Following a day of (photographing) art galleries, monuments and churches in Bristol it was back to the birds this morning in Stoke Park.
Within a few minutes of arriving I was treated to a grey heron flying right in front of me and then a kingfisher posing nicely on the edge of the pond.
Grey heronGrey heronGrey heronGrey heron landing in its favourite spot on the annex pondKingfisherKingfisherKingfisherKingfisher spreading a wingKingfisher in flightKingfisher in flightKingfisher in flight
The kingfisher seemed to follow me around Duchess Pond and I had shots of it in lots of different locations but none as good as its original perch.
Kingfisher in a different venue
There were lots of corvids around and I even got sight of a sparrow hawk and a buzzard being mobbed by them.
Common buzzard being mobbed
Just before setting off home I saw a male and female stonechat but only managed a photo of the female.
Female stonechatI couldn’t resist another photo of the Dower House with its reflection in Duchess PondMoorhens are good for reflections too
What an amazing summer! It seems to go on and on. Statistically I have seen it has been the best ever in the UK; better than even the summer of 1976 which, as I was in my late 20s and enjoying a great summer of sport, was for me the best before this one.
What a treat too to be able to go off birding on a Monday morning following a great weekend of sport (now sadly only as a spectator) with success for England in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final, a trip to see Bristol Bears gain a good win over Leicester Tigers in the first match of a new season, Arsenal sneaking a win in the dying moments of their game and the success of the European team in the Ryder Cup golf. This morning was just as good though.
We saw so much and in such wonderful light (so no complaining from me except that I still failed to capture two common cranes flying right in front of me – ineptitude on my part). The best was clearly seeing the very secretive great bittern but it was all quite a joy and we enjoyed our trip to Slimbridge so much that we stayed much longer than usual and had a very late lunch there too.
Great bitternGreat bittern
Apologies to all who were hard at work on a Monday morning: in my defence I did 47 years of those.
Some of my photos:
RuffCommon redshankLittle egretNorthern lapwingEurasian tealGreen sandpiperGreen sandpiper with greylag goose (for size comparison)Green sandpiper with mallardLots of geese and a handful of common crane on the Severn EstuaryEurasian wigeonEurasian wigeon close upCommon snipeCommon snipeCommon snipeCommon snipe and green sandpiperBlack-tailed godwitBlack-tailed godwitGreat bitternGreat bitternGrey heronCommon darter (for Mike in the USA) still around
Some of the other activities at WWT Slimbridge:
The visitors centre at WWT SlimbridgeTrees of life in the remembrance gardenNever forgottenDuck decoyI don’t suppose Sir Pater Scott would have minded.
Encouraged by my visit earlier in the week (and the blue skies) I decided to give Stoke Park another go this morning.
Just a short distance from my home, as I pass beneath the motorway to reach the park, I am reminded by the graffiti (and the noise from the motorway) that this is still a very urban area.
The graffiti and the noise of the motorway remind you how close we are to the city centre
However, it’s well worth putting up with the inconveniences.
On the sky line there were 3 ravens and a common buzzed.
Common buzzardThe jay was still around but much further away.Grey heron again at Duchess Pond… and again on the annex pondCommon chiffchaff shows itself brieflyA meadow pipit in the same treeMeadow pipit in flightLong=tailed tit (I counted 14 in this social group)Long-tailed tit in flight
By the time I was about to go it was getting warmer and dragonflies began to appear.
It was definitely fresher this morning on my walk to the local park.
The annex to the main pond with the telecommunications tower on the hill at the backThe view away from Duchess Pond with the Dower House on the hill
My highlight was a jay, but I loved watching a sparrow hawk and a pair of buzzards testing each other out.
JayJay in flight in front of Lady Elizabeth Somerset’s obeliskJay in flight – down beatJay in flight – up beatLady Elizabeth Somerset’s obelisk overlooking the whole park, the obelisk was erected in 1762. It was built by Thomas Paty. It bears a Latin inscription to the Duke of Beaufort’s niece, whose death it commemorates. She died when she fell from her horse here. It is listed Grade IIView from close to the monumentA delight for walkers and runnersSparrowhawkOne of two common buzzards
The autumn colours are beginning to show and the berries on the trees look as though there will be plenty of food for many of the birds this winter.
The trees on the island beginning to show some colours of autumn
On Duchess Pond I briefly saw a little grebe (so cute but sadly no photograph) and as well as the mallards, coots and moorhens there was a grey heron and a tufted duck.
Grey heron flying over Duchess PondGrey heron landing next to the annex pondCattle looking enviously at the Duchess PondMoorhen straddling the lilies on Duchess PondTufted duck on Duchess PondMoorhen and reflectionThere are so many wood pigeons around at the momentSmall white butterfly and bindweed
Around the pond there were coal tits, greenfinch, goldfinch and chiffchaff but there is still too much cover for photographs.
What a surprise! Just as we seemed to be moving into autumn we get a late summer’s day. The French call it l’ėtė de la St Martin and we call it an Indian summer, but I’m probably getting carried away as St Martin’s Day isn’t until the 11th November. Anyway it reached 22 degrees in sunny Gloucestershire and, although I was wearing a T-shirt, I wished I was in shorts.
Slimbridge seemed to be moving on. There were flocks of greylag geese and quite a number of Canada geese too. From our favourite hide there were loads of bar-tailed godwits which were nice to see but difficult to photograph as there didn’t seem to be a focal point. A redshank amidst the group helped a little and then when they scattered from the threat of a peregrine it was easier to pick a focal point. There were some ruff too but very far off. Common snipe are some of our favourite birds but they were quite coy too.
The highlight of the day was a male grey phalarope (not as attractive as the female) but miles away so don’t hold your breath for any great images.
A brimstone greeted us on arrivalThere were several big groups of black-tailed godwits like this
What a beauty – a black swan, certainly no ugly ducklingSloes from a blackthorn – think lots of gin!Common snipe being very coyBlack-tailed godwitRuff at the back of the poolLapwings are always present hereRedshank amongst the godwitsRedshank jumping for joyGodwits take to the airCan you spot the grey phalarope? Bang in the middle of my photo with a 400 mm lens and heavily cropped. It looked just as tiny with a x60 telescope. Oh the joys of birding!
Just time this morning for a stroll over to one of our local parks before the rain came.
Duchess Pond in Stoke Park Estate
There are still plenty of dragonflies around but I didn’t see much in the way of bird life except for a grey heron (and coots and moorhens) although redstarts have been reported recently.
Common darterMigrant hawkerGrey heronGrey heronGrey heron
It’s a lovely spot but not as wonderful as it looks because it’s next to the motorway and very noisy.
The grey heron didn’t seem to be affected by the noiseCommon dartersThe lily pads look wonderful at the momentThe Dower House (now apartments) on the edge of the park
A very popular bird watching area local to us is Chew Valley Lake, just a few miles to the south of Bristol. The lake was created in the early 1950s (officially opened in 1956) to provide water for the city of Bristol. I remember at that time standing in the street waving my Union Flag. I hasten to add that this was in no way a demonstration of political affiliation the likes of which we are currently seeing a lot, I was simply lining the street with my Junior School to see Queen Elizabeth II as she made her way to open the lake. That’s what you did for entertainment in those days.
We last visited Chew Valley on May 16th when, even after a dry start to the summer, the lake was surprisingly full to the brim. We were quite surprised today to see how low the water had dropped over the summer in the very dry spell we have had. Today we had a few showers but I don’t think it would have made much a difference to the water levels.
A distant view of Chew Valley lake (from Herriot’s Bridge) with a chance of rain
Our main reason for visiting, in fact, is that a white-tailed eagle has been at the lake for the last few days. We had no luck on that score and, as a consequence of the low water levels, we didn’t see that many birds up close.
Nonetheless, we really enjoyed the scenery and enjoyed another day birding.
The view from Stratford hide with a peregrine at 2 o’clock (in front of the reeds) and another at 8 o’clock (next to the tree stump)A sparrowhawk flying over Herriot’s Bridge.A hobby from Herriot’s BridgeThe view from Herons’ Green – this was totally covered in water in MayA glossy ibis from Herons’ Green and a greenshank to the leftLittle egrets at Herons’ Green BayYou can see how dry it is beneath the black-headed gull in flightA small copper butterfly and a painted lady butterfly at Herriot’s BridgeWe were told the white-tailed eagle was on the island at the back of my photo – I know they are big as we have seen them in Scotland but I don’t think even a very good telescope would have helped At least we got to see some birds up close – here a cormorant at Herriot’s Bridge… and here an African Grey Parrot whose owner brings it here regularly to take the air – this is England after all!
Today we had a walk along the Severn Estuary further south than WWT Slimbridge, which we have visited a lot recently, and closer to home. There is a section of the south west footpath between the two Severn Bridge crossings close to where the old Severn ferry used to operate at Aust and which is often a good place to view birds.
The weather is beginning to break and we managed to do this walk between showers and were very lucky not to get wet. We had views of a variety of birds but most at some distance.
The view across Aust Warth towards the first Severn Bridge.The view back across Aust Warth towards the second Severn Bridge (now known as the Prince of Wales Bridge)Good numbers of black headed gulls, oyster catchers, Canada geese and a few curlews on the warth (the low lying area next to the sea)
A better view of the oyster catchersThere were still a few swallows around Swallow up closeThe village of Aust in the distance – it was from here that the ferry operated to take vehicles and passengers to Wales before the Severn bridges were builtGadwall on the pools (most of which are dried up at the moment) on the other side of the warth.A distant curlew in flightWe caught up with the curlew at the end of our walk at New PassageCurlewCommon redshank at New PassageCommon redshank amongst the black headed gullsShelduck on the mud flats
When I was young my mum and dad, bless them, took me to Slimbridge a couple of times: I can’t say I was very impressed; I was more into team games and I would rather get muddy by diving around on the sports field than sloshing about in wellies. My parents obviously thought it a worthy thing to do but clearly I don’t think it was really in their DNA either and so, as it was fairly expensive, we didn’t go too often.
I can’t believe how much we love going there now. I know we dodge the hordes of children (and their parents/grandparents) by heading for the hides (rather than the pens with lots of exotic birds) but I do recognise that Slimbridge is a fabulous place and does amazing work to get youngsters interested in wildlife.
Sadly we see lots of bad parenting there but today we met a young boy (and his dad) as we were heading out to the Severn Estuary who stopped us and told us that if we continued on this pathway we could follow a walkway which took us down to the estuary where we might see, if we looked carefully, curlew and ringed plovers. We were both impressed that his dad didn’t interrupt him but allowed him to be our advisor. This young boy was thoroughly enjoying his day and clearly his dad had encouraged him enough to reach this point. It was a very refreshing encounter.
Down on the estuary we clearly didn’t look carefully enough as we only heard a curlew and the ringed plovers were too far away for our “old” eyes.
On the estuary we saw lots of egrets and grey herons.
However, we did see loads whilst we were at Slimbridge. I hope you enjoy some of my photos from today.
Probably my photo of the day, a Cetti’s warbler, if I am correctReed warblerReed warblerSand Martin chasing fly (top right)Sand Martin about to gorge its preySwallowSwallowGrey heronHoney beeWaspMigrant hawkerCommon snipeRock dovesCommon snipeTufted duckling practising its divingThe beauty of the Severn Estuary
It was pleasantly warm but fairly dull for our morning visit. I have nothing to complain about though compared with the poor farmers who must be really struggling with this exceptionally dry spell in this part of the world. They have definitely something to complain about this year!
Northern lapwingWhen you are struggling for light a goldfinch is a saviourRedshank and ruff unperturbed by a noisy cootCommon redshank and ruff (right)Green sandpiper and a common snipe trying to blend in with the foliageBlack-tailed godwit centre stageA skein of greylag geese overhead… and on the groundThe green sandpiper breaks cover firstFollowed by the common snipeBlack-tailed godwit in the centre with a ruff behindDefinitely one of my favourite birds – the common snipe
We managed to get to visit the RHS Garden Rosemoor near Great Torrington today.
They were busy getting ready for their annual flower show which starts tomorrow. That and the dull weather meant that there were not too many people around, although more than my photos suggest – hoorah!
Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the garden (in spite of a short rain shower).
We saw and heard a fair number of birds (common buzzard, carrion crow, goldfinches, gold crest, blue tit, chaffinch, stock dove, wood pigeon, great spotted woodpecker, house martins and swallows) but especially enjoyed the trees and shrubs.
GoldfinchesSwallowHouse MartinSwallowMeadow sweetThere’s an insect in there among the grassesGreat spotted woodpecker
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