Category: Blog
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14th March 2023 – Somerset Levels
The weather was kinder today and, although there was a fresh breeze throughout, it was sunny for most of the day. I visited 3 nature reserves on the Somerset Levels, about an hour and a half south from my home in Bristol. At RSPB Catcott Lows a couple of wardens had just disturbed most of…
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8th March 2023 – Pink in Nature
Denzil Nature tells us that the weather is bleak in Belgium and so for this week he has set a new photo challenge of showing pink in nature (to cheer us up). (https://denzilnature.com/2023/03/08/nature-photo-challenge-3-pink/) It’s equally bleak for us in Bristol in the south west of England and its even snowing here this morning. Amazingly we…
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5th March 2023 – Galleries
I have created a new “Galleries” section on my blog to highlight some of my bird photos. I have purposely not labelled the birds in the mixed galleries as I thought it might be fun (for me too) to try our luck at identifying them. They are labelled elsewhere on the site. So far I…
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Nature Photo Challenge: Eyes
I enjoyed Denzil Nature’s Photo Challenge on “Pattern” last week and particularly enjoyed seeing some of other bloggers’ contributions. See Denzil’s post. His challenge this week is “Eyes”. So here goes: The eyes have it!
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28th February 2023 – Somerset Levels
I spent the day on the Somerset Levels – always a favourite of mine; however, the cold and lack of sun did test my resolve. Frustratingly, I could see the sun shining on the Mendip Hills to the north of me. I started at Catcott Lows. The wetlands were teeming with wigeon, but not a…
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Nature Photo Challenge: Patterns
I would like to accept Denzil Nature’s Photo Challenge for this week. It particularly appeals to me as I am regularly amazed at the wonderful patterns that are seen in nature. I look forward to seeing other blogs in the challenge A few patterns that come to mind: Animals Birds Butterflies Flowers Countryside Insects
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19th February 2023 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
We are regular visitors to Slimbridge but we generally avoid going there during school holidays. However, with a rarity, a White-rumped Sandpiper (an annual visitor to the UK from North America in small numbers), reported there the temptation was too great. On arriving at the Rushy Pen hide (where it has been reported in recent days) we…
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14th February 2023 – Chew Valley Lake, Somerset
A beautiful day to visit Chew Valley Lake just south of Bristol. The water level was very high and it didn’t look very inspiring when we looked out from the Stratford hide. Until, that is, a group of 8 Goldeneye came into view. One of the males was displaying regularly by raising its head to…
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7th February 2023 – Somerset Levels
A day spent birding on the Somerset Levels is always a special treat. However, by midday I was beginning to think this might be the exception. However, the sun burnt through the mist by about one o’clock and I saw some lovely birds in the afternoon to go with the magically atmospheric scenery that I…
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5th February 2023 – New Passage, Severn Estuary 2023
We had a fleeting visit to New Passage on the Severn Estuary this morning. The tide was too low to see much and it was too cold to hang around. There was a flock of 30 oystercatchers stretched along the waters edge and a similar number of redshank where the pill met the waters edge.…
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 