Today we had a walk along the Severn Estuary further south than WWT Slimbridge, which we have visited a lot recently, and closer to home. There is a section of the south west footpath between the two Severn Bridge crossings close to where the old Severn ferry used to operate at Aust and which is often a good place to view birds.
The weather is beginning to break and we managed to do this walk between showers and were very lucky not to get wet. We had views of a variety of birds but most at some distance.
The view across Aust Warth towards the first Severn Bridge.The view back across Aust Warth towards the second Severn Bridge (now known as the Prince of Wales Bridge)Good numbers of black headed gulls, oyster catchers, Canada geese and a few curlews on the warth (the low lying area next to the sea)
A better view of the oyster catchersThere were still a few swallows around Swallow up closeThe village of Aust in the distance – it was from here that the ferry operated to take vehicles and passengers to Wales before the Severn bridges were builtGadwall on the pools (most of which are dried up at the moment) on the other side of the warth.A distant curlew in flightWe caught up with the curlew at the end of our walk at New PassageCurlewCommon redshank at New PassageCommon redshank amongst the black headed gullsShelduck on the mud flats
We only get summer rain here. Of course sometimes we get no rain for months and months. An African drought is different to an English drought. Spring is called suicide season in the Highveld because it’s so hot and dry.
That sounds so different. I can’t imagine really. We have only been to Joburg en route to the Kruger and then on return to Port Elizabeth. We know Cape Town much better. From rugby matches I’ve seen recently they are getting a fair share of rain.
Cape Town gets winter rain but not much during the hot summer. There was a terrible drought in Cape Town pre-Covid which went on for two years. The Kruger would be more like Johannesburg. It also gets summer rain and periods of drought. We are used to our weather although I do like English rain. I like African wildlife so here we stay.
I love how our countries have similar birds, despite the distance across the ocean.
The Curlews are very shy when they migrate through Japan en route to their destination – you had some lovely views. Japanese birders like to describe Oystercatchers as ‘walking carrots’☺️ As always thank you for sharing.
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 
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