It was tempting to hang around Duchess Pond looking for dragonflies but a walk was needed and we made our way to the top of Purdown to extend ourselves.
It was well worthwhile; the wildflowers were spectacular, particularly the oxeye daisies and we saw a few more birds and butterflies.
Meadow Brown
Small Tortoiseshell
Marbled White
Chaffinch
And just before the end of our walk a family of whitethroats:
We missed the best of the weather by going for a walk to Stoke Park in the afternoon. When we arrived the “dragons” did not seem to be awake but then the sun came out and there was life.
The Canada Goose goslings are still surviving and are so much bigger; certainly much bigger than the wren we saw. Three magpies squabbled
I took on the challenge of trying to photograph the dragonflies and ignored other birds. Wendy was surprisingly patient with me.
Emperor dragonfly
We also had a pleasant chat with some other birders and saw some butterflies and moths. IDs will have to wait for another day.
Burnet companion moth ?
Tyria tiger moth
Meadow brown butterfly
Rodborough Common on the edge of The Cotwolds is famous for its wildlife. The National Trust website page has this to say about it:
“More than a hundred species of grasses and wildflowers have been recorded, including rare orchids and over 30 species of butterfly, including one of the largest populations of the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly in the country.”
We weren’t so lucky with butterflies on our morning walk but we enjoyed the spectacular views down towards the Severn Estuary (where we had been a few days before) and loved hearing and seeing an abundance of skylarks.
Skylark trying to distract a magpie (and probably us) away from its nesting area
Skylark
A welcome coffee before heading home
On our way home we stopped off at Frampton on Severn, wandered around the village green and found a few insects in the village pond.
Wishful thinking
The Wool Barn
Damselfly
Tiger moths
Following the advice of a friend we ventured a little further north of Bristol (further north than our last few excursions to Oldbury Power Station on the Severn Estuary) to Framilode. Framilode is a vllage on the River Severn and we walked a section of the Severn Way towards Arlingham Warth.
The River Severn at Framilode
As promised we saw very few people and the terrain was very flat. The only handicap was the blustery weather which at least blew the cobwebs away.
You might get a sense of the wind from the meadow
A very bucolic scene maybe but perhaps the sheep could have benefited from its coat a few days more?
The ancient Forest of Dean on the far bank of the River Severn
We didn’t see much in the way of bird life – just some house martins, a wren with some fledglings, a few shelduck on the River Severn and a couple of black-headed gulls. I also saw my first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly of the year.
This poor Small Tortoiseshell could hardly open its wings in the wind
After our walk we drove to Arlingham. We passed the Red Lion on the way to look at the church. There seemed to be a barrel of beer on tap on the forecourt – was this a pilgrim’s way? No, it was simply a barrel of water for dogs.
The Red Lion at Arlingham
We can’t wait to go back to do the walk near the Old Passage at Arlingham and visit The Seafood Restaurant, set at the end of the pennisula on a great ox-bow bend, with some other friends which we have been promising ourselves for some time.
On returning home our friendly robin came to greet us in the garden. He normally stays close to the ground but today the fat balls were too much of a temptation.
Post script
I wonder if The Seafood Restaurant will be reopening after the lockdown (see photo below with “For Sale” sign)?
Such wonderful views from Old Passage.
I nearly didn’t bother to write a blog about our walk across to Stoke Park on Thursday as, after the eruption of dragonflies on our last visit, what we saw seemed fairly mundane. However, looking at my photos again (and following some encouraging comments from visitors to my blog) I thought that there was merit in sharing the photos, especially of the greenfinch and the chiffchaff.
Of course after the abundance of dragonflies on the previous visit I was disappointed not to see any today. It wasn’t really surprising though as it was dull, windy and cold. It wasn’t surprising either that we didn’t see many other birds because we didn’t hang about.
Moorhen
Coot (I was surprised how grey the coots have become)
Greenfinch
A different greenfinch
Canada geese goslings hunkered down
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
All the water lilies need now is a bit of sunshine
It seemed very hot (much hotter than the 24 °C recorded) when we took an afternoon walk around Duchess Pond on Stoke Park Estate. Even though we don’t see many birds at the moment it is comforting that we can now identify an increasing number of birds by their calls and their song. Around the lake we could pick out with confidence whitethroat, chiffchaff, goldfinch and greenfinch. The birds that we could see clearly were swifts as half a dozen soared above and occasionally swooped down to the lake for a drink. The goslings are growing rapidly and are being protected by very attentive parents.
Swifts
The main point of interest at the moment is the increasing number of dragonflies and damselflies. I must say that Wendy was very patient as I attempted to photograph these and the swallows. I am now (with the help of Larry Sweetland) beginning to ID a few of them. Just wait until I get in to butterflies!
Emperor Dragonfly
Black-tailed Skimmer
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Small Red-eyed Damselflies (by all accounts these are just coming out and will soon be more numerous than the Red-eyed Damselflies)
White-legged Damselfly
Azure Damselfly
Scarce Chaser
The water lilies are now beginning to bloom and I look forward to seeing the coots and moorhens scamper across them.
There were lots of youngsters sitting around the lake enjoying the sunshine and there was very little evidence of anti-social behaviour except for a few on bicycles and a motorised scooter.
I’m not sure the fishermen will be pleased with people swimming in the lake but I find this less of a problem than the people who leave all the litter and other detritus after their visit to the park.
We needed a change of scene and drove south of Bristol to Chew Valley. It was wonderful to go along the lanes I had cycled when I was a boy growing up in this area and seeing the countryside in all its glory. However, I did feel a bit guilty spoiling the fun for cyclists and ramblers as we disturbed the peace of these quiet lanes.
Chew Valley lake
There are two ideal spots to view the birds on the lake. Unfortunately they are just where there are stretches of straight road where cars and motorbikes roar along at ridiculous (and no doubt illegal) speeds. It does seem rather incongruous that the two areas that draw a large number of people (and consequently ice cream vans) that vehicles can travel at such unsafe speeds. However, on this occasion, as bird hides and lakeside are forbidden to us, we did stop there to see the wildlife.
You can just make out a greenshank if you look hard enough
The solitary oystercatcher
Herriot’s Bridge, to the east of the lake, was teeming with birds. A friendly bird watcher (I find they are either very obliging or grumpy and secretive) pointed out a distant greenshank. As I was stretching my telephoto lens to its maximum capability I also saw a solitary oystercatcher. Much easier to see were the grey herons and great white egrets even though they were quite far off.
Grey heron
However, eventually one great white egret flew much closer and gave me a glorious opportunity to photograph it in flight.
One of the frustrations of the lock-down has not being able to see these wonderful (and once very rare) birds which now seem to be here permanently. Even more frustrating has been not being able to see great crested grebes and their young which we look forward to every year. We were delighted when we were treated to a family of great crested grebes as they came out of the reeds and made off to the lake. We were rather anxious when one chick got separated and was agitated by a group of Canada geese but it safely circumnavigated them.
Great crested grebe
Canada geese and goslings
A very agressive swan splits the family
On Herons’ Green there wasn’t as much to see except for pied wagtails with their young catching damselflies.
Juvenile pied wagtail devouring damselfly
Pied wagtail feeding its young a damselfly
The trip certainly lifted our spirits.
An early morning walk started with a close view of a roe deer next to the motorway before we reached Stoke Park.
On the small pond there was a squabble between coots and moorhens – the coots seemed to be the aggressors but in their defence they did have chicks to protect.
We saw whitethroats and wrens in the swampy area.
The silhouette of a wren
Around the lake the Canada geese goslings are getting bigger very quickly but there were so many fishermen who had been camping overnight that we did not loiter especially as some were off to the bushes to relieve themselves. Sadly there were many signs of toilet paper around and about: I cannot blame the fishermen for all of this nor for the vast amount of litter that we saw in the park this morning but they clearly are culpable of some of the detritus.
Just a few examples of the large amount of detritus left in the park
A buzzard overhead was soon joined by a corvid which mobbed it.
We could hear green finches and goldfinches but I only managed to take lots of out-of-focus photos. I did manage one or two successful shots of long-tailed tits but I didn’t even get the two swifts that we saw in my viewfinder. Clearly too early in the morning for me.
Lots of excitement this morning with Coal Tit fledglings in the garden.
It was probably the news of a common mynah at Duchess Pond that got us out of bed for an early morning walk around Stoke Park and the thought that we could avoid the crowds.
We soon saw the common mynah who seemed to have adopted one of the many local fishermen who clearly had slept around the pond overnight.
Common Myna looking for the fisherman’s scraps
Fisherman’s friend
There were a few other birds too including swifts, greenfinches, goldfinches, whitethroats, blue tits and a thrush.
Other than the fishermen there were only a couple of other birders and one self-obsessed runner who almost brushed past us (and giving us no time to get out of his way) even though there are acres of land to avoid people.. Instead of going home full of the joys of spring I must admit to going home very angry.
Footnote: Even though the swifts flew here from thousands of miles away I can’t help thinking the common mynah came here by plane or on a boat.
My day started well when I managed to photograph a Coal Tit on the bird feeder. It didn’t seem too worried about me standing quite close by.
Coal tit on the garden bird feeder
Later in the day we had another visitor – a robin who couldn’t make up his mind whether to come in to the garden or not.
Clearly the seeds fallen from the bird feeders were too much to resist
There are lots of bees coming in to the garden at the moment. I need to get to grips with identifying these.
We drove out in the country to find an isolated spot for a walk. We chose an area close to Oldbury Power Station, a decommissioned power station close to Oldbury-on-Severn on the south bank of the Severn Estuary.
Around the power station there are three lagoons in various states of disuse. These lagoons were large settling tanks, used during the dredging process for the tidal reservoir on the River Severn. The fine Severn silt was settled from the water, before it was discharged back to the river.
To the north of the power station we followed the nature trail which circumvents the two lagoons which are now completely overgrown. It was marvellous to be out in the country and, although we didn’t see many birds, we could hear loads (but not cuckoos which have been reported recently) and it was an amazing feeling to be out roaming through the meadows and woods and along the nature trail.
The nature trail around the lagoons to the north of the power station
Wonderful views across the Severn Estuary (but disappointingly no waders)
Azure Damselfly at the beginning of our walk
The meadow at the beginning of the walk
Woods early on the walk
Marsh orchid
Common dogwood
We could see and hear goldfinches around this pond
The overgrown lagoon
Views south towards the two Severn Bridges
Beautiful meadows
A very tired peacock butterfly
A comma butterfly
The star of our walk – a very cheerful chiffchaff
We had a quick look at the pond to the south of the power station before heading home.
Moorhen
Moorhen with chick
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 