Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Category: Blog

  • 22nd November 2020 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    22nd November 2020 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    This second “Covid-19” lockdown in England doesn’t seem as restrictive as the first but I must admit that, with shorter days, poorer weather and less opportunities to engage with nature, I am feeling the negative effects of the situation. We have two very good local parks nearby but they seem so busy that recently we have been forced to drive out into the local countryside to get our regular exercise and to raise our spirits. However, this morning it was so foggy that I couldn’t face driving and we took our chance by walking in Stoke Park. I knew that I wouldn’t have an opportunity to see any bird life but I didn’t really expect to see quite so many people or to have to cope with such muddy conditions (a consequence of lots of rain and so many people exercising in this area). In the main we were able to keep our distance from everyone else but I didn’t see others trying to keep their distance (from us or other walkers). I did enjoy being out in the open but felt quite anxious about having to make such an effort to distance ourselves.

    My nature photos are restricted to trees, spiders webs and wide open spaces with an atmospheric feel in the fog – all of which certainly lifted our spirits towards the end of our three hour walk.

    There was no hope of seeing any wildlife around Duchess Pond
    We took the steep climb to the top of Purdown
    Love this ancient tree
    The younger ones aren’t too bad either
    Nature’s lacemakes had been busy overnight
    There were some very testing conditions before we reached the top
    A glimpse of blue sky on top of Purdown
    The 2nd World War gun placements must have been a grimmer place to have been during the war
    At last some colour and some light
    Families were taking advantage of getting out the house
    There has been much discussion about the merits of a tarmac path through this area – although I have been very much against it I could certainly see the advantages today
    We escaped to the woods for a while
    Sunshine at the top of the hill
    … but still mist through the city
  • 12th November 2020 – Dyrham Park NT

    12th November 2020 – Dyrham Park NT

    We made the most of the lovely sunny day and had a walk in and around the ancient deer park of Dyrham Park in South Gloucestershire. We had never visited the nearby village of Cold Ashton and enjoyed seeing its church and having fleeting views of the Manor House.

    The church at Cold Ashton
    Cold Ashton Manor

    There wasn’t a lot of wildlife to see and strangely no sign of the deer. Perhaps they are being kept out of sight to stop visitors from breaking social distancing rules.


    Not too sure about this bird – sky lark maybe

    The highlights were a pair of buzzards near Marshfield and the trees in the parkland some of which retained some colour to catch the sunlight.

    The 17th Century House at Dyram Park

  • 11th November 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    11th November 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    I had an hour spare this afternoon and wanted a little exercise. The light was very poor and so I didn’t attempt to photograph any little birds. Fortunately there are lots of cormorants, grey herons and mute swans at the lake at the moment.

    I tried to pick out some of the colour of the lake too.

    A grey heron sitting in this “burning” bush
    Cormorant
    This cormorant was trying to dry its wings before take-off
    Grey heron

    Coot
    Moorhen

    “This is how to make yourself beautiful”

    I was surprised, with the poor light, that I could manage to photograph some of them in flight – such is the progress of technology, both with the camera and the computer.

    Cormorant in flight
    Spot the real bird
    Grey heron in flight

    And its not all about birds …

  • 10th November 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    10th November 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    This morning, following lockdown rules, I met up with a friend in a churchyard in Winterbourne and I took a few snaps as we took our gentle exercise socially distancing.

    A very distant goldfinch

    In the afternoon I had another walk with my wife around Eastville Park.

    We saw kingfishers on a number of occasions but I only managed a couple of pathetically poor photos. Never mind, somehow these magical birds seem to lift our spirits. However, I must say my spirits would have been lifted even more if I had got a decent shot!

    Publish and be damned!

    We love the golden look to the lake at the moment and all the swans (even though they are quite aggressive to each other) but the din of crows and black-headed gulls is quite a cacophony.

  • 9th November 2020 – Severn Beach

    9th November 2020 – Severn Beach

    We took our daily lockdown exercise by walking from Severn Beach to New Passage along the Severn Estuary and back. We saw a few waders at New Passage but must have walked past the snow bunting (definitely the star bird for me this year) on our journey out. Luckily, with a helpful tip off from another birder (thank you Lisa), we had fabulous views of it on the way back. It was so close to the pathway and was unperturbed by walkers or dogs. Quite amazing.

    Apologies for so many photos of one bird but it was rather special.

  • 8th November 2020 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    8th November 2020 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    The rain didn’t stop until late in the day and just before the light went I popped across to Stoke Park to get my daily exercise. I was well rewarded with a pair of stonechats, a reed bunting, a green woodpecker, a black-headed gull, a cormorant, moorhen and mallards (all around Duchess Pond).

    The island on Duchess Pond was quite atmospheric shrouded in mist
    The cormorant was drying its wings perched on a platform submerged beneath the water
    The mallards were quite eerie too on the pond
    One black-headed gull seems to spend a lot of time around the pond
    There’s a green woodpecker in there somewhere
    I got quite wet getting this photo of a female stonechat in the swampy area
    Female stonechat
    Reed bunting
    Male stonechat just before it was impossible to take any more photos
  • 7th November 2020 – Eastville Park Bristol

    7th November 2020 – Eastville Park Bristol

    There were lots of people managing to benefit this morning from having a beautiful park in which to exercise during lockdown and being able to see so much wonderful wildlife to raise their spirits

    Cormorant taking off…
    … and landing
    Grey heron having its elevenses
    Black-headed gull
    A very aggressive swan
    … which chased each of the other swans one by one
    …but still managed to look rather beautiful
    Tawny owl keeping out the way
    Even the crows looked handsome in the sun
    Animals everywhere
    … and still lots of colour
  • 5th November 2020 – Eastville Park Bristol

    5th November 2020 – Eastville Park Bristol

    The first day of the second lockdown in England and so back to my local park. It was good to get to see some old acquaintances, some with cameras and some being photographed. Always a thrill to see kingfishers (there were two today) and the special treat of seeing a fleeting glimpse of a sparrowhawk.

    Sparrowhawk
    Long-tailed tit
    Kingfishers look so different in different lights
    A flsh of turquoise
    Another flash of turquoise
    We don’t always see them
    The grey heron always sees the fish though
    On golden pond
  • 22nd October 2020 – Stourhead

    22nd October 2020 – Stourhead

    We picked today to go to the National Trust’s Stourhead in Wiltshire as the best weather of the week was forecast. We were very lucky as it stayed dry but unfortunately there was very little sun until after we had completed our walk around the gardens.

    Why not?

    Stourhead is claimed to be “one of the world’s finest landscape gardens and in autumn you can see vistas highlighted with burnished leaves and rusty colour palettes”. We really enjoyed our walk and I had lots of opportunities for photographs but the sky was so flat and dull that I had to crop it out of most of my photos.

    We weren’t able to visit the house

    On the way home we also visited Shearwater Lake where we saw a number of great crested grebes.

    Great crested grebe
  • 19th October 2020 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    19th October 2020 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    It’s that place again! We only had time for a local walk and made the most of the morning sunshine by having a walk around the park and up into the woods and along to Purdown with its comms tower.

    We didn’t see any birds in the swampy area near to Duchess Pond – it’s usually been a good place for stonechats, whinchats, reed bunting, meadow pipits and even a kestrel.
    As we climbed up past the “castle” (Dower House) we saw 4 buzzards overhead but only one came close to photograph
    Very hazy and atmospheric looking back to the parish church in Stapleton
    The sun shining through the trees made this part of our walk in the woods particularly attractive
    We were drawn by the chatttering of a small flock of starlings in a tree
    The sharp cheeping sound of goldfinches was also easy to pick out
    The slope looks almost flat – the camera deceives
    The motorway is hardly noticeable to the eye, unfortunately not to the ear
    Duchess Pond at the bottom of the hill and the Dower House at the top
    The obelisk above Duchess Pond
    11 chicks now down to three
    The cormorant was having a rest from diving and then drying itself
    The graffiti beneath the motorway brings home the fact that the park is right on the edge of the urban sprawl
  • 18th October 2020 – South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire

    18th October 2020 – South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire

    The sun didn’t appear at all today. It’s a shame it’s so dull at the moment as we are not seeing the autumn colours at their best. We spent the morning and early afternoon in the countryside around Tormarton, Marshfield and Castle Combe (there would have been a few chocolate box photos of this pretty village but we couldn’t find anywhere to park) but we did have a walk through the woods.

    We saw large flocks of starling but no fieldfare or redwings which we had hoped to see. There were a couple of raptors (a kestrel and a buzzard) and meadow pipits and a grey wagtail on the wire.

    We have seen lots of fields in recent days where the farmers have left the stubble – very good for the birds
    The trees would look so much better with a few rays of sunshine
    Grey wagtail
    Meadow pipits on the wire
    Blue tit
    A distant kestrel
    The kestrel and this buzzard we saw really close up but I took a while to get a photo

    We are not far from Badminton here and we saw plenty of horses on the lanes and in the fields – such beautiful animals.

  • 17th October 2020 – Severn Estuary

    17th October 2020 – Severn Estuary

    It was a dull day, but not too cold, for our walk along the Severn Estuary near Arlingham.

    All it needed was a few rays of sunshine to brighten up these autumn colours around this house in Newnham
    Lots of interesting things to see along the banks of the River Severn

    As well as lots of gulls on the estuary we came across a male and female stonechat. The female was then replaced by a meadow pipit who continued to “chat” up the male stonechat.

    Male stonechat
    Male and female stonechat
    Female stonechat
    Meadow pipit
    Meadow pipit drawing the attention of the male stonechat

    We came home via Gloucester and had a look at the river from the other bank at Newnham.

    A silhouette of a grey heron
    The light was fading fast when we arrived at Newnham