Severn Beach & New Passage
December 5 @ 08:30 - 13:00
Leader: [TBC]
Meet: Cheapside Car Park, Stroud, at 08:30, returning around 1.00pm
Venue: Severn Beach seafront, Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire BS35 [check postcode and car park]
Tides at Avonmouth: high water about 04:30 [check], so the tide will be falling through the morning.
About the day
A morning trip of about 3 hours on the Severn Estuary, which has one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world. We’ll walk the sea wall from Severn Beach north to New Passage. We’ll scan the mudflats and saltmarsh, where waders and wildfowl feed as the tide drops, and the rough grassland and reens behind the wall. If the weather is good and birds have been reported, we’ll finish by driving the short distance to Aust. It’s a good site for short-eared owl, which hunts over the grassland and can be seen in the daytime in winter.
What we might see
Very likely: dunlin, redshank, curlew, shelduck, wigeon, teal, mallard, little egret, grey heron, cormorant, lapwing, black-headed gull, herring gull, lesser and great black-backed gulls, buzzard, kestrel, rock pipit, meadow pipit, stonechat, reed bunting
Good chance: grey plover, ringed plover, knot, turnstone, oystercatcher, black-tailed godwit, snipe, peregrine, sparrowhawk, Mediterranean gull, kingfisher, Cetti’s warbler
Possible: short-eared owl (at Aust), merlin, marsh harrier, great white egret, water pipit, yellow-legged gull, avocet, pintail
Cost and booking
There’s no event fee. Organisation and car sharing will be arranged through the group’s WhatsApp channels.
Parking
Park on the seafront at Severn Beach [check car park, charges and postcode]. Please park considerately in residential streets.
Facilities
There are no facilities along the sea wall or at Aust.
Practical information
The sea wall is very exposed in December, so wear warm, windproof and waterproof layers, plus a hat and gloves. Bring a telescope, as the birds will often be distant out on the mud. Bring a drink and a snack. The walking is flat on tarmac and grass, about 3km in total.
If the trip has to change
Car-sharing logistics, cancellations, weather changes and any late decisions about Aust will be shared on the group’s WhatsApp channels.
Further reading
Tide times: Port of Bristol (Avonmouth)