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Spent more time dodging the heavy showers rather than looking for birds. Thought I might see some pelagic specials but only saw a song thrush, a dunnock and a robin; oh and quite a few gulls, turnstones and pied wagtails.

We arrived in St Ives as the light was fading but I wasted no time in getting a few shots before it was dark.

The turnstones were behaving as house sparrows do at an outdoor café and the only difficulty in getting a photo was that they were too close. The oystercatchers were also not too far off. I’m sure over the next few days we shall have plenty of chance to compare the gulls.

Turnstone

Oystercatcher

Herring gull

On a gloomy Monday morning in December its amazing how much a kingfisher can lift your spirits and throughout my walk through Eastville Park this morning I had plenty of sightings.

Click below for gallery of this morning’s photos:

We saw so much more on our walk through Eastville Park this morning and this was because we had the help of 2 additional pairs of young sharp eyes.

We lost count of the different times we spotted a kingfisher and enjoyed good views of a grey wagtail and a dipper.

My apprentice’s photos can be seen on his page Oli’s page

Black-headed gulls on the partially frozen lake.

We stopped off at Chew Valley Lake on our way to Midsomer Quilting to see an exhibition of 12×12 quilts and just managed a couple of shots of goosanders which I thought were worth recording.

The following image of the Somerset Levels at the exhibition at Midsomer Quilting seems quite relevant too:

AN EXHIBITION OF 12X12 MINI-QUILTS ON THE THEME “WHERE IN THE WORLD”

On the Levels – Pam Webb

On our walk around Eastville Park we spent a while looking for the reported firecrest, but no luck. I was quite happy to see a dozen long-tailed tits (one of my favourite birds) and enjoyed the good light to see lots of the the regular attenders. No kingfisher today but plenty of others had seen them.

Long-tailed tit

Long-tailed tit

Blue tit

Grey wagtail

Grey wagtail

Female mallard

Muscovy duck

Black-headed gull

Lesser black-backed gull

Mute swan

Robin

Robin

Carrion crow

Grey heron

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

It was a beautiful morning and so I couldn’t give up a chance for a brief walk around Stoke Park Estate this morning even though I had less than an hour.

There wasn’t a lot about; however, I was very pleased to see a green woodpecker – the first for a long time.

I also saw a flyover grey heron (surprisingly high up), 4 meadow pipits and 6 long-tailed tits. There was surprisingly little on Duchess Pond – just 4 moorhens, 2 mallards and a solitary black-headed gull on the usual post.

We went out to Chew Lake to try and see a hawfinch that had been reported but we had no luck.

The light was not too good so I was very happy to have lots of great white egrets to concentrate on.

“I am considerably bigger than you” said the great white to the little egret

Goosanders flying by

Black-tailed godwit centre stage

… before flying off with his mates.

Lots of meadow pipits at Villice Bay (40+)

… and pied wagtails at Villice Bay and Herons’ Green

Lots of wigeon (and teal) too.

And in our garden before we left, a blackbird:

They say the sun always shines on the righteous; it was very gloomy when we set off  but very sunny by the time I had a camera in my hand at Slimbridge; so make of that what you wish.

Some of the highlights of today:

Pintail

Pintail

Pintails

More pintails

Greylag goose

White fronted goose

Shelduck

Crane

Redshank

Bewick’s swan

Teal

Lapwing

Lapwings in flight

Crane

Curlew

Teal

Click below for gallery of shots from today:

I didn’t really have time for a walk but it was such a beautiful morning that I decided I had to fit one in.

The colours in the park were magnificent but there wasn’t much bird life – not even the reliable stonechats of recent visits.

I was just about to give up, thinking that the 4 moorhens were all I was about to see when I spotted a couple of goldfinches feeding on the teasels.

However, they didn’t hang around for long; but my morning was made when I saw the flash of a kingfisher. How this little bird lifts the spirits. It disappeared in to a bush only to re-appear and settle on a fence.

I know a kingfisher is really no big deal, but I was very happy.

Click below for a gallery of my photos of this brief walk:

A morning free to go birding and the weather changes for the worse. Never mind, in between the rain I did manage a few shots of interest.

There are reported to be 30+ great white egrets on the lake and as I watched from Herons Green and Herriott’s Bridge I must have seen a good deal of them. Unlike the grey herons, which mainly stayed put in the same spot, they constantly moved around the lake.

Great white egret at Herons Green

Great white egret at Herriott’s

A grey heron with its catch and a tangle of weeds

Grey heron and little egret at Heron’s Green

Grey heron moving up a couple of metres at Herons Green

The lapwings were almost out of my range to get decent shots, as were the black-tailed godwits, but a few came relatively close as did a goosander.

Black-tailed godwits at Herons Green

Goosander

The colour of the wigeon came through the dark grey light (above) as did the flash of green of the teal (below)

Great white egret in the rain

Great crested grebe near the dam

You can generally count on pied wagtails at Herons Green

Click below for gallery of shots from this morning:

There was not an awful lot around this afternoon. A song thrush on the path leading up to the motorway and a couple of blue tits; two stonechats, 3 goldfinches, and a meadow pipit in among the reeds beyond the pool and a couple of moorhens and a black-headed gull on the pond.

Did anyone dump a Christmas tree there?

Song thrush

Stonechat

Meadow pipit

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Photo gallery of today’s photos: