Reader holidays: Somerset’s changing seasons


by bird-watching |
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ETYMJ8 European starling murmuration / large flock of common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in flight at sunset

Somerset’s Autumn Migrants:
25-28 September 2024 (3 nights) – £625pp (sharing a twin room), single room supplement £90

Starling Spectacular:
4-6 December 2024, 8-10 and 15-17 January 2025 – £455pp (sharing a twin room), single supplement £60

Gear up for a double dose of spectacular autumn/winter birdwatching. We’re offering not one, but two great opportunitiesto experience some of the diverse and extraordinary birdwatching that Somerset has to offer this autumn and winter, with these readers’ breaks with Somerset Birdwatching Holidays.There’s a three-night ‘Somerset’s Autumn Migrants’ package, which takes in a number of the county’s best reserves and birdwatching sites, and in which passage waders are a particular highlight, along with the raptors and egrets that you’d expect from the area.

On the coast, there are Redshanks galore, and thousands of Dunlin flying in tight groups. Swallows and Wheatears are passing through, with the occasional rarity, such as Red-backed Shrike. The Scandinavian race of Black-tailed Godwits are regulars, along with very large numbers of Turnstone, Avocet and Shelduck. This time of year is migration in action!

We are also offering a two-night‘Starling Spectacular’ break, the centrepiece of which is viewing the amazing Starling murmurations at the RSPB’s Ham Wall reserve in the heart of the Somerset Levels.

To see up to half a million Starlings flying in their liquid murmuration truly needs to be seen to be believed, with the likes of Peregrine, Marsh Harrier and Bittern all possible, too.

And winter on the Levels has much more to offer than just Starlings. Huge numbers of wildfowl come in to the flooded fields and wetlands – ducks of every variety, waders, and elegant egrets make for excellent birdwatching opportunities. We have also
seen the likes of Hen Harrier, Short-eared Owl, Spotted Redshank, and Cranes, all in addition to huge flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover. There is so much to see and enjoy in Somerset over winter.

Full itineraries of each trip can be found at:

www.somersetbirdwatchingholidays.com/autumnmigrants and

www.somersetbirdwatchingholidays.com/starling-spectacular

Book now at info@somersetbirdwatchingholidays.com, or call 01934 712831

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