Author: martintayler

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Yet another dull and dreary day so we settled on the safe bet of Slimbridge Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire where there’s always a chance of seeing something and where we knew we could keep fairly dry by visiting the numerous hides. We also wanted to see what the newly opened Estuary Tower hide was like.

Golden plovers and lapwings (I think) were the first flocks we saw

In the end it only rained on the journey there. However, the weather was so  miserably dull that we didn’t spend long at the centre and headed home pleased that we had had some fresh air and had stretched our legs a little. We did visit the Estuary Tower hide which was most impressive with excellent access and very good views across the estuary (that is if it’s clear enough to see anything).

Despite the excellence of the  Estuary Tower hide we weren’t going to see much in this light

The highlight of our visit was a water rail which was close enough for me to get some decent photos.

Water rail

Not a great day for photographing wildfowl but I was pleased to see one of my favourites – pintails.

Pintails

Greylag goose

I also took the opportunity to photograph some small birds at close quarters.

Blue tit

Blue tit

House sparrow

Blue tit

Robin

Wren

Can’t wait for the sun to come back!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The park had a very different feel from when the sun was shining at the beginning of the week. However, even though it started raining before the end of our walk (and I had to tuck my camera away), there was plenty to see.  There was a dipper and a grey wagtail (both looking rather forlorn) on the River Frome. On the lake the drake goosander was visible again. There were three cormorants in the trees over the lake and one fishing on the lake. A juvenile grey heron on the lily ponds looked as though it could do with a good meal. The six mute swans were quite grumpy, sometimes with each other and sometimes with any mallard that came too close. I suppose it must have been the weather.

Mute swan busking – (a mild  form of threat display)

This morning it was very cold and gloomy in the park. What a difference a couple of days make! On Monday I took more photos than I would care to admit. Today I didn’t take my camera out of my bag until just before leaving the lake when I saw a couple of goldcrests fidgeting in the branches and four long-tailed tits darting around them.

With the firecrest, the goldcrest is the UK’s smallest bird but a real treat to see. The photo I offer here is not what I saw with my eyes but a greatly enhanced image due to the magic of Sony (camera) and Adobe (software).

Today on the lake I could see only one grey heron and a couple of cormorants. I could see no kingfishers, neither the drake goosander nor the little grebe. But on the other hand I didn’t stand around for long looking.

Goldcrest in the gloom of Eastville Park

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was such a glorious morning that I indulged myself and spent several hours birdwatching/taking photos at Eastville Park. I suppose the main reason for spending so long (and not walking a little further) was that I had several sightings of a kingfisher but didn’t manage to get a photo until quite late on. And then it stayed around for ages and I ended up with far too many photos. It’s amazing though how different its colours seem when perched in different parts of the lake. It’s all physics!

The other reason for staying was that there was a drake goosander on the lake and it took ages to move in to a sunny enough spot for me to get a decent photo.

But there was also plenty to distract me with lots of grey herons (at least 8), cormorants, a little grebe, 6 mute swans (the most I have ever seen there in recent years) and a tawny owl.

Grey herons everywhere

6 mute swans on the lake too

Plenty of cormorants too

I couldn’t see the head of the tawny owl

A sweet little grebe

And when I wasn’t taking birds I resorted to using my phone to take photos of the lovely colours still remaining in the trees.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After a week of gloomy and very wet weather I jumped at the chance to take a short walk to Stoke Park this morning. It was lovely and sunny and so I took a 28mm lens to try and take some landscape photos.

However, on arrival at Duchess Pond I saw a sparrowhawk fly in and land in the pond quite close by.  In a panic I quickly swapped my lens for a much longer one. At first I failed to change the settings from those for landscapes and failed to get any decent shots as the sparrowhawk flew off when disturbed by crows. Luckily it came back for a further bath by which time I had sorted out my settings and got some very pleasing results.

I had a quick walk around the lake and took some photos of a cormorant and coots, moorhens and mallards in the beautiful sunshine. But by then I just wanted to get home to edit my sparrowhawk photos. Wonderful.

Today we were going in to town for lunch but stopped off at Eastville Park for a quick walk around the lake where we saw a goldcrest, several long-tailed tits, a tawny owl, 2 grey herons, half a dozen cormorants and 5 mute swans (the most for some time). It wasn’t  great light but good for the record.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gold crest

Long-tailed tit

Tawny owl

Cormorant

Mute swan seemingly seeing off a newcomer

To make our lunch really worthwhile we headed for Brandon Hill in the centre of the city for another walk (we were anticipating a good lunch) where I had the opportunity for a few more nature photos. We saw another gold crest (no photo sadly). The stars of the show for me were the squirrels.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The lunch (littlefrench_bristol in Westbury Park) felt well earned and was well up to our expectations.

We treated ourselves to a lovely bottle of Chinon (just for the memories) and had a great chat with our taxi driver on the way home!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A filthy day yesterday but today a total change with lots of sunshine. However, we didn’t want to be ploughing through mud and so had a walk around the RSPB Newport Wetlands. The paths on the reserve may have been good but we didn’t see many birds. Never mind, at least there wasn’t too much editing to do.

The only bird worth recording was a robin.

Frustrated with the lack of birds I attempted a few views across the reserve – the power of Wales.

 

Locally we have had very mixed weather with frequent heavy rain and winds but at times there have been some sunny periods. On Thursday there was a window of opportunity for a walk around our local park. We didn’t see many birds but the trees still retained some of their leaves and I managed a few photos with my phone to show the glory of the park.

 

 

 

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After a day of heavy rain and strong winds yesterday, today it was dry and often sunny.  We visited the Wildlife and Wetland Trust centre at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire; we spent most of the time in the hides but enjoyed walking through the wetlands centre and seeing some of the more exotic wildfowl in the pens, especially as there was lots of sun to enjoy. My photographs are a mixture of captive and free birds.

Teal

Shelduck

Lapwing

Greylag goose

Mallard

Pochard

Golden eye (captive)

Moorhen

Wigeon

Crane

Avocet (captive)

Black-winged stilt (captive)

Redshank (captive)

Bewick swan – I presume resident as there were only three present

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another dull day but as it’s half term it was good to avoid the crowds and have a walk around Eastville Park. I haven’t seen a kingfisher in the park for a while but with the benefit of half term we had some young eyes with us and one was spotted as soon as we reached the lake (O seems to manage to spot one every time we go here).

The trees were looking pretty good too; shame there was no sun to make it really special.

Grey heron

Female kingfisher

Cormorant

Mute swan

Tawny owl

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A dismal day today but we made the most of it with a walk around Dyrham Park where I took a few more photos of the deer. Again, there wasn’t much action and certainly no rutting.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I started my walk this morning in Stoke Park. It is very wet underfoot but by wading through the very deep puddles surrounding the area of reeds I did get good views of a male and female stonechat.

Stonechat

As I walked around Duchess Pond a grey heron took off and presented me with another great opportunity to photograph it in flight.

I didn’t see much else so walked across to Eastville Park on the other side of the M32.

The first bird to greet me here was a cheery robin.

On the lake there were 4 more grey herons.

There were also 4 mute swans on the lake. However, the most exciting birds for me were a little grebe and a teal (the first one I have seen here).

Little grebe

Teal

I could also just see the tawny owl in its box on the island.

Tawny owl

There are lots of black-headed gulls on the lake and lots of corvids around it.

Black headed gull

Magpie

Crow

Before I left a cormorant flew in and posed on a nearby branch.

Both profiles of the cormorant