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After a weekend at home we felt the need to venture further afield. But after days of inactivity we couldn’t decide where; so we settled on one of our current favourites, Frampton on Severn.

Although it is 10 miles south of Gloucester it is easy for us, living on the north side of Bristol, to get to.

It’s a really quaint village with a variety of easy walks.

The village web site has this to say about it:

“Frampton on Severn lies about 10 miles south of Gloucester on the eastern side of the River Severn.
According to an entry in the Domesday Book dated 1086 the Manor of Frampton was held by Drew son of Pons, granted to him by William the Conqueror as a reward for his services. The Manor is reputed to be the birth place of “ Fair Rosamund” who was the mistress of Henry II.
The Green is said to be the longest village green in England, and is about 22 acres in size. Cricket is played on The Green outside the Bell Inn, one of the two Pubs on The Green, the other being The Three Horseshoes at the opposite end of The Green.
The area around The Green has been designated a Conservation Area, the range of Architecture spanning several centuries ranges from “ Cruck Cottages” to impressive Tudor and Georgian houses.
The present population of the village is about 1200, this compares with the population record in the Domesday Book of 27. Most of the working population commute to Gloucester, Cheltenham and further afield to Bristol, Swindon and London. However there is a small Industrial Estate within the Village.
The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is situated about half a mile from the Southern end of the Green, and can be approached along “ The Narles “ a long avenue of Horse chestnut trees. The Building was first consecrated in 1315 A.D. although some of the Church dates back to the 12th century. The Congregational Church built in 1776 is located just off the centre of The Green and is a very active church.
For Nature and Wildlife lovers Frampton is magnificent, much of the area east of The Green is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and there is an abundance of Flora and Fauna. Due to a policy by the Landowner of farming this area without the use of fertilisers and herbicides the natural habitats have flourished to the benefit of all. The Gloucester – Sharpness Canal with views over the River Severn and the old Gravel workings are linked by a series if public footpaths.
As you will see Frampton on Severn has a very active Community with a Community Centre open 7 days per week as well as many clubs and societies operating within the village.”

We parked on the village green and found the lane which leads to the lake behind Frampton Court. It was a flat and easy walk with occasional good views of the lake.

The entrance to Frampton Court from the village green

The view of Frampton Court from the lake

The lake tucked behind Frampton Court

On the lake we could see Canada Geese, Greylag Geese and a fair number of Barnacle Geese. There were also Great Crested Grebe (very distant) and even a Common Tern (although my photo was well out of focus).

Greylag Geese

Barnacle Geese

Great Crested Grebe

Common Tern (I think)

There were damselflies (and other interesting insects) on our walk.

The walk through the woods circuiting the lake

Green-veined White

Meadow Brown

A sample of the insects on our walk

At the end of the walk we also spent some time watching the dragonflies on one of the very attractive ponds along the village green.

Pond life on the village green

All it really needed to make this a perfect visit was for the pub to be open!

Nonetheless a dose of nature and some gentle exercise did us the power of good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Having a break from dodging people and baking bread – a lazy weekend in the garden watching the birds and the bees when it’s not raining (in fact, even when it is raining!).

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A robin and a tiger moth visited me in my garden whilst I was tidying the garden (I could hardly call it gardening!)

We took a walk in the rain to Stoke Park. We stretched our legs, the grey heron stretched its wings and caught a fish or two.

 

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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:

 

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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

 

 

 

 

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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

 

 

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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.

 

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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

 

 

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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.

 

 

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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.

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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.

 

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Lots of excitement this morning with Coal Tit fledglings in the garden.