We have had some rain in the last few weeks and the countryside is beginning to green up but the pools at Slimbridge were still very low again this morning. We didn’t really see anything very different from our last few visits but it was great to get out and see what was about and take some pics!
We have had to be much less adventurous with our holidays this year but nonetheless we have really enjoyed our trips away to the south coast of England. Although the distances travelled have not been very great I was very tired after our last expedition to East Devon (whether it be my health or just old age) and so it was great to relax this weekend and watch some sport and do a little gardening. That doesn’t mean that my camera was very far away and I share a few nature shots from the garden yesterday.
After a mainly sedentary weekend by this morning I was chomping at the bit and we had a trip to WWT Slimbridge.
The highlight of our visit was a common snipe (normally very secretive and well camouflaged) which made an appearance as soon as we arrived in the open right in front of us .
I was very pleased to recognise straightaway the spotted redshank from its feeding habits. I remembered what an old chap (probably younger than me) told me when I starting bird watching, on a trip to Titchwell Marshes in Norfolk, about how the spotted redshank feeds very much like an avocet with a sweeping action whereas the common redshank simply picks at food.
We sneaked another morning visit to the wetlands but had to dodge a few showers (what a novelty!).
Back at our holiday rental there were butterflies and a hummingbird hawk-moth:
Just for good measure a few of the beaches and other aspects of our visit.
We had another very enjoyable trip to this lovely reserve which features marshland and reedbeds alongside the River Axe just outside Colyford between Seaton and Colyton in the beautiful East Devon countryside. There are five bird hides and nearly 4km of level trails and boardwalks suitable for wheelchair, bike and pushchairs. Just right for us!
We were blessed with some dismal weather for which we were most grateful after the series of heatwaves we have been enduring. At one point it started to drizzle and we nearly set back as we had left our waterproofs in the car, but we held our nerve and took the tram at the Seaton Wetlands Halt and explored Colyton.
The best thing about our visit to WWT Slimbridge on another glorious hot summer’s day (apart from the coffee and bacon roll on arrival) was the shade provided by the willow-lined walkway which stretched from one hide to another. We didn’t stay long because we knew the drive home would be very hot and we had seen enough to lift our spirits.
Cattle Egrets were first reported to have bred in Britain in 2008, with two pairs nesting in Somerset. We have just spent the last two days birding on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset and saw large numbers of these birds at Catcott Marshes and RSPB Greylake. The colonisation that is taking place is probably due to climate change and with the continuation of this wonderful summer it certainly feels like there is a massive shift in our climate.
We also regularly saw great egrets and little egrets which not so many years ago were also rare visitors to the UK.
Yet, once again, the star of our birding on these two days were kingfishers which we saw regularly flying in front of the hide at RSPB Greylake.
There were also good views of water rails at Greylake.
From this small reserve we also saw marsh harriers (rather distant) and grey herons and a reed warbler.
At RSPB Ham Wall there wasn’t a lot extra for us to see except for a common chiffchaff, great crested grebes and plenty of dragonflies and butterflies.
But the best of them all was my namesake in French – “Martin Pêcheur”.
If you are ever in these parts we can highly recommend The Swan at Wedmore where we stayed overnight.
As the beautiful summer continues we had a pleasant trip this morning to the World Wildfowl Trust’s centre at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.
There were a few pleasant surprises with a wood sandpiper that was a little reticent to perform at first but came close and displayed very well. We don’t often see spotted redshank so they too were a pleasant surprise. Common crane are quite regular here now and we saw 11 in total and two flew over very close. I managed to photograph a sparrowhawk in flight but it was a last minute effort and a poor photograph. Green sandpipers have been here for our last two visits and again came fairly close as did the ruff. We haven’t seen little grebe here for a while and there was also a pair of common terns to complete the morning.
A greater flamingo was a surprise too but it was not a sign of global warming, simply an escapee from a zoo.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
We had to go to Cheltenham today (30 odd miles to the north of Bristol) and took advantage of the trip by calling in at WWT Slimbridge on the way home. We were really surprised how much there was to see from just a few of the hides.
Here are a few of my photos from today.
This morning we explored the Middlebere Peninsula just south of RSPB Arne. Rain was forecast throughout the day. It didn’t materialise until the afternoon but the light was not good. From the avocet hide we could see an osprey on a nest. On the estuary there were shelduck, black-headed gulls, several little egrets and a few common redshank but everything was rather distant and didn’t make for good photos in the poor light. My best opportunities were near some National Trust cottages where there was a pied wagtail and some barn swallows.
We had an early lunch at the visitors’ centre at RSPB Arne and then explored the Shoreline trail but the rain set in and, apart from a song thrush, a blackbird, geese and oystercatchers, there wasn’t a lot to photograph.
Oh I do love to be beside the seaside ….
This morning we discovered Durlston Country Park for the first time.
Durlston Country Park is a 320 acre National Nature Reserve consisting of beautiful clifftop walks with stunning views, a recently renovated Victorian Durlston Castle with its historic Great Globe, a visitor centre, cafe and Anvil Point Lighthouse. It’s located just 1 mile from Swanage and only 15 minutes from where we are staying. The Park, which is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the Dorset County.
On the circular cliff top walk we had good views of guillemots and razorbills in the sea below the cliffs and even better views of northern fulmar and herring gulls flying by and, along with the rock doves, settling on the cliffs.
On the return part of the walk, back from the cliffs, the best of the birds we saw was a common whitethroat but the flora was interesting too.
After our walk we dropped down into Swanage and had a lovely fish lunch alfresco at the Pier Café and Bistro located on the historic Victorian pier.
What’s not to like?
We have just arrived on holiday on the south coast of England, in the county of Dorset. The area we are staying is known as the Isle of Purbeck on the Jurassic Coast. Despite its name, it is not actually an island—it is a peninsula bordered by the English Channel, Poole Harbour, and the River Frome.
Today we visited the RSPB nature reserve at Arne. Arne is situated on Poole Harbour and within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The landscape of heathlands, ancient oak woodlands, wetlands and mudflats is truly stunning and teeming with wildlife.
When I visit such nature reserves I can’t help thinking about the thousands of hours that volunteers have dedicated to making them such phenomenal places to visit. On our visit today we met a number of such people who helped us by telling us about osprey and white-tailed eagle projects and even helped us to spot both of these birds.
Some of the photos of our first day in this area showing the variety of wildlife:
Stoke Park Estate is only half a mile from our home but I have not been able to get here for over 6 months. Today was forecast to be over 30 degrees Celsius so this morning we decided to have a walk there before it was too hot.
It’s a very pretty spot but since the 1970s it has had a motorway (one of the main arterial roads leading into the city of Bristol) passing through it. It’s quite amazing that it has been spared house building which has been quite intense on this side of the city.
The main attraction were swifts (and one house martin) which were swooping down on the pond for drinks. There were plenty of other birds to see such as Canada geese and their goslings, moorhens, coots, greenfinch, goldfinch, blackbirds, wrens , chiffchaff and a green woodpecker but the challenge for me (ambitiously with only a 70-200 lens) were the hirundines. I was pleased to photograph my first damselflies of the season too.
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 