A few days away on the south coast of England around the New Forest doing touristy things gave me gave me the opportunity to take a few nature photos.
The butterflies were taken at Exbury Gardens near Beaulieu and in the gardens at the National Trust property of Mottisfont near Romsey. The swallows were taken when I had a spare moment at Beaulieu.
Slideshow of some of my photos from The New Forest:
A tourist trip to Berkeley Castle, just 15 miles north from my home, gave me a surprise opportunity to get up close to some birds of prey. There was due to be a private falconry display at the castle later that day but we were able to see the birds waiting for their display before visiting the castle and grounds.
It’s the first time for many years that we have visited the castle (the last time was for the wedding reception of a friend in this magnificent castle) and we would very much recommend a visit (with or without the falconry display) – Berkeley Castle website
We have been on holiday in south Devon and, although not a birding holiday, there were a few opportunities to photograph some of the delights of nature at this time of the year.
I suppose the most exciting moment was seeing a bird that I had never seen before – a cirl bunting.
The cirl (pronounced sirl) bunting is a small finch-like bird which is a close relative of the yellowhammer.
Cirl buntings were once widespread and common across much of southern England, but in recent years, they have become rare and only found in south Devon, mostly confined to coastal farmland between Plymouth and Exeter.
We saw the cirl bunting on a visit to Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve and, although we saw three of them, it was such a fleeting moment which might explain why I have published an out-of-focus photo of the male as my headline photo.
The Dawlish Warren website has this to say about the reserve:
“Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve is an area of grassland, sand dunes, mudflats and centres on a 1½ mile long sandspit/beach across the mouth of the Exe Estuary. Dawlish Warren is an important holiday resort and is visited by thousands of people each year.
As part of the Exe Estuary it is one of the most important places for wildfowl and wading birds in the whole of the South West. Thousands of birds come to feed, on migration, or to spend the winter here.
The dunes and grassland have a host of special plants. Over 600 different types of flowering plants have been recorded on the Warren. This varied Reserve has many different habitats including salt marsh, fresh water ponds, wet meadows and woodland.
The Warren is so important that it is protected for its wildlife by both national and international law.”
Dawlish Nature Reserve
In Devon we were staying in a converted Wesleyan Chapel on the edge of Dartmoor which was well situated to visit Dartmoor, other nature reserves (Stover Country Park and Slapton Ley) and visit a few National Trust properties (Coleton Fishacre, Compton Castle and Castle Drago) with magnificent gardens which were at their very best at this time of the year.
We had really nice weather all week except one morning when we visited Slapton Ley. We did get good views of reed warblers, bullfinches and a few tufted ducks but it should have been a great place to see dragonflies and butterflies. However, it was too early on a grey day to have any joy.
We were luckier with dragonflies and damselflies when visiting Two Bridges on Dartmoor.
The contenders for the most cheerful song birds of our holiday :
Some of the photos from our trip to south Devon:
I was very pleased to spot the Great Reed Warbler which has been resident at Ham Wall for the last few weeks. I thought I might have difficulty in finding it but its very loud song (and some helpful birders) helped me find it easily.
The Great Reed Warbler is a rare passage migrant in the UK and so it has generated quite a bit of interest. It’s a hulking warbler that resembles the Eurasian Reed-Warbler in coloration but is far larger with a proportionately more massive head, heavy bill with a dark tip, and a broad, pale eyebrow.
It had rained all the way down on my journey to Ham Wall but fortunately I didn’t have to wait long before I could get out and about to explore the reserve. There were a few showers but I managed to stay dry before setting off back early afternoon on another wet journey home.
The highlight was clearly the great reed warbler but there was plenty to enjoy with bitterns booming (and a quick glimpse of one in flight), marsh harriers, a hobby, great white egrets and grey herons, great crested grebes, pochards, gadwall, coots with chick and a decent sized flock of black-tailed godwits.
Slideshow of photos from this morning:
We have been self-isolating at home all week. We had a 7 am walk in our local park last Saturday but didn’t feel safe as people, especially runners, came very close to us (even though I often pretended to be looking for a bird in the bushes). On Sunday we travelled to the Forest of Dean where we managed some exercise in isolation. However, reading what NHS workers had to say, and pleading with us to stay at home, we have remained at home. Neighbours and friends have helped with shopping. It has seemed very strange because it has always been in our nature to help others and now we find we can only help by staying at home.
To some extent I have enjoyed painting fences, building garden storage, cleaning the patio and so on as the weather has been wonderful for this time of the year. However, I have missed my camera (and nature) and today I self-indulged by taking photos from in and around our tiny urban garden. If I can’t go to nature, I’ll have to let nature come to me. I could see a herring gull, goldfinches, sparrows, dunnocks, wood pigeons and collared doves, jackdaws, crows, starlings, blackbirds, a robin (only heard), blue tits and great tits (only heard), bees and a peacock butterfly.
Unfortunately, all of the birds (except the blackbird on the washing line) were outside of the garden and I hope that neighbours don’t think I am being a voyeur with a long lens. I hope my photos are the proof of it.
Goldfinch
Dunnock
Wood pigeon
Jackdaw
Male sparrow
Male sparrow
Magpie
Female sparrow
Dunnock
Female sparrow
Jackdaw
Dunnocks
Dunnocks
Dunnocks
Dunnocks
Female sparrow
Female sparrow
Collared doves
Peacock butterfly
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 