After a wonderful spell of sunny, warm weather it was normal service resumed with plenty of rain and a steep drop in temperature; however, late in the day I did manage a walk over to Stoke Park.
The light was not good but I got some fairly decent photos of a chiffchaff and some ducklings and then experimented taking close-ups of flora and fauna with not much success; but never mind hey.
One of several buzzards, often being mobbed by crows
There were at least a dozen ducklings on Duchess Pond.
As the Bank Holiday weekend doesn’t start until tomorrow we thought it would be okay to take the motorway south to Somerset but we got caught in a traffic jam just south of Bristol (due to an accident involving at least one caravan) but fortunately the delay was not too long.
On the Somerset levels at RSPB Ham Wall it was warm and misty (yes, more excuses for poor photos). but we had a lovely day, saw plenty of birds and had a picnic.
Great crested grebess
Song thrush
Great white egret
Peacock butterfly
Treecreeper
Marsh harrier
Great white egret
Marsh harrier
Marsh harrier
Marsh harrier
Common pochard
Immature female common pochard
On the way home we stopped off at Chew Valley lake briefly; large white birds (mute swans and great white egrets) were the stars again.
Great white egret
Mute swans
Gadwall
Shoveler
Common pochard
Scary great white egret
… and some small birds too
Not sure about this one. I have since been informed it is a white-cheeked pintail, an escapee from somewhere as they don’t live round here – more likely to be found in the Galapagos
I had an hour to kill before going to the dentist and went to The Downs to see if I could see a peregrine; well you don’t want to sit around thinking about the dentist, do you?
The weather took an upward turn today and its starting to get warmer. Unfortunately that meant there was a haze and, although I did see a peregrine, it wasn’t the best of light for photos. (Always excuses, I hear you saying). I need to come back for another go.
It was very windy and quite chilly in Stoke Park this morning and not a lot to see. There were five surviving ducklings on Duchess Pond and I did get a few shots of a grey heron and I did take a photo of a coot (only because I could see its eye clearly).
There were also invaders – Spanish bluebells.
I have very mixed feelings about zoos and safari parks but I must admit that I really enjoyed visiting Longleat Safari Park (only just over an hour from home) where the welfare of all the animals seemed at the heart of the enterprise. All the visitors seemed to enjoy the experience and were wowed by the animals. An awareness and interest in animals must be a good thing.
A few of my favourites:
As I drove home from golf this morning, having played a round in misty murky weather, I listened to the weather forecast and heard that the rest of the country was bathed in sunshine. Ergh!
I wasn’t going to give in and still had a walk around our local park because, even though there wasn’t much hope of decent photos, I was still encouraged by all the bird song I had heard on the golf course earlier.
And there was lots of bird activity in the park. In Fishponds Brook we had good views of a treecreeper bathing among the rocks. There was then a pair of grey wagtails which came closer.
I see no trees – treecreeper among the rocks in Fishponds Brook
… before flying off.
Grey wagtail
Robin
Robins were singing everywhere. As soon as we arrived at the lake we caught sight of a kingfisher but it didn’t stay for long. There was another pair of grey wagtails too.
Kingfisher
Grey wagtail posing on the lake
A wren out-sang the robins. Over the lake a male sparrowhawk worked its way up in the sky on a thermal (or was that just wishful thinking).
Wren
Sparrowhawk
On the way home there was a small flock of long-tailed tits and more robins, blue tits and great tits.
Long-tailed tit
There were more bluebells out than our last visit and the blossom and the leaves on the trees were bursting out. All it now needed was a bit of sunshine.
It was a foul afternoon (but not particularly a fowl afternoon) at Northwick Warth on the Severn Estuary; there was a little sunshine but mainly cold winds, rain and hail.
My perseverance was rewarded with a close-up view of a black-tailed godwit, 12 little ringed plovers, a small flock of pied wagtails and three redshank on the shore line. On the Pilning Wetlands there were surprisingly few birds. For me the best was a not too distant teal and a very distant little grebe.
Black-tailed godwit
Black-tailed godwit
Black-tailed godwit
Little grebe
Pied wagtails
Pied wagtails
Teal
Little ringed plovers
Little ringed plover
Redshank
When we set off this morning it was very foggy but by the time I dropped Wendy off for a Textile Art Workshop at Midsomer Quilters in the Mendip Hills it was very sunny. However, to my disappointment as I dropped back down on to the Somerset Levels the fog returned and stayed with me until midday when, fortunately, the sun burnt through the mist.
I was lucky to get a photo of this dunnock as it was really misty – the magic of editing.
RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve (which are adjacent to each other but run by different bodies) are usually abundant with birds and are my favourite local birding areas; but it was much quieter today. Surprisingly there weren’t many people around either.
Great crested grebe
Great crested grebe
Shoveler
Shovelers
Pochard
However, I did manage to see a blackcap, which the Nature Notes in today’s Times newspaper described as “the king of the warblers” and which are coming back in to the country in their hundreds of thousands: the article stated that there are over a million nesting pairs in Britain. This one certainly lived up to its reputation with a very cheerful and loud song.
A very melodious blackcap
I was so dazzled by the pinkness of this bird’s breast that I couldn’t work out if it was a bullfinch or a chaffinch but sure it’s a chaffinch
I was surprised how much pink there was in this wood pigeon too
I saw several butterflies but only managed a photo of this one – a Green-Veined White
The other highlight of the day was seeing great crested grebes courting, although I didn’t manage to see them dancing!
These two great crested grebes started the courting in the open and then coyly disappeared behind the reeds
Another joy was hearing bitterns booming across the reserves; they didn’t show their faces though.
There were plenty of sightings of great white egrets but I only saw one little egret.
Great white egret at RSPB Ham Wall
Great white egret and little egret at RSPB Ham Wall
This great white egret flew overhead at Shapwick Heath as I walked back to the car
From Noah’s Hide at Shapwick Heath I could just make out in the distance my first swallows of the year; but I didn’t manage to see the glossy ibis that had been reported.
The English language is full of weather lore and the proverb that says that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” has certainly been true this year: today was another superb day with wall to wall sunshine and plenty of warmth in the sun.
The adders in The Forest of Dean (where I went with a birding friend) made the most of it and came out to bask in the sun. We also saw a slow worm and a common lizard but not too many birds (except for a distant goshawk).
Adder
Adder
2 Adders
2 Adders
Slow worms
Common Lizard
Common Lizard
Common Lizard
Common Lizard
My friend, who has a good knowledge of the area, showed me all the different birding spots but I think I had a jinx on him and I returned home with not too much editing to do. Nonetheless, we had some good walks through the beautiful forest and I came home richer for the experience.
Song thrush
Song thrush
Wren
Nuthatch
Coal tit
Chaffinch
Chaffinch
Nuthatch
Blue tit
Robin
Great tit
Not quite The New Forest
We had an early (early for us anyway) morning walk in the park in beautiful sunshine. There was very little until we reached the lake and then a pair of grey wagtails, a kingfisher and a cormorant made our day even better. We were home by 10 and then got ready and went out to Clevedon as tourists!
Clevedon Pier was opened in 1869 to receive paddle steamer passengers from Devon and Wales. It is the only Grade 1 listed pier you can visit in England.
We enjoyed watching the kingfisher fishing and then I took this poor (out-of-focus) shot …
Grey wagtail on the lake
Grey wagtail strutting his stuff on the weir.
Were these two the same grey wagtails we had seen on the lake, this time on the weir?
Head for heights?
The robins are heard and seen everywhere
