RSPB Ham Wall – December 2016

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Over the Christmas break I decided to take a trip to RSPB Ham Wall. Although I didn’t leave overly early it was still freezing and misty outside. After an hour and 20min drive to Glastonbury the mist had cleared and the sun bathed the wetlands.

I have only been to Ham Wall once before and that was in June so this time I decided to explore a little more of the site. It was also an excuse to keep warm! 

At one of the screens I was watching 6 Snipe, when the lady next to me asked if I knew what the smaller bird next to them was. She thought it was a Water Pipit, as she had heard one had been seen recently, so having a closer look and comparing it to an image I looked up on my phone we decided it indeed was a Water Pipit. This was the first Water Pipit either of us had knowingly seen. A great start to the day!

On the Loxton’s Marsh Trail there were Black-headed Gulls doing laps of the reeds. They were so predictable it was quite easy to get a nice shot of them. I quite like Black-headed Gulls they seem to have a lot of personality 🙂

I headed to Avalon Hide in the afternoon. On the walk there, there were signs that Deer had been sleeping in the reeds.  The hide is currently being used by a Barn Owl as it’s dining room so there are a lot of Starling feathers about! With the sun creeping just above the tree line the reeds seemed like they were made of gold. A great time for a Bittern to appear at the far side of the reed bed 🙂

I headed back outside at 3pm to get set for watching the Starlings. There were hundreds of people congregated so I stood a little away from the crowd. They first started to appear at 16:08, streams of them coming in from all angles, diving down into the reeds. The sound they make is lovely. Unfortunately there were no murmurations but the sheer number alone was a sight to see. Its definitely worth a visit. 

My full sightings list:
Wren, Robin, Snipe, Water Pipit, Shovler, Great-crested Grebe, Coot, Mallard, Cormorant, Little Grebe, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Black Headed Gull, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Kingfisher, Wigeon, Stonechat, Reed Bunting

Boxing Day 2016 – Visit to WWT Slimbridge

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For a change of scenery on Boxing Day I headed to WWT Slimbridge with my parents. We have visited Slimbridge a number of times before, although not in the colder months and my Mum wanted to see the Bewick’s Swans in particular. So taking the back roads to avoid the Boxing day sales traffic we headed towards Gloucester. 

Even as an adult I buy grain to feed the birds. The Nene Geese came to greet us asking nicely for food; I lost my packet of food to my Dad who took to feeding them and every Moorhen he saw! We took a slow walk towards the Zeiss hide stopping for lunch at the picnic benches on route.  My parents aren’t birders so don’t like sitting in hides for long but during the periods of time they managed to sit still, I saw Roe Deer, a Curlew, Bewick’s Swans in the distance, a couple of Mute Swan and hundreds of Lapwing and Wigeon.  

Warm drinks were needed after a walk around the site, the restaurant was packed but I managed to get us a table near the window which was very fortuitous as I saw my first Grey Wagtail, so of course I grabbed my camera and headed outside for a record shot! 

Towards the end of our visit we headed to the Peng observatory, knowing we wanted to be there for the 4pm feeding to have a closer look at the Bewick’s Swans.  It is a nice place to sit and watch the bird’s slowly growing in number as they head in for feeding time.  It was lovely to see the birds following the wheelbarrow of food, there were about 30 Bewick’s, a real treat to witness and something I highly recommend seeing if you have time to stay till closing.

My full list of sightings:
Birds: Curlew, Bewick’s Swan, Mute, Swan, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Wigeon, Black-headed Gull, Shelduck, Coot, Moorhen, Reshank, Jackdaw, Rook, Teal, Pintail, Grey Wagtail, Long-tailed Tit, Woodpigeon, Song Thrush
Mammals: Roe Deer

Brownsea Island – September 2016

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I’m not overly fond of boats, I rather like my feet being on solid ground! However this boat trip was okay, the sea was calm, thankfully!  I was on my way to Brownsea Island, Dorset. I don’t remember my last trip to Brownsea, I guess I would have been about 10 as we always used to holiday in the area. 

This visit though was about Squirrels, Red Squirrels. After I had paid the landing fee on entrance to the Island I was talking to one of the grounds keepers who told me he had seen Squirrels around the church the day before. Of course I headed straight to the wood behind the church and 5 minutes later I was watching the first Red Squirrel of the day 🙂 If you plan to go and take photographs then I found the light was much better in the morning in this area.  While looking out for the Squirrels I also managed to spot my first Treecreeper 🙂

After spending a few hours waiting and watching the Squirrels I headed off for lunch in the cafe. In the afternoon a took a walk around the Woodland trail, however the only place I spotted Squirrels was around the church. There were also a few very friendly Peacocks.  I think the key to spotting Red Squirrels on Brownsea Island is to stay quietly in the same place. So many people walked past saying they had not seen a single Red Squirrel! 

I was a little happier on the boat on the way back and even kept my camera out to take a few pictures of Poole Harbour. Seeing I was at the coast it was fish and chips for dinner which I ate surrounded by rather cute Black-headed Gulls, who patiently waited at my feet to see if I was going to feed them.  They wanted chips though and not the bird food I went and got for them from the car!

My full list of sightings for the day:
Mammals: Red Squirrel
Birds: Treecreeper, Avocet, Shag, Oystercatcher, Robin, Woodpigeon, Wren, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gulls
Dragonflies: Common Darter

RSPB Greylake – June 2016

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After a lovely time at Ham Wall I headed off to get some dinner and seeing there was still some light left I decided to make a quick stop at RSPB Greylake. There was only one other car in the car park. I thought I wouldn’t be there long as I just wanted to have a look about but as with visiting any nature reserve you are always there longer than you plan!

I headed to the hide.  There was a Mute Swan and it’s Cygnets, I then noticed a bird I at first did not recognise and when I finally figured out that it was a Redshank it began showing beautifully by landing on one of the fence posts near to me.

I moved next door to another hide and immediately saw a Roe Deer walking towards the hide, it had got itself inside the fence and was trying to find its way out. It was lovely to see so close and to watch it make its way back the way it came.

 
My full list of sightings:
Birds: Blue tit, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Redshank, Reed Bunting
Mammals: Roe Deer

RSPB Ham Wall – June 2016

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RSPB Ham Wall - Glastonbury TorAs part of ’30 Days Wild’ I set out for the day to visit RSPB Ham Wall. I had heard of Ham Wall because of the Starlings they get in winter but I knew little about the site.

I had read the RSPB’s recent sightings blog posts before heading out so had an idea of what it was possible to see and where they might be. Obviously Bittern was at the top of the list!

It took me longer to get there than anticipated, I’m sure the satnav took me the scenic route! The car park is beautiful with wildflowers between the parking bays. I’d just stepped out of the car and heard a chap say ‘there’s a bittern flying overhead’ I caught a quick glimps – a shape moving in the distance.

Access via the main path wasn’t available due to work on the bridge so I followed the diversion signs and headed towards Tor view hide. On route I stopped at some of the screens to see what was about. A gentleman pointed me in the direction of a screen where a heron was nicely posing.

RSPB Ham Wall - BitternThe hide was quite busy when I got there with only a couple of seats spare. As people left I moved to a seat with a better view. The girl sat next to me was a regular to the site and amazing at spotting bitterns flying over the reeds, my first proper bittern sighting was thanks to her 🙂 There were plenty of other birds to watch including the incredibly cute Coot chicks.

After a couple of hours I moved onto Alavon hide for a quick look. There were a pair of Marsh Harriers constantly in the sky along with a Great White Egret on what looked like its nest.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and look forward to heading back there in the Autumn to see the Starlings 🙂

My full list of sightings for the day:
Birds: Bittern, Mute Swan, Mallard, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Coot, Great White Egret, Little Grebe, Hobby, Buzzard, Swift, Marsh Harrier, Pied Wagtail
Insects: Stag beetle

Lower Moor Farm – May 2016

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05:30 seemed a horrendous time to be getting up on a Bank Holiday Monday but I had heard a while ago that Otters had been seen at Lower Moor Farm and this was the first chance I’d had to get there early.

Lower Moor Farm Nature Reserve - Mute Swan

It was overcast when I got to the site at 07:30. I popped into the first hide to have a quick scan and was greeted by the site of a pair of Mute Swan’s and their 2 Cygnets, the rest of the lake was quiet. I then headed to the hide at Swallow Pool where the Otters had been seen. After a fair few hours of watching, unfortunately I hadn’t seen any.  I did however see Mallard’s fighting (trying to drown each other might be a better description!), Greylag Geese flying over, Blue tits feeding and a Kingfisher that did a few flybys! The Muncjac Deer took me by surprise as it was just to the right of the hide, about 25ft away. It was spooked by a man that came into the hide though unfortunately so I only managed to take a couple of photographs before it ran off.

On my way back to the car park I again popped into the hide on Cottage Lake. I like that the bird table is quite close so you can clearly see the smaller birds that come to feed.  I wasn’t expecting a squirrel to show up though! but it obviously had learnt the bird food is there and was happily eating what it could. On the way out I walked around the pools to see what smaller creatures were about. I’m still learning which insects are which and still get confused, so have to rely on the Internet when I get home to help me out!

My full list of sightings for the day were:
Birds: Mute Swan, Robin, Chaffinch, Mallard, Reed Bunting, Blackbird, Long-tailed tit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Kingfisher, Moorheen, Dunnock, Great tit, Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Greylag Goose
Mammals: Muntjac Deer, Grey Squirrel
Insects: Common Blue Damselfly, Green Nettle Weevil

Below are a few record shots of some of my sightings…

Sand Martin’s at Fraisthorpe Beach – May 2016

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While at Bempton Cliff’s I was talking to one of the volunteers who told me about the Sand Martin’s at Fraisthorpe beach.

Fraisthorpe Beach

Fraisthorpe beach was about a 30 minute drive from my accommodation. I had been told mornings were best as the sun would be on the banks. I knew the car parking was on a farm but hadn’t realised how many fields you had to drive through to get there (I was starting to wonder if I’d got lost!) but the farm finally came into view. (There is an honesty box for your parking fee and the use of the toilet facilities).

Once I had put on my walking boots (I can’t drive in them!) I headed to the beach and turned left along the shore. I didn’t have to walk far before I saw the Sand Martins. Sand Martin’s are the smallest of the Martin’s and Swallow’s that visit for the summer.  They nest in either sandy coastal cliffs or sandy river banks.

Fraisthorpe Beach - Sand Martin

One thing I did discover is they are quite difficult to photograph! They are so quick, by the time you have one framed you’ve lost it again!! It took me a little time to get my eye into their patterns and speed of flight. They seemed to be moving about in a pack. One minute there were birds around the nest holes, the next they all seemed to be gone. They were flying off to the farm / grassland to look for food.  You really do loose track of time when spending time with these little feathered friends, it was lunch time before I knew it!  I decided to head back to Bempton Cliffs for the afternoon and made the decision to stop off at Fraisthope beach again on my journey home.

RSPB Bempton Cliffs – May 2016

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RSPB Bempton Cliffs - PuffinDay 1 – I arrived at RSPB Bempton Cliffs at midday. Knowing I wouldn’t have long as I needed to book into the campsite, I headed for the first viewing point. I must admit I had never seen a Puffin and that was one of the reasons to head to Bempton Cliffs.  Half an hour after arriving on site I got to see my first pair asleep on the cliff face.

 

Puffin’s are ever-so cute, they are small, about 8 inches tall, so are quite difficult to spot amongst the other birds, the best thing to do is look out for their orange feet! Puffin’s are on the Red List of Conservation Concern which means we really need to look out for these little feathered friends.  They are on selected areas of our coasts for only a few months of the year (March/April – mid August) and this is where they breed.  Puffin’s only have one Puffling a year so each one is of great importance to their numbers.

There are volunteers at the viewing platforms with scopes at Bempton Cliffs so if you don’t have binoculars you will still be able to get a good view if they are a long way off.

RSPB Bempton Cliffs - PuffinAfter booking into the campsite I took a walk along the cliff top from the site. I didn’t get too far as there had been a fairly recent landslide and I wasn’t 100% confident about carrying on! I did however see a Puffin 🙂

 

 


Day 2 – I was up early and got to Bempton Cliffs at about 9am. From the first viewing platform I saw 3 Puffins. I’m sure they were trying to decide who was going to leave the cliff first and I’m sure one was pushed! As you can imagine I stayed watching this story unfold for quite a while.

Further along the cliff while I was watching some Razorbills a Puffin landed and started to collect nesting material according to the volunteer he was coming back to the same spot so I waited for him to reappear again.

RSPB Bempton Cliffs - Bridled GuillemotA nice man pointed out to me that there was a Bridled Guillemot just along the cliff, I thanked him and went to look for it.  I wasn’t entirely sure what a Bridled Guillemot was but he had told me that it had the white marking on its face, like it was wearing glasses. Guillemots all have this marking though most are black, Bridled shows up as white.

After lunch I headed down to the other end of the cliffs, I was looking out for Puffins again, this time I spotted one inside of her burrow; a man next to me said that in the morning he had seen both the male and female in there.  Puffin’s normally dig burrows but on the cliffs they find crevices to breed in.

Sunrise at FlamboroughDay 3 – One great thing about camping is waking in the middle of the night and seeing the sunrise.

One piece of advice from today; if you go to Bempton Cliffs purely for Puffins plan to go on more than one day! I went to see Sand Martin’s in the morning (more about that in my next post) so only spent the afternoon at the cliffs. I didn’t see one Puffin! It did however mean I concentrated more on the other birds 🙂  Although you are looking at the individual birds you also need to look at the cliffs as a whole and the shear number of birds that are there, its quite amazing.

My full list of sightings for the visit:
Puffin, Razorbill, Herring Gull, Gannet, Guillemot and Bridled, Kittiwake, Tree Sparrow, Jackdaw, Fulmar and Kestrel

Potteric Carr Nature Reserve – April 2016

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I didn’t want to drive all the way to East Yorkshire in one go, but wanted to make the most of the time away visiting wildlife.  After a search on Google I discovered Potteric Carr Nature Reserve and made a plan for a route that passed by Doncaster.

Potteric Carr was so easy to find, so easy in fact I had to double check I hadn’t got lost! One of the lovely volunteers gave me an overview of what had been seen recently and I was off on my way around the site.

One of the first birds I encountered was a Moorhen chick trying to follow its parent across a stream.  They soon disappeared into the vegetation though.

I made my way to the Kingfisher Tearooms for a spot of lunch. I can highly recommend the bacon sandwiches and Cream Tea’s 🙂

Opposite the Tearooms is Willow Pool Hide. I thought I’d pop in for a quick look and ended up staying nearly 2 hours; there were adorable Canada Goose goslings with their parents and a rather cute brown rat feeding on the food put out for the birds!

I finally managed to drag myself away and headed towards the Duchess Hide. Half way there it decided to rain which meant a pit stop under a bridge to get the wet weather clothes out! The weather cleared by the time I got to the hide and as the rain clouds moved away they gave a lovely backdrop to Huxter Well Marsh. A Marsh Harrier was making regular flights across the marsh and there were Blackcaps and Wrens in the vegetation just in front of the hide. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something to my right, a Roe Deer had walked out of the bushes. It stood temporarily and then ran across the front of the hide.

It was getting late and I was conscious that the car park was going to be locked at 5pm (if you would like to stay later than 5pm, ask at the front desk when you arrive) and I had another hour drive to my hotel for the night!

I decided to take the Dragonfly Trail back, walking along Mother Drain and although I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular I saw something move on the ground. It took me a while to figure out where it had gone, but a small movement drew me to this little chap. I’m not 100% sure, but I thinks it’s a Field Vole, a lovely end to a very nice day exploring 🙂

My full list of sightings for the day:
Birds: Black-headed Gull, Blackcap, Canada Goose, Carrion crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Gadwall, Great crested grebe, Grey heron, Mallard, Moorhen, Pheasant, Reed bunting, Robin, Swallow
Mammals: Brown Rat, Field Vole, Roe deer

30 Days Wild 2016 – Part 4: Days 21-30

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The last 10 days of 30 Days Wild…

Day 21: Today I failed to do anything wild. I do however have a very good excuse – I had to take the kitten to a Blue Cross centre. No one claimed him locally. He has settled in well and is now named ‘Bilbo’ as he must have had a great adventure to get to the garage (that is unless someone dumped him which is sadly more than likely the case).

Day 22: Trying to identify the garden birds by their song. I have a lot to learn! Jamie (@proudfoot) kindly suggested a couple of phone apps that can help you identify bird song – BirdUp for Android or Warblr for iPhone.  I’ve had a bit of a play with BirdUp but need to use it a bit more. I found sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Will have to try Warblr next 🙂

Day 23: I often keep a note of wildlife that I see, I have a notebook I carry around with me and log what I see via iRecord. I have also been recording our garden nesting birds via the BTO Nest Box Challenge. Recording sightings is a great way to help the wildlife around us, it’s also so simple to do with apps on our phones.

Day 24: June 20th – 26th was National Insect Week so I decided to explore the garden. My knowledge of insects is limited but reading the website has increased my interest, some of them are quite cute up close! I have a macro lens I attach to my phone so I will have to go exploring more often 🙂

Day 25: We visited a garden centre to choose a new tree for the garden. We have decided on a Red Berried Cotoneaster.

Day 26: Watched the hedgehogs in the garden. We have a small one that comes out to feed slightly earlier than the larger ones, his tactic works well – he gets all the best food 🙂

Day 27: Watched the lovely orange sunset tonight.

Day 28: On the way home from work, I noticed a green woodpecker feeding its young. I pulled over so I could get out and watch for a while.  I always have binoculars in my bag so I could stay a good distance away so not to disturb them.  There was two young and one adult.

Day 29: Driving home from work, I noticed that someone had been fly-tipping again on the country road I use.  In one of the lay-by’s they had dumped bricks, a bath, a bike and some timber.  I have reported it using the Keep Britain Tidy app.  I don’t understand why they just didn’t take it to the recycling centre, its only 4 miles from where they dumped it!

Day 30: I hid hazelnuts in the local park for the squirrels.  Sometimes if they are feeling brave, they come and collect them while I’m still there but mostly they explore when there is no-one around.

I find 30 Days Wild enjoyable and I love reading what other people are doing.  What I have learnt over the last couple of years of taking part is there will always be some difficult days, either because other things crop up or what you plan just doesn’t turn out the way you hoped. June is always a busy month for me at work but I feel this year, I have accomplished more wild things than last. Next year I’m sure it will be wilder again : ) I can’t commit to #365DaysWild like some, but plan to #StayWild as much as I can.