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.
Spotted redshankWood sandpiperLittle grebeLittle grebeCommon craneCommon craneCommon ternLittle egretPied avocetsWood sandpiperSpotted redshank (left) and ruff (centre)RuffCommon ternSparrowhawkCommon redshankEurasian lapwingWood sandpiper in flightWood sandpiperFemale and male ruffRuffGreen sandpiperWood sandpiperGreater flamingo Greater flamingoPainted lady was the only butterfly on display
We have spent a couple of days on the Avalon Marshes, a group of nature reserves in the Somerset Levels, about an hour south of our home city of Bristol.
We stayed overnight in Wedmore (a large village situated on raised ground in the Somerset Levels) and this was my first night away (other than in a hospital bed) for 6 months.
Our accommodation in Wedmore “The George” was excellentIt was not all “birding” – we visited St Mary’s Church in Wedmore, right next to “The George”
The day before our trip we were enjoying temperatures of over 20 degrees celsius in our garden but we were sharply brought back to reality with temperatures at least 10 degrees less and with a cold wind to boot.
The poor light was not ideal for photography but I am not complaining in the least and we both thoroughly enjoyed our short break and saw some lovely birds.
The first reserve we visited was RSPB Greylake, a small reserve to the south of the Avalon Marshes. Here we had good views of common crane, little and great egrets, a few waders including northern pintail, shovelers and teal; and heard lots of Cetti’s warblers.
Common crane and a little egretCommon craneCommon crane in flightCommon craneGreat egretCommon craneHome from home – a European goldfinch greeted us on arrival
After RSPB Greylake we moved on to RSPB Ham Wall to the north. We restricted ourselves to just one hide here, mainly because it was so cold. However, despite the poor light we did see great crested grebe, tufted ducks, sand martins, grey herons, cormorants and a marsh harrier. Glastonbury Tor is always a nice backdrop from this hide.
Long-tailed tit on arrival at RSPB Ham WallGreat crested grebe with its supperGreat crested grebeGreat crested grebe shooing off a competitorGreat crested grebe preeningSand MartinGrey heron with Glastonbury Tor in the backgroundGrey heron with dark skyWestern marsh harrierWestern marsh harrierWestern marsh harrierWestern marsh harrier
Our second day we only spent a short time birding at Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Catcott Nature Reserve. The best here was a solitary (and very secretive) black-tailed godwit and a pair of Egyptian geese,
On the way home we stopped in Glastonbury for a cream tea (just as good here in Somerset as the Devon and Cornwall ones) and meandered back through the lanes of North Somerset rather than take on the motorway which might have been congested with end of Easter holiday traffic.
The view of Chew Valley on our way home – we resisted bird watching here despite a brief moment of sunshine.
We realised how spoilt we had been with the wonderful light on our recent trip to Portugal when we arrived at Slimbridge on a gloomy Monday morning.
However, I can think of many more worse places to be on a Monday morning.
Before the morning was out the sun broke through and we ended our visit eating lunch in the sunshine outside the café, having seen some lovely birds.
The reported Temminck’s stint had flown before our arrival but we were treated to the sight of a flock of over 20 common cranes flying out over the River Severn.
Common snipeFemale northern pintailThe tail end of a flock of common cranes arriving at SlimbridgeBarnacle geeseGreylag geeseGreylag geeseEurasian tealNorthern lapwingEurasian teal and common redshankCommon snipeCommon shelduckSome of the 20+ common cranes before they headed off over the River Severn
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 