Category: Blog

We have had a couple of nights away with friends at Dumbleton Hall Hotel on the border of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire between the towns of Evesham and Tewkesbury. Dumbleton Hall is an impressive traditional Cotswold Manor House set in 19 acres of private gardens and woodland with its own lake.

I hadn’t really expected to be taking “nature” photos during our stay and was only equipped with my bridge camera. However, there were many more opportunities than I expected and as the countryside was so colourful I am publishing a little more than just the bird photos.

We stopped at Tewkesbury on our way there and visited the Abbey. No birds, just trees!

Our second day we spent walking around the grounds of the hotel, on to the village of Dumbleton and over the hill to the nearby village of Alderton and its pub! Red Kites, buzzards and kestrels didn’t quite match the numbers of redwings, fieldfare and pheasants but there were plenty to see. Again the trees were amazing.

On the third day we visited the National Trust property of Croome. The Croome website says to ” Expect the unexpected. Incredible innovation, colonial links, devastating loss, remarkable survival and magnificent restoration all in one place.” Stonechats, more redwings and a kestrel wasn’t what I was expecting. With a great backdrop of the Malverns we had a splendid walk around the grounds.

It was another amazing November morning and we had a pleasant walk along the Severn Estuary from New Passage to Severn Beach and back. We then lingered a while to watch the birds at New Passage.

We could make out good flocks of wigeon, Canada geese, black-tailed godwits, lapwing and curlew as well as two northern pintail but they were all a bit distant. However, there was one spectacular moment when a peregrine spooked the black-tailed godwits and we could make it out flying above and amongst them.

Fortnightly my wife has a patchwork and quilting class in North Somerset and I take the opportunity to drop her off and go birdwatching in that area. The last few occasions I have been further south to the Somerset Levels but this time I had a day in the Chew Valley at Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon Lake. The weather was fabulous and there were plenty of birds to keep me occupied.

At my first spot, at Herriott’s bridge at Chew Valley Lake, I saw bearded tits (everyone’s favourites) but they didn’t hang around for me to photograph them. My first photos were of a pair of gadwall (could they have been the pair that I saw in Eastville Park?)

There were thousands of waterfowl on the lakes but most of them were telescope distance away. Here are some of the ones that came close enough to photograph.

And some of the woodland birds …

At Blagdon the highlight was three Egyptian geese which looked stunning in the late afternoon sun.

Needless to say I was late getting back to pick up my wife.

And I thought it was gloomy yesterday!

However, the visit was well worth it as there was a pair of gadwall (which are very rare visitors to the park).

We also saw seven cormorants and three grey herons which were big enough to photograph in the dismal light. A jay also added some colour but I was too slow to photograph it.

Another gloomy (but mild) day – but not so gloomy in our local park.

A few photographs of some favourites on a very gloomy morning at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire

We had a very enjoyable hour or so in glorious sunshine at Catcott Moor on the Somerset Levels this afternoon. There is a very pleasant hide here looking across the moor towards Glastonbury Tor but we benefited fully from this lovely October day by watching from behind a screen at the side of the hide. From here we had good views of three marsh harriers and a stonechat. There was also a roe buck in an adjoining field and driving to the hide we also saw 17 little egret in one field.

After a cold and blustery morning I had decent light on my walk around Duchess Pond in Stoke Park Estate this afternoon. As well as the grey heron and the stonechats in my photos I saw six swallows lingering before their flights back to Africa. Even the castle (the Dower House) looked good in the sunshine.

A few waders (mainly oystercatchers and black-tailed godwits) at New Passage this morning before the rain crossed the estuary and settled in.

The weather forecast didn’t live up to its promises but it didn’t spoil a lovely walk with friends through Millers Dale in the Wye Valley of Derbyshire in the Peak District.

We started along the Monsal Trail along with cyclists, joggers and other walkers through two well-lit former railway tunnels and then dropped down to the River Wye and made our way back through the Cramside Wood Nature Reserve back to Cressbrook Mill.

The noticeboard for the nature reserve promised us dippers and grey wagtail and we weren’t disappointed. In addition we saw a little grebe (also referred to as dab chicks in these parts), a wren, moorhen, mallards, swans and heard a woodpecker.