We were really surprised how few birds there were on the pools at Slimbridge this morning. There were rangers working on fixing fences nearby which may have disturbed some of them and, with the weather still very mild, others may not yet have arrived.
Some white fronted geese had arrived last week but they were too far away for me to photograph.
Five snipe and three redshank saved the day for me.
Slideshow of photos from this morning:
We are spending this week in Norfolk celebrating a friend’s 70th birthday. As he and his wife fostered our interest in bird watching on a holiday here a decade ago it seems appropriate that we have spent some time this week bird watching.
En route on Saturday we stopped off at RSPB Titchwell Marsh near King’s Lynn. We didn’t have much time to spend here but seeing a few waders, various geese and the big wide skies certainly got us in the mood.
On Sunday we spent the morning at Cley-Next-The-Sea. The first hide was very busy, mainly with birders with big telescopes wanting to get sight of a long-billed dowitcher which has been resident here for a while. It’s not quite my thing trying to get distant shots of rarities and so I was quite happy to get photos of birds a little more accessible to me.
As we were leaving the reserve we had wonderful views of a kestrel.
On Monday morning we had a walk around Blakeney, where we are staying.
I loved seeing the flocks of geese flying over.
The sounds of redshank and curlew flying over the reeds were pretty special too. We also had fleeting glimpses of bearded tit.
Towards the end of our walk we had another close encounter with a kestrel.
On Tuesday we had a walk through the woods and along the beach at Holkham. Little grebes on a pool and red kites overhead were the main attraction.
On Wednesday we had a break from birding and took a steam train from Holt to Sheringham
It was a very misty and murky start to my visit to Ham Wall today.
It didn’t brighten up much throughout the day but my day was brightened by a great white egret and several marsh harriers that put on a magnificent display for me.
Great White Egret gallery
Marsh Harriers gallery
Slideshow of photos from today:
I spent most part of the day in the Stratford hide at Chew Valley Lake and managed to narrowly miss 5 spoonbills and an osprey: the spoonbills minutes before I arrived and the osprey when I went for my picnic lunch and a quick visit to Herriots Bridge. I’m clearly not dedicated enough!
The lake was teeming with coots (c 1900 according to someone who counts). I could pick out small numbers of shoveler and pintails, a juvenile garganey and a kingfisher hovering over the reeds. Most of my effort was spent trying to photograph the larger birds including a female marsh harrier, a juvenile great crested grebe, 3 great white egrets, 3 grey herons and lots of cormorants.
For some reason or another I found the photography difficult and today I had no excuse with the light.
Slideshow of photos from today:
All these birds are very distracting when you are trying to have a walk!
In truth, we needed to set off earlier as by 11 am it was too hot for a walk and we were back at the hotel having a coffee.
Slideshow of this morning’s photos:
From the balcony of our hotel room I could see that there were spoonbills on the lagoon. So, with a little gentle persuasion, we reorganised the pattern of our morning walk and took in the lagoon. It was too hot out there to stay too long, but it was long enough to see some lovely birds.
There were lots of ruddy turnstone, common ringed plover and sanderlings but my hand wasn’t steady enough in the heat.
A coffee looking across the port and then back to the pool!
Slideshow of photos from this morning:
This morning we had a trip across the river by ferry from Isla Cristina to Isla Canela but decided it was just holiday properties there and without any great interest.
On the way back to the hotel we spent an hour birdwatching on the tidal lagoon in front of the hotel. At first it seemed like there were more people searching for shellfish than birds but then we were pleasantly surprised as we had close up views of whimbrel, sanderlings, grey plover, common redshank, common ringed plover, Kentish plover, turnstone, white storks and bar-tailed godwit.
This morning we had a break from birding activities and visited the pretty town of Tavira and the the beautiful village of Cacela Velha on the Algarve just across the border in Portugal.
This evening we went back to visit the salt pans just north of Isla Cristina.
Oh what fun! On arrival here we had booked an excursion on a tuktuk to visit the town and its surroundings areas.
We hadn’t anticipated what a miserable evening it would be; but what else was there to do on such an evening?
Our driver and guide was full of life and proudly showed us his town. He also took us to some great birding sites but rarely stopped for us to take photos so I had to contend with taking photos us we drove along in the rain and the gloom.
At first, I was frustrated but soon I realised that, although we were to see a cornucopia of wonderful birdlife, I wasn’t going to get many decent shots.
I was pleasantly surprised with what I did achieve.
Fortunately the weather forecast for tomorrow is good.
Slideshow of what I could rescue from my photos this evening:
This morning we had a pleasant walk along the beach east from Isla Cristina and back again in time for lunch and before the weather deteriorated.
There were a few pleasant surprises with a pair of sanderlings and a few turnstones along the way.
Back near the hotel the tide had not dropped enough for the waders to return in numbers to the lagoon but as well as a grey plover, a sanderling and a couple of turnstones contesting with a gull for a dead fish there was a spotted redshank.
Slideshow of this morning’s photos:
We have definitely been doing non-birding events today with a boat trip around the local port. However, I couldn’t resist snapping away as we made our way to and from the terminal.
Non birding holiday indeed!
This morning we took part in our second optional trip: birdwatching around the salt pans and in and around the town we are staying in. Isla Cristina is the second largest fishing port in Andalusia.
We saw some fabulous birds without having to travel too much.
This is the impressive list of the birds I saw and many of them were close enough to get photographs:
Greater Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Kentish Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, Great Cormorant, Gray Heron, Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Booted Eagle, Iberian Gray Shrike, Eurasian Magpie, Crested Lark, Eurasian Crag-Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Willow Warbler, Short-toed Treecreeper, Spotless Starling, European Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Western Yellow Wagtail, European Goldfinch
Some of my favourite photos:
Slideshow of some of my photos from this morning:
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 