Tag Archives: Whelford Pools

30 Days Wild 2018 – Day 13

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This evening on the way home from work I spent about an hour at Wildlife Trusts Whelford Pools.  This is the first time I have visited this year.  I only went to the first hide but it was nice to see the regular birds there: 2 swans and a cygnet, 4 black headed gulls, common tern, 4 great crested grebe & 3 young, 3 tufted ducks, a woodpigeon, a herring gull, 24 cormorants, a coot, a lesser black backed gull and a magpie.  There were also a few smaller birds that flitted in front of the hide although I didn’t get a good enough look at them to enable identification.

The most interesting event of the evening was watching a lesser black backed gull (I think, I’m not great at gull identification!) catching what I think was a crayfish!  It will be nice to visit again soon and go on to the second hide; I’m yet to see a kingfisher this year and I was lucky enough to see one there last year 🙂

 

30 Days Wild 2017 – Days 6 – 10

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Day 6 – Birdwatching at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Whelford Pools. I visit Whelford Pools every now and then; I knew a Swan had nested and I wanted to go back as see how they had got on. I didn’t manage to get a photograph as they were across the other side of the lake but as far as I can tell it looks as though they have 5 Cygnets. There were quite a few birds with young, including Cormorants, Coots and Great Crested Grebes 🙂

My sightings were: 4 Coot, pair of Mute Swans with 5 cygnets, 25 Cormorants, 2 Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron, 5 Great Crested Grebe and 4 chicks, Magpie, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Robin, 3 Carrion Crows, 7 Black-headed Gulls, Egyptian Goose, Swallows

Day 7 – Exploring Bampton Cemetery for the nature within. As soon as I walked into the Cemetery I saw a Song Thrush sitting on one of the grave stones so I sat for a while letting the birds get used to me being there. The Song Thrush had moved to the other end of the site but slowly moved closer hopping from stone to stone using them as a vantage point looking down in search of food. The Robins were doing the same, hopping around the stones. Also present were Blackbirds, Goldfinch and Woodpigeon. I took a closer look around me and found Daisy’s and Herb robert growing in the grassed areas. I was pleased to spot a Ladybird larve, the first time I had actually seen any. 

Day 8 – Today Plantlife launched their Great British Wildflower Hunt. I really like the spotter sheets you can download from their website to identify the plants, they are super helpful. I took a walk down the track that runs alongside my patch, there are crops and trees on one side and a hedgerow on the other. I was surprised at the amount of Wildflowers I found – 9 in total (Cow Parsley, Oxeye Daisy, Common Poppy, Dandelion, Shepherd’s Purse, Creeping buttercup, Bramble, White Clover and Meadow buttercup). There was a mix of Country and Town species and some not listed on the spotter sheets. I’ve loaded my findings to the Plantlife website for a Country search – a score of 5. I really liked learning what was next to my patch, I need to do a proper survey on other areas of it now 🙂

Day 9 – I was watching the garden birds wondering what to do for 30 Days Wild when unusual movement in the flower bed caught my eye. I had my binoculars to hand and quickly realised it was a mouse. I ran off to grab my camera hoping that it would come back. Thankfully it did. It’s a Wood Mouse and was eating the grain that the birds drop on the floor from the feeders 🙂

Day 10 – I went out specifically looking for Dippers on By Brook; I didn’t find any this time but I did come across a very cute family of Mute Swans and a female Mallard with her 5 ducklings 🙂 Along my route I also saw Carrion Crows, Swallows, Magpie, Woodpigeon and a heard of Cows! Next time I am going to walk south along the brook in the hope I can find the Dippers. 

30 Days Wild 2016 – Part 3: Days 11-20

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Days 11-20 of 30 Days Wild…

Day 11: It rained so I visited Whelford Pools Nature Reserve to sit in the hides & watch the birds. I saw Great Created Grebe, Common Turn, Mallard, Coot, Cormorant, Black Headed Gulls, Blue Tit and Mute Swan.

Day 12: Day out at Avalon Marshes. At RSPB Ham Wall I saw – 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 and at RSPB Greylake – Redshank, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Coot and Roe Deer – blog posts: RSPB Ham Wall and RSPB Greylake coming soon.

Day 13: Cleaned the bird feeders 🙂

Day 14: Okay so today wasn’t completely wild but half wild! We found a stray kitten in the garage. After about an hour, I managed to convince him I was friendly and he came over for a cuddle. We asked around locally but no one had lost him. We fed him and gave him a pet carrier with a blanket so he was comfortable in the garage until we could take him to the Blue Cross.

Day 15: Nature breaking through – I like how nature works its way through the obstacles humans put in it way 🙂

Day 16: Wildlife spotting on the way to work – Yellow Hammer, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Buzzard, Rabbit, Red-legged Partridge, Sparrow, Magpie, Starling, Crow, Jackdaw, Blackbird and Pheasant.

Day 17: Logging ladybird sightings

Day 18: Feathers from my recent wanderings – I tend to pick up feathers when I’m out and about especially interesting looking ones. Some of the ones I photographed today were from a Red Kite 🙂

Day 19: Watched Springwatch – catching up on the shows I missed

Day 20: Lovely sunny evening after a very wet morning #summersolstice