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What a joy to be back at RSPB Minsmere! With a  mild and still morning there was so much to see around the scrapes that we didn’t even venture to the Bittern Hide and Island Mere.

Early on we had a good view of a jay busy hiding acorns.

On the North Wall there were good sightings of bearded tit.

There was just one sighting of a meadow pipit near the beach.

On the scrapes the highlights were the little stints and, as always, the avocets.

The curlew were distant but quite distinctive.

The redshank and the black-tailed godwits too were at the back of the pools.

A juvenile gull looked majestic and stood out a mile’

A kingfisher was busy fishing undeterred by the presence of a nearby stonechat, robin and blue tit.

A starling looked quite stunning in the sunshine on a post.

There were loads of widgeon, teal and shelduck.

A little egret entertained as it tried to swallow the dragonfly it had caught.

There were pheasants everywhere …

… and even more lapwings.

Good to see a pied wagtail not in a car park.

Click to see the gallery of photos from this morning.

 

And a few extras:

 

My first walk around Eastville Park for some time. There have been many sightings of otters recently but all I spotted were all the walkers who have seen the otters.

I did get two decent views of kingfishers; one which flew down the river, did a roll (showing off its orange breast) and disappeared over a fence; the other which flew down river showing its bright blue dorsal colours.

There are now two swans back on the lake, hopefully a couple.

The mallards are looking more attractive post eclipse.

I saw the back of a buzzard which was then mobbed by crows.

Back of a buzzard

It was good to see butterflies still and plenty of bees (and other insects).

Red Admiral

My best photo opportunity was a grey wagtail which hung around for a while.

Click below for gallery of this mornings photos:

 

 

I found a had a free morning and, as I didn’t have much time to prepare a birding sortie,  I decided to go down to the Severn Estuary again. It only takes 20 minutes to get there and there’s always something to see.

I didn’t even know what the tide times were. Luckily the tide had not gone too far out and I was still able to see lots of waders on the shore line (even if they were a bit too far away for decent photos). More knowledgeable birders were seeing all sorts of waders but I was quite happy to pick out redshank, oystercatchers, ringed plover, widgeon, a single curlew and two little egrets.

Oystercatchers

Redshank

Widgeon

Curlew

Cormorant racing oystercatcher

As I made my way along to the Pilning Wetlands I saw lots of meadow pipits, pied wagtails and even two yellow wagtails. There were big flocks of starlings forming too.

Big flocks of starlings forming

Starlings having a bath

Pied wagtail

More widgeon in flight

On the wetlands there was a big flock of black-tailed godwits but (once again) the sun was in the wrong direction for me (with my amateur eyes) to pick out much else.

So, I contented myself with getting photos of the meadow pipits and 3 wheatears.

Wheatear

Meadow pipit

There were quite a few birders down on the estuary and meeting a few of them made the morning even more pleasurable.

 

 

A beautiful morning and lots of birds to see but more for the scope than the camera.

On the estuary there were teal, ringed plovers and a curlew.

Teal

Ringed plovers and a curlew way up the estuary

As well a very large flock of black-tailed godwits on the pools I had pointed out to me a spotted redshank and a couple of curlew sandpipers.

Black-tailed godwits

Spotted Redshank

Between the estuary and the pools there were 30+ meadow pipits, half a dozen pied wagtails, a small flock of starlings, a wheatear and a stonechat.

Stonechat

Wheatear

Starling

Meadow pipit and wheatear

Pied wagtail

Yet most of the birds were too far away for decent photos or into the sun and appearing in monochrome – all fun to see in the scope though.

 

 

 

A few more photos that can claim to be nature photos from our trip to the Loire Valley; on this occasion at the Château de Villlandry:

Peacock

Peacock

Comma

Comma

 

Château de Villandry

The Loire

A short opportunity for some nature shots between visits to châteaux in the Loire Valley.

Here on the River Cher:

Cormorant


Grey heron

Grey wagtail

The butterflies were looking a little ragged

Little egret

 

And the best of the châteaux:

Azay-le-Rideau

 

Château de l’Islette

 

A pleasant walk in the sunshine this morning around Stoke Park before the rain came produced just this one grey heron.

Never mind hey!

 

 

Earlier in the year I was looking for a female smew on the lake on Chipping Sodbury Common and couldn’t even find the lake, so today I was extremely pleased to find the juvenile woodchat shrike that many local birders seemed to have spotted.

I thought that I was bound to see a gang of birders twitching but initially was disappointed to see only two dog walkers on the whole common. However, I was lucky enough to find a solitary birder (Ken from Suffolk!) who beckoned me over and pointed out the shrike.

Woodchat shrike

There were also whinchats darting about. I felt very anxious for the shrike when a kestrel appeared, especially when it dived and didn’t appear again. Fortunately I saw the shrike again later.

Whinchat

Kestrel

The woodchat shrike

Whinchat

On the way back to the car a saw a dozen long-tailed tits and then a small flock of yellow wagtails. I  hung around by the cows and got some distant shots.

A yellow wagtail beneath the bovine creature

Yellow wagtail

A very satisfying morning.

Click below for gallery of photos from this morning.

 

 

 

It was a beautiful morning and I was hoping to catch the tide before it was too low but I had misjudged it and arrived too late to see the waders on the estuary. I walked towards the wetlands hoping to see the waders there and perhaps some yellow wagtails, wheatears or whinchats but all I saw was a swallow and some distant (very brownish) starlings.

However, I did meet a chap walking along the coastal path (with his dog Koda), and had a very interesting conversation with him. His name was Wayne Dixon and he had walked over 7,000 miles in aid of the charity “Mind” and was litter picking along his route. He has collected over 42 tonnes of rubbish in 6,000 bags as he walks across the UK. His motto : “Clean Minds, Clean Streets, Clean Life” really appealed to me. You can read about him on his Facebook page

I carried on for a while but had lost interest in the birds and returned to the car. On my way home I did stop at Aust Warth for a while and had good views of a pair of kestrels.

 

 

We thought we would have a look on the other side of the Severn Estuary. It was a beautiful day: we started at Goldcliff saline lagoons near Newport with loads of waders (particularly ringed plovers) ; then had a picnic lunch (accompanied by long-tailed tits) on the estuary straight across from Portishead (see photo of the old Nautical School below); then walked around RSPB Newport Wetlands (where we saw very little).

Back in time to see Arsenal slaughtered by Liverpool (should have stayed out later!).

Loads of waders at Goldcliff

Ringed plovers 

Lapwing

Dunlin in flight

Long-tailed tit

Portishead “Nautical School”

Grey Heron at Newport Wetands

Little Grebe at Newport Wetlands

Click below for gallery of photos from today:

 

I saw a rich variety of waders at New Passage this morning aided by Mr “Severnside” Paul Bowerman.

There were flocks of dunlin, redshanks, black-tailed godwits, turnstones and a 3 greenshank. Paul also pointed out yellow wagtails (but I was not up to getting a photo). I also saw a curlew, 3 little egrets and 6 oystercatchers. On the Pilning Wetlands I also saw a flock of 12 goldfinch, lots of swallows, 2 little grebes, big flocks of starlings, a grey heron and at least a dozen lapwing.

Dunlin

Turnstone

Black-tailed godwits

Black-tailed godwits

Little grebe

Little egret

2 greenshank behind the black-headed gulls

Curlew

Curlew, black-tailed godwits, redshank and dunlin

Black-tailed godwit and oystercatcher

Goldfinches

Lapwings

Swallow

Starlings

Grey heron

In the evening we walked from Shepperdine to Oldbury and then had supper in the Anchor. On the estuary we saw 4 curlew, 2 flyover oystercatchers and a little egret.

Curlew

Oystercatchers fly over a curlew

Oystercatchers

Little egret

 

Gallery of photos from today: