Garganey Spatula querquedula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Blagdon Lake © Nigel Milbourne 2006
Scarce, passage migrant & summer visitor. March to October.
There is a note in The Breeding Birds of Somerset and their Eggs that the first record of breeding in Somerset was “supplied to the Wells Natural History and Archaeological Society by the late Mr. Donald Carr, who at the time was Ranger of Blagdon reservoir; he reported finding a foresaken nest and eggs near the water in 1910. No particulars were taken of the eggs or down, and no bird was seen.” Howard H. Davis and Stanley Lewis both conclude that this record was not properly authenticated.
Bibliography (sources of information):
- Davis H.H. 1948. A Revised List of the Birds of the Bristol District. Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society, vol. XXVII, part IV, pp. 225-268. 1947.
- Lewis, S. 1955. The Breeding Birds of Somerset and their Eggs. Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd., Ilfracombe, Devon.