Month: June 2019
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27th June 2019 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol
I thought it might be a good chance to photograph some butterflies in Stoke Park Estate this morning and I wasn’t expecting to see too many birds; and then there were 40+ swifts and a kestrel at Duchess Pond and I didn’t have the right lens! I did manage a few acceptable swift photos but…
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21st June 2019 – RSPB Minsmere
Another pleasant walk around Minsmere this morning to end our stay in Suffolk, although the wind was still a bit fresh. The decommissioned nuclear power station at Sizewell which dominates the marshes. The National Trust café and cottages on Dunwich Heath at the northern end of the reserve It was interesting watching the terns from…
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20th June 2019 – Around Walberswick, Suffolk
Last year we had seen stonechats, dartford warblers and stone curlews on Westleton Heath but on our walk this morning we only saw crows and jackdaws. I only took two photos: one of the heather and the other of grasses!. A little later we went on to the RSPB nature reserve at Minsmere and just…
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19th June 2019 – RSPB Minsmere
A wet and gloomy day, so not one for sunbathing on the beach. Luckily at RSPB Minsmere we were able to have a decent walk, shelter every now and again in a hide and see some lovely birds (and flowers). The stars were stonechats, dunnocks and a whitethroat in the dunes; black-tailed godwits, mediterranean…
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18th June 2019 – Walberswick National Nature Reserve
We enjoyed the company of friends from Norwich during the day but went for a walk in the early evening along the coast at Walberswick and back through Corporation Marshes. Light rain was forecast but we thought the risk was worth taking. It gradually got darker and darker and with ten minutes to go there…
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17th June 2019 – RSPB Strumpshaw Fen
Today we went to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen in Norfolk (about an hour up the coast from Walberswick). We were hoping to see (and photograph!) a Swallowtail butterfly for which the reserve is famous. Last year on a visit here I had seen one as soon as I got out of the car in the…
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16th June 2019 – RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk
We have had some very mixed weather at RSPB Minsmere today but once again this fantastic nature reserve has not disappointed. The day started sunny and warm (enough to encourage us to venture out in shorts) but our visit to the reserve ended mid afternoon with a torrential downpour; luckily we were sheltered in a…
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15th June 2019 – Flatford Mill
We spent a couple of hours touring around “Constable Country” on the Essex/Suffolk border visiting Dedham, East Bergholt and Stoke by Nayland on our way to Walberswick in Suffolk. The most interesting, from my point of view, was the visit to Flatford Mill near East Bergholt where John Constable painted the Hay Wain, one of…
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14th June 2019 – Maldon, Essex
Our hosts at the B&B at which we are staying in Maldon, Essex suggested two really good activities for today: firstly, a walk along the tow paths of the Chelmer and Blackwater Canal to Heybridge Basin; secondly, a visit to the gardens at Beeleigh Abbey. Interesting graffiti under one of the bridges of the Chelmer…
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13th June 2019 – Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve, Essex
We are spending a few days in Essex en route to a week’s holiday in Suffolk Today we visited two nature reserves run by Essex Wildlife Trust. Old barges on the Blackwater Estuary at Maldon where we are staying at the excellent B&B 32 The Hythe right on the harbour http://www.thehythemaldon.co.uk/ The first was the…
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