We have had to be much less adventurous with our holidays this year but nonetheless we have really enjoyed our trips away to the south coast of England. Although the distances travelled have not been very great I was very tired after our last expedition to East Devon (whether it be my health or just old age) and so it was great to relax this weekend and watch some sport and do a little gardening. That doesn’t mean that my camera was very far away and I share a few nature shots from the garden yesterday.
Common carder bee enjoying the salviaCommon carder bee on verbena£8 solar fountain from amazon.co.uk!Holly blue butterflyThe common green bottle fly Lucilia sericata on achilleaAlso on the achillea a thick-legged hoverfly syritta pipiensSmall white butterflyGreen-veined white butterflyHolly blue butterfly
After a mainly sedentary weekend by this morning I was chomping at the bit and we had a trip to WWT Slimbridge.
The highlight of our visit was a common snipe (normally very secretive and well camouflaged) which made an appearance as soon as we arrived in the open right in front of us .
Common snipeCommon snipeRuff and two greenshankGreenshank in flightSpotted redshank
I was very pleased to recognise straightaway the spotted redshank from its feeding habits. I remembered what an old chap (probably younger than me) told me when I starting bird watching, on a trip to Titchwell Marshes in Norfolk, about how the spotted redshank feeds very much like an avocet with a sweeping action whereas the common redshank simply picks at food.
Common redshankLittle egretLittle egretYou can see the effects of the drought we have had from this shot of a group of common crane… and from further awayIt’s not only the farmers who are desperate for rain – the birds need it too – view of the Severn Estuary from the Estuary hide.
We sneaked another morning visit to the wetlands but had to dodge a few showers (what a novelty!).
From the tower hide the view across the river AxeEurasian curlew heading down riverCanada geese heading up riverFrom the Tower hide the view across the reserveOystercatchers and black-headed gullsBlack-tailed godwitCommon redshankMainly black-tailed godwitsIn this muddy patch (caused by the tide!) there were a mixture of curlews, whimbrel and common sandpiper, but most beyond my rangeWe ventured a little further (and got wet) only to have a view of these Canada geese feedingAn inquisitive pheasant
Back at our holiday rental there were butterflies and a hummingbird hawk-moth:
Large whiteHummingbird hawk-mothClouded yellowA very tired peacock butterflyComma butterflySmall whiteRed admiral
Just for good measure a few of the beaches and other aspects of our visit.
St Winifred’s Church, BranscombeSt Winifred’s Church, BranscombeThe Old Bakery at BranscombeManor Mill, Branscombe. The only working mill to survive of the four originally operating in Branscombe.Branscombe beach and caféBranscombe beach looking eastwardsBeer Beach – still a working fishing portThe beach at Beer
We had another very enjoyable trip to this lovely reserve which features marshland and reedbeds alongside the River Axe just outside Colyford between Seaton and Colyton in the beautiful East Devon countryside. There are five bird hides and nearly 4km of level trails and boardwalks suitable for wheelchair, bike and pushchairs. Just right for us!
We were blessed with some dismal weather for which we were most grateful after the series of heatwaves we have been enduring. At one point it started to drizzle and we nearly set back as we had left our waterproofs in the car, but we held our nerve and took the tram at the Seaton Wetlands Halt and explored Colyton.
You could tell we were in the English countryside by the presence of this pheasant even though the grass was an unfamiliar colour.A real surprise – drizzleOystercatcherCommon kingfisherCommon kingfisherCommon kingfisherCommon greenshankCommon redshankSand martins – the smallest of the European hirundinesPeekaboo!Emperor dragonfly competing with the sand martinsA pair of reed warblersMeadow brown butterflyOne of the 14 trams on the Seaton Tramway. The trams are narrow gauge (2’9″), purpose built by the company with designs based on some of the heritage trams that served the UK’s towns and cities in the first half of the last century.I was looking forward to a trip on the tramway. I didn’t realise I was going to have to drive it (only joking)This driver certainly knew what he was doingOur tramAt Colyton we visited the church of St AndrewThe font in St Andrew’s church… and we had a spot of lunch – appropriately at the Kingfisher InnLittle egret on the Axe estuary
Before this epic summer the hottest summer I remember was the summer of 1976. That summer is often referred to as the year of the ladybird as swarms of ladybirds infested towns and cities across the UK, with many people even reporting being bitten by them.
I shall remember this year as the year of the hummingbird hawk-moth. Before this year I can only remember a few sightings of them in the UK, but this year they have almost been a common occurrence.
Recently “The Times” newspaper reported :
“Big enough to be mistaken for a bird, the moths brought by warm air from the south have been seen everywhere from the Channel Islands to Scotland”.
In the garden of the cottage where we are staying in Devon there is a buddleia which, as well as attracting numerous butterflies, has attracted several hummingbird hawk-moths.
They are not easy to photograph as their wings beats at 80 times per second.
And some of the butterflies:
Red admiralClouded yellowCommaClouded yellowPainted lady
I couldn’t resist a couple more hummingbird hawk-moths from later in the day:
The Times reports:
“Traditionally, the peak time for hummingbird hawk-moth sightings in Britain is August and September, so we’re only just coming into the peak now. We could end up with a lot more sightings before the summer is out.”
As I am currently constrained from travelling very far (no I have not been subjected to a restraining order) we have spent our summer holidays exploring the south coast of England from Hampshire through to Devon.
We are currently staying in a lovely cottage (recently restored from a dairy milking parlour) in the tiny village of Southleigh in East Devon (https://www.southleighholidays.co.uk).
One of the reasons for choosing this area is the proximity to Seaton Wetlands which we have never visited and which looked quite attractive on the website.
Our first visit this morning did not disappoint. The “Wild East Devon” website says of this area:
“Seaton Wetlands is a countryside haven, home to an abundance of wildlife.
The site is made up of four main areas: Seaton Marshes, Black Hole Marsh, Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh.
“Black Hole Marsh (BHM) was bought by East Devon District Council in 2008. Following planning approval, we created a saline lagoon on what was previously a drained agricultural field, with little wildlife interest. Islands were created on a large shallow scrape. The Environment Agencyworked with a local engineering company to devise an innovative self-regulating tidal exchange gate, allowing water of just the right salinity to enter the lagoon.”
Panoramic view of Black Hole Marsh from the Tower hideBreeding oystercatcherMainly black-headed gulls with black-tailed godwits, a curlew and 2 grey heronsBlack-headed gulls and a Eurasian curlew2 grey heronsBlack-tailed godwitKingfishers are common here but this was only an advert on the electric tram which runs from Colyton to Seaton alongside Seaton Marshes (and even has a halt at Seaton Marshes)Common redshankAnother of the trams Common redshank with lapwing behindThe dreaded impatiens glandulifera, “Himalayan Balsam”, which is very invasive Impatiens capensis, “Jewel weed”The sand martin cliff, installed in 2011Sand martinSand MartinSand martin waiting to be fedA curious reed bunting on top of the sand martin cliffCommon redshank at the foot of the reed bedsReed warblerWillow warblerThe island hideThe Tower hide. At the other end of the reserve there is the Discovery hut where refreshments and toilets are available.From the discovery hide where we could enjoy our coffee and bird watch (and tram watch) at the same timeMaybe a trip on the trams one day this week?
Cattle Egrets were first reported to have bred in Britain in 2008, with two pairs nesting in Somerset. We have just spent the last two days birding on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset and saw large numbers of these birds at Catcott Marshes and RSPB Greylake. The colonisation that is taking place is probably due to climate change and with the continuation of this wonderful summer it certainly feels like there is a massive shift in our climate.
Cattle egret at Catcott MarshesCattle egret at Catcott Marshes Cattle egrets often spend time close to livestock like sheep and cows and grab the insects and worms their hooves disturb.Cattle egretCattle egret
We also regularly saw great egrets and little egrets which not so many years ago were also rare visitors to the UK.
Great egret at RSPB GreylakeLittle egret with great egret behind at RSPB Greylake
Yet, once again, the star of our birding on these two days were kingfishers which we saw regularly flying in front of the hide at RSPB Greylake.
Common kingfisherCommon kingfisherCommon kingfisherCommon kingfisherCommon kingfisher
There were also good views of water rails at Greylake.
Water railWater rail
From this small reserve we also saw marsh harriers (rather distant) and grey herons and a reed warbler.
Grey heronGrey heron mingling with the egretsReed warblerMarsh harrier
At RSPB Ham Wall there wasn’t a lot extra for us to see except for a common chiffchaff, great crested grebes and plenty of dragonflies and butterflies.
Common chiffchaffGreat crested grebe with its off springRed admiral butterflyMigrant hawker
But the best of them all was my namesake in French – “Martin Pêcheur”.
Common kingfisher – Martin pêcheur in French
If you are ever in these parts we can highly recommend The Swan at Wedmore where we stayed overnight.
We feel we get very good value out of a number of annual subscriptions we have to bodies such as The National Trust, the RSPB (Royal Society of the Protection of Birds), the WWT (World Wildlife Trust) and, at this time of the year, to the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society).
We were very excited when the RHS announced that, this year, they were going to replace the annual Garden Show at Hampton Court in London with a show much closer to home at Badminton House (famous for its Horse Trials). However, come the day earlier in July we were rather disappointed as we had chosen a day in the middle of a heatwave and didn’t enjoy ourselves as much as when we had visited the RHS Garden Show at Hampton Court a few years ago. This year there were long traffic queues to get there (at least at Hampton Court a lot of people were able to use public transport which was not really an option here in the heart of Gloucestershire); the popularity of these events also meant that there were huge number of visitors and the facilities were stretched to their limit.
There is no doubt that the setting for the RHS garden show in front of Badminton House was very specialWe did enjoy seeing some of the “show gardens” but were not allowed to venture through them as had been the case at Hampton CourtAs close as I could get, fighting my way through the crowdsAn award winning “Cricket Pavilion” show garden – a six would have cleared the crowds of onlookersEveryone was considering drought tolerant plants
Although there are no major RHS gardens near to us there are a number of “partner” gardens that we can visit with our RHS membership. One of our favourites is the Yeo Valley Organic Garden close to Blagdon Lake in North Somerset, south of Bristol.
Our visit last week also corresponded to another very hot day but, at least, we didn’t have to contend with large numbers of visitors. There are some fabulous sections to this garden, which I have reported on in the past, but on our last two visits I have been fascinated that they have developed a new section (replacing “The Big Grass Bed”) which I would describe as the sort of terrain that you might see on the edge of a quarry or next to a building site. This “dry” garden is well suited to the hot conditions which we are enjoying at the moment and feature lots of plants which are drought tolerant. Clearly something all gardeners are having to consider in this part of the world as climate changes affect us.
Salvias are doing well in my garden too this yearA sneaky photo of a salvia in my garden before we set off on our trip to the Yeo Valley Organic Garden – they have been attracting bees in huge numbers.Quarry/building site?Gatekeeper butterflyDaucus carota – wild carrotDigitalis ferruginea – rusty foxglovePainted Lady butterfly on verbenaKniphofia – I like its common name of “torch lily”Painted Lady would be well camouflaged in the KnophofiaThe gravel garden is full of pollinators and butterfliesThere are great views of Blagdon Lake from the gardenMy only bird photo – very very distant cattle egret next to the lakeNow there’s a thought if you have the spaceInteresting water feature surrounded by drought tolerant flowersCommon blue damselflyWater feature to die forSouthern hawker in the bronze gardenLarge white butterfly attracted by the verbenaFlower bed in the Gravel garden
Still loads more to see but the heat was getting more intense and the garden café was irresistible: the frittata and the zero degrees Goram IPA (from the local Butcombe brewery) are both highly recommended.
It’s been over seven weeks since my last blog as, again, we have been “confined to barracks”.
Unfortunately, on our last holiday my wife had a fall when we were out walking on a coastal path and the resulting fracture has restricted any meaningful sorties since then. With good support from her osteopath (and determination on her part) she made sufficient progress for us to embark on another trip to the south coast and make the most of the wonderful summer that we are enjoying in the UK.
We found an amazing rental cottage at Buckler’s Hard (the shipyard where boats for Nelson’s Navy were built) on the banks of the Beaulieu River, in the heart of the New Forest. This fabulous venue enabled us to do some local birdwatching and to visit some other nearby birding sites which were easy for us to access.
Buckler’s Hard
The cottage, a unique Grade II listed former bath house with thatched roof and rustic tree trunk veranda, was set in an idyllic location beside the Beaulieu River and was ideal for our purposes.
The Duke’s Bath HouseThe Beaulieu River
In the secluded extensive garden we enjoyed seeing a variety of birds and regularly heard redshank, curlew and oystercatcher on the river banks.
The garden to the rear of the Duke’s Bath House
Some of the birds that we saw in the garden:
GreenfinchSong thrushCommon blackbirdJuvenile European robinEuropean robinHouse sparrowGoldfinchStarling in the evening sunshinePied wagtail on the lawnReed warbler seen from a nearby bird hideCommon redshank on the banks of the Beaulieu River… and even a pup seal
In the evenings we were treated to the sight of adult barn swallows feeding their young and rabbits playing on the lawn.
Barn swallowsBarn swallowsBarn swallow
Our first trip out was only a dozen miles away to Calshot, a coastal village at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent. Calshot is notable for its role in the development of aircraft and flying boats. In 1913 the Royal Flying Corps established Calshot Naval Air Station (later known as RNAS Calshot and RAF Calshot) at the end of Calshot Spit and there are still the large hangars which are put to good use as activities centres.
Little egretOystercatcher with muddy billCurlewCommon ringed ploverCommon ringed plover in flightOystercatcher in flightSandwich ternA colony of Sandwich terns on Southampton WaterBlack-headed gull
Our next birding trip was again only a very short ride to Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes. The internationally important coastal marshes and mudflats are teeming with fish and, as a result, thousands of sea birds and waders flock here.
Curlew with sea lavenderCommon linnetEuropean stonechatBarn swallowMeadow pipitCommon tern
Both of these sites we would love to visit again, outside the summer season when we might expect to see even more birds.
For non birding activities we visited nearby Lymington and Beaulieu (but unfortunately we did not have enough time to visit the estate with its country house and excellent National Motor Museum) and spent a lot of time absorbing the atmosphere of Buckler’s Hard by visiting its excellent museum and taking a river cruise on the Beaulieu river.
We also had several visits to the Master Builder’s House (now a pub and restaurant) which, fortuitously, was only a hundred yards from our cottage.
The village of Buckler’s HardOutside the excellent museum at Buckler’s HardRepresentation of Buckler’s Hard in its boat builder heyday in the early 19th Century in the museumThe Montague Arms in the village of BeaulieuPart of the Beaulieu EstateIt was good to enjoy a pint of our local (Bristol) zero percent bitter on a stop-off for lunch on the way home!
This morning we had a walk locally along the Severn Way on the Severn Estuary.
I had cataract surgery on one of my eyes just two days ago (in and out in about an hour) and was keen to get out and test my “new”eyesight. The surgery has definitely been a success but, even though it was quite dull, it was very windy and I had to wear sunglasses to protect my eye.
At first I was disappointed as I could see no birds but we were very heartened as we could hear skylarks all around us. Eventually, I was able to pick out quite a few and, although I only had a 200mmm lens with me, I was able to get a few shots.
The Severn EstuaryEurasian skylark in flightEurasian skylarkEurasian skylarkEurasian skylark
On the way back we could just make out shelduck and good numbers of oystercatchers on the estuary.
Shelduck and oystercatchers on the estuary.
I was pleased to pick out a common buzzard at some distance and obligingly it stayed around a while as we got closer to it.
Common buzzardThe same common buzzard
Before we arrived back at the car there was a reed bunting making itself known to all and sundry, possibly looking for a mate.
Definitely one of our favourite gardens to visit locally, Yeo Valley Organic Garden set in the beautiful countryside of the Chew Valley and adjacent to Blagdon Lake was as stunning as ever this morning. This was not a birding visit but it was pleasing to see our first hobby of the season, even if it was rather distant hunting dragonflies over the lake. There were also a few butterflies and insects to challenge my photography skills.
A distant Eurasian hobby in flightThere’s always a robin Painted lady butterfly on alliumSpeckled wood butterfly on beech hedgeRose chafersRose chafersThe wisteria were probably the stand out plants of today
Selection of photos of some of the wonderful plants in the garden:
We have spent three nights visiting friends in Pembrokeshire in Wales. As I am building up my strength and confidence, 3 nights has been perfect as we had leisurely trips there and back (about 300 miles in total), two full days exploring parts of Pembrokeshire and plenty of time to enjoy our friends’ company.
Monday 27th April
On our outward journey we stopped off at Dyffryn Gardens, an Edwardian garden being restored by the National Trust, on the far side of Cardiff in the beautiful Vale of Glamorgan. This is only the second time we have visited these gardens and there have been huge improvements since our last visit in 2018. As the Dyffryn website says: “Dyffryn has something new to discover on every visit, from intricate themed garden rooms to sweeping formal lawns and productive kitchen gardens to a large arboretum”. We particularly enjoyed the show of wisteria which are at their best at this time of the year.
There always seems to be a robin to greet you in formal gardens – Dyffryn was no exceptionA view of the front of the house at Dyffryn from the edge of the arboretum – lots of orange tip and holly blue butterflies to see.The rear of the houseSplendid beech tree and very old wisteriaThe acers too were at their bestWisteria in one of the themed garden roomsClose up of wisteria at the rear of the house
Our second stop was at the delightful town of Laugharne, on the estuary where the River Taf flows into Carmarthen Bay, and which is synonymous with the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas who lived in Laugharne from 1949 until his death in 1953. The National Trust maintains the Dylan Thomas boathouse which has magnificent views across the estuary.
Laugharne Castle
We had a brief moment for birdwatching but mainly enjoyed the company of a local resident who engaged with us in conversation in the beautiful mid-afternoon sunshine.
Little egret and Eurasian curlewBarn swallow over the estuaryCloser view of the barn swallow
Tuesday 28th April
Our main focus was a a spot of birdwatching at Pickleridge Lagoon and the Gann on the coast near Dale.
The weather was rather dull but we saw some good birds including oystercatchers, whimbrel, a grey plover, common ringed and dunlin.
Grey ploverCommon ringed plover and dunlinWhimbrelDistant oystercatcher on the low tideNot the Strait of Hormuz but the refineries around Milford Haven
Wednesday 29th April
Back to sunshine even if the breeze was rather stiff and fresh. We spent the day close to our friends house near to Cresswell Quay. This area is particularly beautiful and there was plenty to see and photograph.
Dunnock in our friends’ gardenHouse martin at Cresswell QuayThe view from Cresswell QuayIt would be strange to see puffins (unless you had drunk too much of their local brew) at Cresswell Quay but Skomer Island, famous for its puffins, is not far from here.Whereas, London is 237 and a quarter (!) of a mile from here.Red kite at Cresswell QuayCommon buzzard at Creswell QuayLater we visited Carew Castle which is also close to our friends’ houseLots of house martin here but no sand martin which have been reported recentlyEarly purple orchid near the castle
After a leisurely lunch at Stackpole we visited the nearby Lily Ponds at Bosherston but not many birds in evidence.
Even too early for the lily ponds… but the ramsoms in the woods were spectacular
30th April
On our journey home we stopped at the wonderful Aberglasnay Gardens near to Carmarthen. Besides the gardens we enjoyed close up views of robins, wrens, blackbirds, a song thrush and a red kite which came close overhead and which I managed to photograph with my compact camera.
Song thrushEurasian wrenEuropean robinRed kiteAberglasnay gardensAberglasnay gardensWisteria – a speciality here tooRed kiteCamassia were the stars of the plant show
Post script:
Great spotted woodpecker in the garden at our friend’s (taken through the window)
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 