Phew!! A busy few weeks and culminating in me being ill in bed for past two days! Still feeling much better now. Last week I was tour leading for Naturetrek. With Charles Martin as my co-leader, we spent two wonderful days with 16 clients exploring the Somerset Levels. Despite overcast and rainy weather we saw all the likely suspects (Lapwings, Wigeon, Shovelers...) in good numbers and had a few scarcer birds including Whooper and Bewick's Swans, Long-tailed Duck and a Great White Egret. The Starlings performed well too - swirling in their masses some distance away from Shapwick where we were expecting them; however they suddenly changed direction and flew straight overhead towards Ham Wall. An awesome experience - just the pattering sounds of their wings could be heard as they passed over.

On Saturday I spent the day doing some bird ID tutoring - we visited Marshfield in the morning catching up with Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings; in the afternoon Slimbridge WWT gave good views of Bewick's Swans and many other waterfowl and wading birds!

Sunday was then a fun day out with the University of Bristol SCUBA diving club - we ventured down to the south coast. The first two sites were too murky so we finished off in the brackish water between Weymouth and Portland - I managed to tick off a few skills and see some anemones, crabs and mud!! The nearby pub was a warming reward after before heading back to Bristol.

Today was the launch of the Bristol House Sparrow Project - check out http://www.wildsparrows.org.uk/ where you can report any House Sparrows you see and help us help Bristol's House Sparrows! We launched the project with St Mary Redcliffe Primary School in Victoria Park, south Bristol.