Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta Linnaeus, 1758.

WWT Slimbridge, Glos. © Nigel Milbourne 2011

Very rare, passage migrant. May occur in almost any month.

  1. One, not aged or sexed, 6th Nov. 2006 (R.M. Curber et al.).
  2. One, adult not sexed, 29th Dec. 2017 (M. Noel-Smith, photo & video). It is likely that this bird escaped from Bristol Zoo.
  3. One, adult not sexed, 19th July 2020 (N.R. Milbourne, M. Hynam).
  1. The first record for the lake, was of a bird found by Roy Curber at Burmah Road on a foggy autumn afternoon. Unfortunately, it left overnight, despite the low water level.
  2. The second record was of a bird on Butcombe Bank in high water conditions that stayed long enough for the observer, Mike Noel-Smith, to get a couple of shots and a video clip on his phone before it flew off towards the North Shore.
  3. The third record was of a bird seen at Wookey Point for a few minutes early in the morning by the author and Mark Hynam, but was lost to view and assumed to have flown off. However, during another check in the evening I noted it back in the same place, so had presumably been present all day.

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Note navigation arrows either side of, & slideshow option top right of, enlarged images.

Bibliography (sources of information):

  1. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2006. Avon Ornithological Group.
  2. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2020. Avon Ornithological Group.
Last update: 1st December 2024