We are lucky to have a period of high pressure and the lovely weather seems to be holding up. A few of my favourite photos from my walk around the local park this morning:
Tag: Bird photography
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9th October 2025 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol
Duchess Pond in Stoke Park The autumn colours are really showing around this moorhen. It’s not about to build a nest is it? The resident grey heron Blue tit Female stonechat Female stonechat – there was no sight of a male Front view of stonechat … and rear view of stonechat The jay seems to always be around too although I only had a very brief view of it Grey heron Fly past grey heron seems to be showing off My favourite shot of the grey heron -
1st October 2025 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol
Following a day of (photographing) art galleries, monuments and churches in Bristol it was back to the birds this morning in Stoke Park.
Within a few minutes of arriving I was treated to a grey heron flying right in front of me and then a kingfisher posing nicely on the edge of the pond.
Grey heron 
Grey heron 
Grey heron 
Grey heron landing in its favourite spot on the annex pond 
Kingfisher 
Kingfisher 
Kingfisher 
Kingfisher spreading a wing 
Kingfisher in flight 
Kingfisher in flight Kingfisher in flight The kingfisher seemed to follow me around Duchess Pond and I had shots of it in lots of different locations but none as good as its original perch.
Kingfisher in a different venue There were lots of corvids around and I even got sight of a sparrow hawk and a buzzard being mobbed by them.
Common buzzard being mobbed Just before setting off home I saw a male and female stonechat but only managed a photo of the female.
Female stonechat 
I couldn’t resist another photo of the Dower House with its reflection in Duchess Pond 
Moorhens are good for reflections too -
29th September 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
What an amazing summer! It seems to go on and on. Statistically I have seen it has been the best ever in the UK; better than even the summer of 1976 which, as I was in my late 20s and enjoying a great summer of sport, was for me the best before this one.
What a treat too to be able to go off birding on a Monday morning following a great weekend of sport (now sadly only as a spectator) with success for England in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final, a trip to see Bristol Bears gain a good win over Leicester Tigers in the first match of a new season, Arsenal sneaking a win in the dying moments of their game and the success of the European team in the Ryder Cup golf. This morning was just as good though.
We saw so much and in such wonderful light (so no complaining from me except that I still failed to capture two common cranes flying right in front of me – ineptitude on my part). The best was clearly seeing the very secretive great bittern but it was all quite a joy and we enjoyed our trip to Slimbridge so much that we stayed much longer than usual and had a very late lunch there too.
Great bittern 
Great bittern Apologies to all who were hard at work on a Monday morning: in my defence I did 47 years of those.
Some of my photos:
Ruff 
Common redshank 
Little egret 
Northern lapwing 
Eurasian teal 
Green sandpiper 
Green sandpiper with greylag goose (for size comparison) 
Green sandpiper with mallard 
Lots of geese and a handful of common crane on the Severn Estuary 
Eurasian wigeon 
Eurasian wigeon close up 
Common snipe 
Common snipe 
Common snipe 
Common snipe and green sandpiper 
Black-tailed godwit 
Black-tailed godwit 
Great bittern Great bittern 
Grey heron 
Common darter (for Mike in the USA) still around Some of the other activities at WWT Slimbridge:
The visitors centre at WWT Slimbridge 
Trees of life in the remembrance garden 
Never forgotten 
Duck decoy 
I don’t suppose Sir Pater Scott would have minded. -
25th September 2025 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol
Encouraged by my visit earlier in the week (and the blue skies) I decided to give Stoke Park another go this morning.
Just a short distance from my home, as I pass beneath the motorway to reach the park, I am reminded by the graffiti (and the noise from the motorway) that this is still a very urban area.
The graffiti and the noise of the motorway remind you how close we are to the city centre However, it’s well worth putting up with the inconveniences.
On the sky line there were 3 ravens and a common buzzed.
Common buzzard 
The jay was still around but much further away. 
Grey heron again at Duchess Pond 
… and again on the annex pond 
Common chiffchaff shows itself briefly 
A meadow pipit in the same tree 
Meadow pipit in flight Long=tailed tit (I counted 14 in this social group) 
Long-tailed tit in flight By the time I was about to go it was getting warmer and dragonflies began to appear.
Common darter -
23rd September 2025 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol
It was definitely fresher this morning on my walk to the local park.
The annex to the main pond with the telecommunications tower on the hill at the back 
The view away from Duchess Pond with the Dower House on the hill My highlight was a jay, but I loved watching a sparrow hawk and a pair of buzzards testing each other out.
Jay 
Jay in flight in front of Lady Elizabeth Somerset’s obelisk 
Jay in flight – down beat 
Jay in flight – up beat 
Lady Elizabeth Somerset’s obelisk overlooking the whole park, the obelisk was erected in 1762. It was built by Thomas Paty. It bears a Latin inscription to the Duke of Beaufort’s niece, whose death it commemorates. She died when she fell from her horse here. It is listed Grade II 
View from close to the monument 
A delight for walkers and runners 
Sparrowhawk 
One of two common buzzards The autumn colours are beginning to show and the berries on the trees look as though there will be plenty of food for many of the birds this winter.
The trees on the island beginning to show some colours of autumn On Duchess Pond I briefly saw a little grebe (so cute but sadly no photograph) and as well as the mallards, coots and moorhens there was a grey heron and a tufted duck.
Grey heron flying over Duchess Pond 
Grey heron landing next to the annex pond 
Cattle looking enviously at the Duchess Pond 
Moorhen straddling the lilies on Duchess Pond 
Tufted duck on Duchess Pond 
Moorhen and reflection 
There are so many wood pigeons around at the moment 
Small white butterfly and bindweed Around the pond there were coal tits, greenfinch, goldfinch and chiffchaff but there is still too much cover for photographs.
I just can’t resist a few more photos of the jay:
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19th September 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
What a surprise! Just as we seemed to be moving into autumn we get a late summer’s day. The French call it l’ėtė de la St Martin and we call it an Indian summer, but I’m probably getting carried away as St Martin’s Day isn’t until the 11th November. Anyway it reached 22 degrees in sunny Gloucestershire and, although I was wearing a T-shirt, I wished I was in shorts.
Slimbridge seemed to be moving on. There were flocks of greylag geese and quite a number of Canada geese too. From our favourite hide there were loads of bar-tailed godwits which were nice to see but difficult to photograph as there didn’t seem to be a focal point. A redshank amidst the group helped a little and then when they scattered from the threat of a peregrine it was easier to pick a focal point. There were some ruff too but very far off. Common snipe are some of our favourite birds but they were quite coy too.
The highlight of the day was a male grey phalarope (not as attractive as the female) but miles away so don’t hold your breath for any great images.
A brimstone greeted us on arrival 
There were several big groups of black-tailed godwits like this 
What a beauty – a black swan, certainly no ugly duckling 
Sloes from a blackthorn – think lots of gin! 
Common snipe being very coy 
Black-tailed godwit 
Ruff at the back of the pool 
Lapwings are always present here 
Redshank amongst the godwits 
Redshank jumping for joy Godwits take to the air 
Can you spot the grey phalarope? Bang in the middle of my photo with a 400 mm lens and heavily cropped. It looked just as tiny with a x60 telescope. Oh the joys of birding! We loved the textiles exhibition too:
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8th September 2025 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol
Just time this morning for a stroll over to one of our local parks before the rain came.
Duchess Pond in Stoke Park Estate There are still plenty of dragonflies around but I didn’t see much in the way of bird life except for a grey heron (and coots and moorhens) although redstarts have been reported recently.
Common darter 
Migrant hawker 
Grey heron Grey heron 
Grey heron It’s a lovely spot but not as wonderful as it looks because it’s next to the motorway and very noisy.
The grey heron didn’t seem to be affected by the noise 
Common darters 
The lily pads look wonderful at the moment 
The Dower House (now apartments) on the edge of the park -
29th August 2025 – Chew Valley Lake, Somerset
A very popular bird watching area local to us is Chew Valley Lake, just a few miles to the south of Bristol. The lake was created in the early 1950s (officially opened in 1956) to provide water for the city of Bristol. I remember at that time standing in the street waving my Union Flag. I hasten to add that this was in no way a demonstration of political affiliation the likes of which we are currently seeing a lot, I was simply lining the street with my Junior School to see Queen Elizabeth II as she made her way to open the lake. That’s what you did for entertainment in those days.
We last visited Chew Valley on May 16th when, even after a dry start to the summer, the lake was surprisingly full to the brim. We were quite surprised today to see how low the water had dropped over the summer in the very dry spell we have had. Today we had a few showers but I don’t think it would have made much a difference to the water levels.
A distant view of Chew Valley lake (from Herriot’s Bridge) with a chance of rain Our main reason for visiting, in fact, is that a white-tailed eagle has been at the lake for the last few days. We had no luck on that score and, as a consequence of the low water levels, we didn’t see that many birds up close.
Nonetheless, we really enjoyed the scenery and enjoyed another day birding.
The view from Stratford hide with a peregrine at 2 o’clock (in front of the reeds) and another at 8 o’clock (next to the tree stump) 
A sparrowhawk flying over Herriot’s Bridge. 
A hobby from Herriot’s Bridge 
The view from Herons’ Green – this was totally covered in water in May 
A glossy ibis from Herons’ Green and a greenshank to the left 
Little egrets at Herons’ Green Bay 
You can see how dry it is beneath the black-headed gull in flight 
A small copper butterfly and a painted lady butterfly at Herriot’s Bridge 
We were told the white-tailed eagle was on the island at the back of my photo – I know they are big as we have seen them in Scotland but I don’t think even a very good telescope would have helped 
At least we got to see some birds up close – here a cormorant at Herriot’s Bridge 
… and here an African Grey Parrot whose owner brings it here regularly to take the air – this is England after all! -
27th August 2025 – Severn Estuary
Today we had a walk along the Severn Estuary further south than WWT Slimbridge, which we have visited a lot recently, and closer to home. There is a section of the south west footpath between the two Severn Bridge crossings close to where the old Severn ferry used to operate at Aust and which is often a good place to view birds.
The weather is beginning to break and we managed to do this walk between showers and were very lucky not to get wet. We had views of a variety of birds but most at some distance.
The view across Aust Warth towards the first Severn Bridge. 
The view back across Aust Warth towards the second Severn Bridge (now known as the Prince of Wales Bridge) 
Good numbers of black headed gulls, oyster catchers, Canada geese and a few curlews on the warth (the low lying area next to the sea)
A better view of the oyster catchers 
There were still a few swallows around 
Swallow up close 
The village of Aust in the distance – it was from here that the ferry operated to take vehicles and passengers to Wales before the Severn bridges were built 
Gadwall on the pools (most of which are dried up at the moment) on the other side of the warth. 
A distant curlew in flight 
We caught up with the curlew at the end of our walk at New Passage 
Curlew 
Common redshank at New Passage 
Common redshank amongst the black headed gulls 
Shelduck on the mud flats -
25th August 2025 – Forest of Dean
We were looking for somewhere to go to avoid the crowds of Bank holiday Monday and hit on the Forest of Dean. It was certainly very peaceful and a great place to be on another very hot day.
I thought we might do well with dragonflies but the pool near the car park at RSPB Nagshead was completely dried up.
We didn’t have a lot of luck with birds either except at the Campbell hide, which had a muddy patch in front of it, we did see a few coal tits and 2 hawfinch. I have only seen hawfinch on a couple of occasions and it was a first for my wife. Good choice then.
Forest of Dean – a good place to keep cool. Hawfinch 
Hawfinch hiding in the leaves 
Coal tit -
22nd August 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
In praise of WWT Slimbridge
When I was young my mum and dad, bless them, took me to Slimbridge a couple of times: I can’t say I was very impressed; I was more into team games and I would rather get muddy by diving around on the sports field than sloshing about in wellies. My parents obviously thought it a worthy thing to do but clearly I don’t think it was really in their DNA either and so, as it was fairly expensive, we didn’t go too often.
I can’t believe how much we love going there now. I know we dodge the hordes of children (and their parents/grandparents) by heading for the hides (rather than the pens with lots of exotic birds) but I do recognise that Slimbridge is a fabulous place and does amazing work to get youngsters interested in wildlife.
Sadly we see lots of bad parenting there but today we met a young boy (and his dad) as we were heading out to the Severn Estuary who stopped us and told us that if we continued on this pathway we could follow a walkway which took us down to the estuary where we might see, if we looked carefully, curlew and ringed plovers. We were both impressed that his dad didn’t interrupt him but allowed him to be our advisor. This young boy was thoroughly enjoying his day and clearly his dad had encouraged him enough to reach this point. It was a very refreshing encounter.
Down on the estuary we clearly didn’t look carefully enough as we only heard a curlew and the ringed plovers were too far away for our “old” eyes.
On the estuary we saw lots of egrets and grey herons. However, we did see loads whilst we were at Slimbridge. I hope you enjoy some of my photos from today.
Probably my photo of the day, a Cetti’s warbler, if I am correct 
Reed warbler 
Reed warbler 
Sand Martin chasing fly (top right) Sand Martin about to gorge its prey 
Swallow 
Swallow 
Grey heron 
Honey bee 
Wasp 
Migrant hawker 
Common snipe 
Rock doves 
Common snipe 
Tufted duckling practising its diving 
The beauty of the Severn Estuary -
19th August 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
A variety of waders at Slimbridge today.
It was pleasantly warm but fairly dull for our morning visit. I have nothing to complain about though compared with the poor farmers who must be really struggling with this exceptionally dry spell in this part of the world. They have definitely something to complain about this year!
Northern lapwing 
When you are struggling for light a goldfinch is a saviour 
Redshank and ruff unperturbed by a noisy coot 
Common redshank and ruff (right) 
Green sandpiper and a common snipe trying to blend in with the foliage 
Black-tailed godwit centre stage 
A skein of greylag geese overhead 
… and on the ground 
The green sandpiper breaks cover first 
Followed by the common snipe 
Black-tailed godwit in the centre with a ruff behind Definitely one of my favourite birds – the common snipe
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 