Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Tag: Nature

  • 3rd May 2022 – Chew Valley Lake, North Somerset

    3rd May 2022 – Chew Valley Lake, North Somerset

    I spent the day at Chew Valley Lake which, even though I am now out of my surgical boot, is currently my go-to place for birding as I don’t have to walk any great distance. At least I have ventured out of my garden!

    The local birders I met all said that it was a very quiet time at the lake, suggesting that poor weather over the Iberian Peninsula had held up migrants. I did see some house martins but no other hirundines.

    In fact, there wasn’t a great variety of birds around but I was so pleased to see a pair of great crested grebes perform the beautiful, highly ritualised moves of their courtship dance, including the weed ceremony.

    Other highlights were 3 hobbies and a male gadwall.

    Hobby

    Gadwall

    Slideshow of photos from today

  • 24th April 2022 – Bristol

    24th April 2022 – Bristol

    A little time with nature in the garden. It can only lift the spirits.

  • 10th January 2022 – Garden birds

    10th January 2022 – Garden birds

    As I am currently somewhat restricted on my birding activities I thought I would take Stephen G Hipperson’s advice in my last blog and do some garden birdwatching. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic I have been used to making do in this way at various times in the last two years. In this blog I present a short video of birds I have seen in (or over) my garden during the lockdowns.

    https://videopress.com/v/i8jklgWC?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata

    Let’s hope that as the year goes forward, as much as I have enjoyed seeing and photographing these birds, we don’t have the same restrictions again.

  • 16th November 2021 – Near Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset

    16th November 2021 – Near Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset

    I had a very uneventful day birding near Weston-super-Mare. I started at the disused airfield in Weston which I had never visited before. There were lots of gulls (to be expected by the seaside), lots of starlings, a little egret, goldfinches, a meadow pipit and a pair of stonechats.

    Little egret
    Meadow pipit
    Herring gull
    Stonechat

    I moved on to Uphill where I saw even less. Just another meadow pipit, a little egret and some teal.

    Meadow pipit

    In the afternoon I had a pleasant walk on Sand Point – I only saw a few stonechats but the light was so poor that I didn’t take any photos.

    There will be better birding days!

  • 28th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    28th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    I managed to get a short fix of nature this morning whilst self-isolating at home but I didn’t stay long outside as, with a strong north-easterly wind, the temperatures had plummeted.

    The bird feeders in our garden continue to go down but I get little or no opportunity to photograph the birds on them because as soon as I go in to our small back garden the birds disappear. I can see them from the bathroom window  but that’s too geeky for even me to photograph them from there. Consequently I am restricted to photographing birds discretely with a long lens in neighbours’ gardens or on nearby rooftops.

    The wood pigeons were easy to spot but I didn’t see any of the collared doves which have been around recently.

    DSC05562

    There seemed  to be more house sparrows this morning. It is very encouraging to see them as, although once quite abundant locally, they had disappeared in recent years.

    DSC05698Male sparrow

    DSC05681Female sparrow

    I could hear goldfinches but didn’t see any today.

    The dunnocks appeared again and instantly made for the car across the road to look at themselves in the wing mirrors or at their reflections in the car windows.

    DSC05742Dunnock getting ready for the day ahead

    On the same wall I also saw a robin.

    DSC05596\DSC05604European robin

    In a distant garden  there were a pair of blackbirds. I haven’t seen any locally recently but I have heard them. That’s the next thing – recording bird song!

    DSC05715The best I could manage of this male blackbird

    On the roof tops there were jackdaws, crows and magpies.

    DSC05777Two jackdaws

    Before going in I spotted a huge bee busy on a flowering red currant next to the back door.

    DSC05839

    I made a mental note to myself to learn the names of different types of bees. As Simon Barnes writes in the Sunday Times today:

    ” I can’t kiss you. I can’t buy you a pint. I can’t invite you to drop by and watch the football. All I can offer is the best thing in the world. Nature”. He goes on to say:
    “It all starts with noticing. The second stage is seeking the name, and that will give a greater intimacy, as names do.”

    But enough was enough and I disappeared indoors to find some chores to do.

     

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  • 26th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    26th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    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.

    DSC04597Goldfinch

    DSC04605-2Dunnock

    DSC04612-2Wood pigeon

    DSC04639

    DSC04694Jackdaw

    DSC04706-2Male sparrow

    DSC04737-2Male sparrow

    DSC04762Magpie

    DSC04779-2Female sparrow

    DSC04784Dunnock

    DSC04790-2Female sparrow

    DSC04853-2Jackdaw

    DSC04875-2Dunnocks

    DSC04881Dunnocks

    DSC04902Dunnocks

    DSC04903Dunnocks

    DSC04922

    DSC04946Female sparrow

    DSC05047Female sparrow

    DSC05115Collared doves

    DSC05513

    DSC05501

    DSC05297Peacock butterfly

    DSC05205

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