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The days are very short and we weren’t able to get out until after 2 pm but, on the eve of the shortest day, my young apprentice and I managed to get a few good spots. We must have seen two different kingfishers in seven different venues and pushed our cameras to extremes in poor light late in the day. The last photo was taken at 3.56 pm.

As well as the kingfishers we saw a grey heron, a grey wagtail, 2 mute swans with a cygnet and a dipper on the way home in the twilight.

We also thought we saw in the lake the movements of an otter and its bubbles but will  keep hoping to get a full sight of it or its family.

Oli’s photos are on his page.

A very dank misty morning as we walked around Eastville Park. However, there were some good sightings of some colourful birds to cheer us up including a wood duck and a kingfisher. We struggled as much as some of the birds with the icy conditions.

Video of kingfisher

Click below for a gallery of this morning’s photos

It’s been more a day for being inside today, so I’ll start with an inside “bird” photo from the Tate St Ives.

John Wells 1907-2000
Sea Bird Forms
1951
Oil paint on board

These turnstones sum up the weather conditions nicely:

But it didn’t rain all the time

Pied wagtail

Great black-backed gull

Turnstone

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: