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A dull day at Slimbridge can still be very rewarding. A great spotted woodpecker was one of the highlights along with large flocks of lapwings and golden plover. Plenty of northern pintails too.

Slideshow of this morning’s photos:

It was very wet underfoot but there was good light and it was still quite mild on my walk through our local park this morning.

A pair of stonechats brightened my day which might have been even better if I had managed to find the firecrests which other local birders have been reporting regularly in the last few days. Another challenge for another day.

Slideshow of my photos from this morning:

I stopped off at Cheddar Reservoir on my way to the Avalon Marshes in Somerset but a heavy shower sent me scurrying back to my car; and so my only photo of my brief walk was of a pied wagtail.

I made another stop by the roadside after Wedmore when I saw a flock of 22 cattle egret. I even managed some shots of a pair of buzzards in the same area.

When I arrived at Catcott everyone in the hide was in a state of excitement having seen a hen harrier, marsh harriers and red kites in the last few minutes. Before too long the hen harrier flashed right in front of the hide. I had wonderful views of it but, even though I have a photographic record of it, my photos were rather disappointing.

It was great to see much more water on the levels and the number of shoveler, wigeon and lapwings is beginning to increase.

A female marsh harrier also appeared. I could see distant great white egrets and my full collection of egrets was soon completed with the arrival of a little egret.

On my way back I had another look for the cattle egrets and found that the flock was more than twice as big as I had seen earlier.

Slideshow of today’s photos:

A glorious day on the Somerset Levels. We had a brief visit to RSPB Greylake. However, it was very quiet there other than a flock of lapwing which, along with a bittern, were spooked by a marsh harrier.

We moved on to RSPB Ham Wall and spent a good deal of our time watching a pair of marsh harriers hunting. Quite spectacular.

I had a walk around my local park this morning – the first time I felt I could do this since rupturing my Achilles’ tendon at the beginning of the year. No kingfisher today but I wasn’t disappointed by what I saw.

Slideshow of my photos from my walk this morning:

It was a glorious morning for birding at Westhay Moor on the Somerset Levels. I had hoped to see bearded tits (reedlings) but, although I did hear them, I had no success in seeing them. However, I did have several sightings of reed buntings and a kingfisher but didn’t manage any photos.

There were plenty birds there to keep me clicking (although modern cameras thankfully don’t even have to make that annoying sound) and I was not disappointed with the photos I took.

Slideshow of my photos from today:

Following a very wet day yesterday, it was great to get out and enjoy a walk along the Severn Estuary between New Passage and Severn Beach. The tide was already quite low when we arrived at New Passage but we were allowed some distant views of waders. However, before we reached Severn Beach there was nothing to be seen and my camera was packed away for the return journey.

Slideshow of this morning’s photos:

On our way to Steart Marshes in Somerset to do a spot of birdwatching we discovered a gem of a garden at Cannington near Bridgwater. In fact, we spent most of the day at The Walled Gardens of Cannington and left only a small amount of time for Steart Marshes (which was just as well as the wetlands were very dry and not as exciting as usual).

One section of the garden was called “The Mediterranean Garden” and it was such a beautiful day that you could easily have thought that you had been transported to the Mediterranean.

Slideshow of photos from the Walled Gardens of Cannington:

There weren’t many waders at Steart as everything was so dry but we saw plenty of raptors looking for a meal.

Slideshow of photos from Steart Marshes:

No birds, just nature.

Slideshow of photos of our visit to The National Arboretum at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire:

A pleasant enough day birding in the Chew Valley but I didn’t have much in the way of photographs at the end of the day as the water levels are still very low and all the waterbirds are quite a way out and the light was not great.

Our trip for a stroll along the coast of the Severn Estuary, near the two Severn Bridges, started well with a view of a merlin and a sparrow hawk perched on the same dead tree on Northwick Warth.

As well as big flocks of linnets and starlings there were lots of waders, mainly godwits and redshank, but really too far out to get decent photos. However, we could also make out oystercatchers, curlews, grey herons and a little egret.

Slideshow of this morning’s photos:

I spent a very pleasant day birdwatching at Chew Valley lake. The water is very low (as in most parts of the country) and so most of the birds of interest were at quite some distance. Fortunately, I had my telescope with me and particularly enjoyed watching an osprey and a pectoral sandpiper.

I gather the marsh harrier I saw, with a tag VJ, is a Norfolk bird.

At the end of the day I managed to photograph two different water rails (generally very secretive birds).

Slideshow of today’s photos: