope! Had to wait for the Great-tailed Grackle at Holbury to appear, but what a character 'Bluey' is! #HantsBirds

Despite more than 86,000 people backing the fourth most signed petition in the Scottish Parliament’s history, the Scottish Government has confirmed it will not change the law to outlaw the Guga hunt.

Nature security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security This strategic assessment explores how global biodiversity loss and the collapse of critical ecosystems could affect the UK’s resilience, security and prosperity.

An across-government technical assessment published today recognises that "nature is the foundation of national security" and that "every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse". A rational response to this would be to get very serious about nature recovery.
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Petition: Stop the Guga Hunt Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to remove the power to grant licences for taking Gannets on Sula Sgeir.

Sign here to voice your disgust at the annual Guga slaughter. Gannets are magnificent and this old ‘tradition’ needs to end.

petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE...

Agree about the ice. All these ducks spent the whole time in the centre of the res either sleeping or just loafing upto dusk, only saw the Goldeneye dive a couple times, which may suggest they've arrived together & resting??

Dapper drake Goldeneye in the rain

Drake Goldeneye in the rain & murk at Chard Resevoir

5 Wigeon (2 drakes) & 5 drake Shoveler in the murk at Chard Reservoir.

Patch gold with this superb drake Goldeneye at #ChardRes today (less than annual here) Bit of waterfowl movement with 5 Wigeon & 5 drake Shoveler also present + 9 'local' Tufties. #PWC2026 @somersetbirds.bsky.social

I think you may be right Steve....drake Goldeneye, 5 Wigeon & 5 Shoveler on #ChardRes today.

The feeders used are old pheasant feeders, but just as a means to store the seed....it is then scattered by hand along field margins by the farmer & also myself when I visit. 👍

I know the farmer & this is purely for farmland birds, no shooting or Pheasant rearing. Hedge laying also carried out in rotation.

Brambling record shot!

140+ Linnet perched in tree

955 Lapwing inflight, they were settled in fields.....& no, I didn't flush them!

Lapwing counting....955!

A few hrs spent on the Devon/Somerset border today & pleased to find a couple Brambling in a Chaffinch flock, also 140+ Linnet & 955 Lapwing. No GP with them today, but 75+ seen recently. Good to see several fields sown with winter bird food crops & supplementary seed feeders #DevonBirds #PWC2026

Dipper perched on branch above a swollen River Axe. It was left undisturbed & carried on singing as I walked on.

Watched & listened to this Dipper in full song for several minutes as it perched above a very swollen River Axe near my Dorset patch this afternoon. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social #PWC2026

Red Kite inflight

Red Kite being mobbed by Starlings.

Red Kite over my house in Chard at 13:00 today in overcast weather. The local Starlings didn't like much! @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Seems pretty common in Somerset. This tree had at least 4 Blackcap eating the berries on 7th January.

Pair Pintail at the Dorset patch, a very scarce bird here! (NFY)

Great White Egret inflight over my Dorset patch (NFY)

2 of the 7 Wigeon at Chard Reservoir

5 of the 7 Wigeon at Chard Reservoir

The thaw in the weather had a few things moving today. Pair Pintail & a GWE at the Dorset patch & 7 Wigeon at #ChardRes
@dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social & @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Quote from the iRecord website, Martin:
'Site under maintenance
Apologies, iRecord is currently offline for unscheduled maintenance. We will be back on Monday 12th January.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.'

Male Stonechat fluffed-up in the sub-zero weather.

Fluffed-up Stonechat on a frosty morning at the Dorset patch today. 90% of the lakes are still completely frozen, meaning most waterfowl have moved on, just 6 Teal, 8 Tufties, pair Mandarin & a Little Grebe braving it out. 12 LT Tit seeming to find food in the willows. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social