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We made a very vague plan to 'go camping' in the New Forest this weekend, knowing full well it was going to be very, very busy!
We didn't manage to set off early either so it was after lunchtime that we arrived at Beaulieu Road train station. We'd visited here last year and seen very little but given Chaz's crossbill tip I thought we'd give it another go. No crossbills in the pines, but lots of chaffinches, greenfinch and a mistle thrush instead. We then took a walk over the heath...
We didn't manage to set off early either so it was after lunchtime that we arrived at Beaulieu Road train station. We'd visited here last year and seen very little but given Chaz's crossbill tip I thought we'd give it another go. No crossbills in the pines, but lots of chaffinches, greenfinch and a mistle thrush instead. We then took a walk over the heath...
Posted in Scotland
Saturday was the day of the Abernethy tour, so we got up early and made the short drive, nearly running over two daft red squirrels on the way in (they were playing chicken in the road, and nearly everyone said the same thing when they arrived at the car park!) Both had beautifully blonde ears and tails! The tour of the reserve was really interesting, but not half as productive for birds as I'd hoped. That said, we did hear a crested tit, see crossbills in flight, and I managed to tick Tree Pipits...
Posted in Scotland
The following day we embarked on stage two of the journey to Aviemore (where we'd opted to base ourselves for the Scottish part of the journey). We stopped for lunch in Dalwhinnie, and as we left the car park I saw two or three largeish birds in the opposite field. We stopped, and got the bins out and identified them as golden plovers, which was a first for me. And then a lovely male in summper plumage put his head up, rendering the previous id efforts almost pointless!
We made it...
We made it...
Being 'Friends' of Abernethy Reserve, we were invited to this years open day for a guided tour of the reserve. For the uninitiated, Abernethy is right up in the Cairngorms which is a long way from Bristol, so we thought we'd better make a week of it!
We planned to have a short break in the Lake District before continuing our journey north, and booked to stay in Keswick. Arriving in Windermere early on Monday our first bird was a greenfinch which was hiding in a tree but making enough...
We planned to have a short break in the Lake District before continuing our journey north, and booked to stay in Keswick. Arriving in Windermere early on Monday our first bird was a greenfinch which was hiding in a tree but making enough...
...well, very briefly it did.
I paid my first ever visit to Cotswold Water Park yesterday; its name is a bit of a misnomer. Its actually a collection of more than 100 flooded gravel pits, rather than what I would imagine a Water Park to be; not a flume in sight.
My 'Where To Watch Birds' book gave its usual very vague directions, and said to head for lake 36 as a good place to start*. Not very easy without a map, so after a little to-ing and fro-ing we eventually settled...
I paid my first ever visit to Cotswold Water Park yesterday; its name is a bit of a misnomer. Its actually a collection of more than 100 flooded gravel pits, rather than what I would imagine a Water Park to be; not a flume in sight.
My 'Where To Watch Birds' book gave its usual very vague directions, and said to head for lake 36 as a good place to start*. Not very easy without a map, so after a little to-ing and fro-ing we eventually settled...
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