Category: Blog

I was pleased to see all my favourites in my local park on the last day of 2018 even if the light was very poor: kingfisher, dipper, grey wagtail, grey heron and tawny owl. I was disappointed though that the goosanders seem to have moved off the lake: perhaps the cormorants are proving more serious opposition.

I had walked across to Stoke Park first of all but could only see 4 meadow pipits and so was my rewards were much greater in Eastville Park.

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning’s walk:

Merry Christmas everyone; and it wouldn’t be Christmas without a robin.

It was great to go for a walk in our local park on a mild but somewhat misty morning and see so many people out and about enjoying the facility. There was plenty of wildlife for them to enjoy too.

The headline news still seems to be the goosanders with a record 13 there today.

However, there were also plenty of other birds feeding off the fish stock which must be getting low with cormorants, grey herons and kingfishers all seeming to find plenty to satisfy their appetites.

The kingfisher is always the highlight for me but today the best views were of two grey wagtails on the stream that feeds down in to the River Frome.

And now for my Christmas lunch …

Click below for a gallery of photos from this morning:

Just out in the countryside (near Marshfield in South Gloucestershire) keeping well clear of the shops on Christmas Eve when we saw a deer also keeping well clear of lots of horseman and women who were well into their snifters by then.

We were hoping to see some golden plover but just managed a single photo of a pied wagtail. The lure of a coffee was too great.

Click below for a gallery of the few photos from this morning.

I don’t seem to go very far afield at the moment but it was great to get out this morning having been housebound all day yesterday with continuous rain; and what a lovely morning it was.

My special helper spotted a dipper straightaway on the stream that runs down in to the River Frome. The photos are a bit grainy as it was very dark there.

We took a while to spot a kingfisher but there was a great spectacle as it dived right in front of us a caught such a large fish that it had to find a suitable spot in the trees to be able to club it to death before devouring it. We saw the kingfisher again later on but no great opportunity for photos.

The best I could get of the kingfisher and its large lunch

Even the goosanders took a while to spot (2 males and 2 females).

There was a group of 4 grey herons, a flock of 8 long-tailed tits, a grey wagtail and 8 cormorants  and a robin around the lake as well as lots of black-headed gulls and one lesser black-backed gull.

Lesser black-backed gull

A very satisfying morning.

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning:

 

 

 

There’s always a concern about the wildlife when a major event takes place in the park but when Santa Claus visited the park today it seemed very much like business as usual. The goosanders (2 male and 2 females today) were in their usual place as were the kingfishers and grey herons, all unperturbed by the festive activities.

Reindeer in the park

Male goosander

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning:

It was a dull but still morning but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see the goosanders again in my local park. Today the numbers had risen to five (in fact 7 were reported earlier in the day),

There were also 4 grey herons, 13 cormorants, lots of black-headed gulls, a lesser black-backed gull, a couple of first winter juveniles, a mute swan, a couple of moorhens, a few blackbirds and robins, loads of mallards and the tawny owl but not a single view of a kingfisher (the first blank for a long time).

You can see why they are known as sawbills

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning:

I wasn’t going to go birdwatching today as I was having a small op this morning but when my wife read that there were three goosanders (quite rare for this park) I couldn’t resist especially as she offered to drive me there.

Our resident kingfisher and a grey heron also made appearances.

Click below for gallery of photos from today:

 

It seems to have been raining all week but that’s probably just my perception. I managed a brief trip to Duchess Pond in Stoke Park this afternoon. i’m  glad I wore my wellies as it was certainly very wet underfoot.

The area around the reeds has been dry until now. I saw a snipe here last year and so it was worth a look.

Other than 9 mallards and a couple of moorhens there were only 2 birds of note to photograph – a kestrel and a blackbird. A cormorant and a grey heron flew over but I was too busy trying to take landscapes to capture them with my camera.

Kestrel

Blackbird

Not a bird in sight

 

After a few rainy days I was beginning to get cabin fever and so it was great to get out and dodge the showers for a walk around the local park.

Cabin fever?

A robin seemed to greet us as we walked in to the park.

The water was running high on the weir and no bird was brave enough to take it on.

As we made our way along the River Frome we saw the first of 3 grey herons looking rather forlorn (and comical) sitting in the long jump pit of the adjacent school playing field. The ones on the lake looked more majestic especially with the gold back drop of the reflections on the lake.

However, they didn’t look quite as imperious as the cormorants sitting high above the lake and enjoying the sun which failed to spill down on us..

On the main island we could still see the tawny owl in its box but as it didn’t show its face it wasn’t worth another photo of a fluffy chest.

Pigeons and ducks fought for a pile of seed that someone had provided at the end of the lake.

A moorhen perched on a log alongside the black-headed gulls and another grey heron.

But the best was the male kingfisher which tantalisingly flitted around the lake and then perched close up as if to show off.

A ladybird seemed confused by the flowers on an abandoned glove on a park bench.

A moorhen took to the water and tried dodging the rain drops beneath the beady eye of a grey heron.

Before we left the lake, as I was looking for a customary grey wagtail, a pied wagtail appeared instead.

As we headed for home a great tit came to say goodbye.

Post script

Perhaps not just a fluffy chest – how many tawny owls here?

Click below for gallery of today’s photos.

It’s been another glorious day and really quite warm for November. Following a morning’s game of golf at The Kendleshire Golf Club just north of Bristol, where I saw a grey heron and 2 cormorants, I decided it was too nice to stay in this afternoon so I had a walk around the local park. 

In Eastville Park I saw 2 grey herons, 5 cormorants, a tawny owl, 2 kingfishers, a wren and a grey wagtail.

Gallery of photos from today.

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Well the weather really has changed. As we drove to see some friends at Avening in the Cotswolds it began to snow. It didn’t come to anything but it was enough to make us realise the seasons are moving on.  We had a pleasant little walk from Avening through the hamlet of Nag’s Head towards Cherington. As we passed Cherington Lake in the woods we saw a couple of little grebe which prompted me to write this blog. The light was very poor but we could certainly make out the little grebes, one with a fish almost as large as the one I had for my lunch at the excellent Ragged Cot on our way to Minchinhampton  Common.

The first winter look

Holes for the bees in this house in Nag’s Head

Cherington Lake – 2 mute swans and a few mallards in the distance (honest)

2 little grebe take centre stage from the mallards

Little grebe with fish

We needed to find a pub where these would be put to good use on a roaring fire

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning (in very dull light which demonstrated how lucky I have been with the light recently).

 

It was much colder this morning as I walked around our local park. I was soon cheered as the first bird I saw was a dipper (which I hadn’t seen for a while) on the River Frome. It was joined by a grey wagtail which was well camouflaged amongst the leaves on the river.

A little further along the river there was a grey heron and then another on the lake.

Grey heron on the river

Grey heron on the river

Grey heron on the lake

Grey heron on the lake

I was lucky again to catch sight of a kingfisher, although this morning I only managed to see it on the one occasion.

The tawny owl was not in its box but as Andrew (from the Frome Fairies) was clearing the detritus of fishing paraphernalia from on and around the island it wasn’t surprising. I was pleased to spend some time chatting with him when he paddled (very skilfully) across the lake to see me. I also enjoyed spending some time chatting with Nigel and his little dog, both of whom I hadn’t seen for a while. He told me of all his recent sightings of otters and showed me the spot where he had seen them. Luckily the sun came out when I was at the lake and, as well as chatting a lot, I took a few shots of the lake which is still surprisingly colourful.

Click below for a gallery of my photos from this morning: