West Country Odyssey

 At the end of June we treated ourselves to a trip down to the West Country (Somerset, Dorset, Devon, etc.) staying in a holiday home rather than taking our motorhome.

It was a lovely holiday home set in the Somerset countryside not far from the town of Chard:

Our Holiday Home near Chard

Holiday Home Side Garden

Entrance to Holiday Home

Country Road to Forton and Chard

It was very posh and even had it's own balcony, where we could sit and enjoy the views over the owner's garden and the goat pen. Yes they did have goat's, who enjoyed nothing better than a bit of grazing followed by a relax in the sunshine:

Holiday Home Garden

View from our balcony

Grazing Goats

Lazing Goats

The driveway from the holiday home led on to Forton Nursery Road, which was a very quiet country road and ideal for a stroll. There were plenty of wildflowers along the edge of the road and some pleasant views across the fields and in the woods:

Forton Nursery Road

Wildflowers by the Roadside

Foxgloves and Red Campion

More Wildflowers

Robin in a Woodpile at the side of the road

The birds we saw in the gardens and on the out-buildings of the holiday home were pretty good as well:

Goldfinch on Garage Roof

Goldfinch

Robin in the Bush

Blackbird on Garage Roof

Blackbird on Statue

Great Tit in the Garden

Great Tit

Greater-spotted Woodpecker behind Statue

Greater-spotted Woodpecker

Enough about our holiday! The main reason for staying here was to enjoy some trips out to the wonderful countryside (and towns) in the area. One of the first trips we took was to meet up with my niece Fiona and her family at 'The Newt' - not a pub but a country park in Somerset. Here are some of the photos from this trip:

Fiona and Moira at The Newt

A pond (perhaps full of newts)

Perran and Harry walking the plank

A Moorhen Chick at The Newt

For those of you who like cute wader chicks, here is a video of that young Moorhen:

We continued our walk passed some open countryside and up to a grassland area, where there were some deer:

View across the fields

Grassland at The Newt

Some Fallow Deer

A Fallow Deer

We then crossed over a winding, tree-top walkway (even Fiona, who doesn't like heights):

The Long and Winding Bridge

Moira and others on the bridge

Harry enjoying the view

Fallow Deer in the Woods (taken from bridge)

We carried on to another park of the park that had some interesting buildings in it, including a recently constructed replica of a Roman Villa and an old doocot (that's a dovecote in English):

Replica Roman Villa

Path to Old Doocot

View from top of Doocot

Scaredy Cats who didn't climb the Doocot

Next up on our walk was a lovely view of the rolling Somerset countryside (which Harry managed to photo-bomb:

Lovely view of Somerset

It was at this point I also noticed a Buzzard soaring in the sky, so I tried my best to video it:

Near here I also spotted a Cardinal Beetle (I think) and a pair of Canada Geese complete with half a dozen goslings:

Cardinal Beetle

Canada Geese with Goslings

Around the next bend danger lurked, in the form of a Wyvern's Cave (watch out little goslings!):

Wyvern's Cave

Adult Wyvern inside the cave

Baby Wyvern

We quickly carried on through the park until we reached a safer, more peaceful area with formal gardens:

Peter Pan Statue in Garden Area

Blue Tit in Garden Area

In the formal gardens there was also this incredible fish tank, which allowed the fish to swim above the normal surface level of the pond.

Elevated Fish Tank

Side View of Fish Tank

It was like the fish were flying! this video might show the effect a bit better:

Apart from enjoying a nice drop of ginger beer that basically sums up our trip to The Newt. A great time was had by all and we would gladly go back (especially if Fiona pays us in again).

Our next outing was a bit more local, we visited Chard Reservoir just a few minutes down the road from the holiday home. Firstly we went to the bird hide that overlooks the reservoir:

Bird Hide at Chard Reservoir

View from bird hide

Unfortunately there was very few birds to see from the hide, mainly Herring Gulls, so we started to walk along the shore of the reservoir and saw a few more birds:

Walk along the shoreline at Chard Reservoir

Grey Heron having a nap

Gull flypast

Little Egret amongst the Gulls

Little Egret Fishing

Little Egret and Crow

One thing Chard Reservoir does have in abundance is beautiful flowers, in fact there are several wildflower meadows to enjoy:

Wildflower Meadow

Buttercup Meadow

Orchid Meadow

Common Spotted Orchid

Very pretty! We carried on through the woods along the side of the reservoir:

Path through the woods at Chard Reservoir

It was a very hot and sunny day so we were glad of the shade the wooded area provided. We came across a bird feeding station in the woods, but there were no birds to be seen, only a tree rat (sorry Grey Squirrel) helping itself to the peanuts:

Grey Squirrel at Chard Reservoir

Grey Squirrel Close-up

It didn't seem bothered that we were there, it wasn't intending moving far from the peanut feeder. We carried on through the wooded area until we reached a point where we could view the reservoir:

Chard Reservoir View

Chard Reservoir

It was at this point I noticed a Great-crested Grebe out on the reservoir, it was quite far away but I managed to get a photo and video of it:

Great-crested Grebe on Chard Reservoir

Not the best video I ever took, but lets you see the Grebe in preening action. That was us about finished at Chard Reservoir, we headed back through the woods and the wildflower meadows to the car park then back to the holiday home. Last photo of the day was a stunning sunset from our balcony:

Sunset at Holiday Home

The next day was designated as a clothes shopping day (sigh!) which had to mean Clark's Village Shopping Outlet in Street, Somerset. I won't bore you with the details but we spent plenty of money and bought some clothes (I even got some nice things). We did stop for some brunch on the way there; we went to a little cafe in Somerton, a town I know well as my sister and her family lived there for many years. It's a pleasant town to visit, here are some photos to prove it:

The White Hart in Somerton

Market Cross, Somerton (aka Buttercross)

St Michael & All Angels' Church

West Street Methodist Church

Just a few photos, but Somerton is well worth a visit.

Our next trip out was a little further afield as we headed south to Lyme Regis in Dorset. First stop was for a cup of coffee and something sweet, then we headed off to the Cobb.

At a Lyme Regis Cafe trying to avoid the gulls

The Cobb at Lyme Regis

Me at Lyme Regis Harbour

Lyme Regis Harbour

Moira looking out to Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay from the harbour

We have been to Lyme Regis several times in the past and always enjoy visiting it. After a walk along the top of the Cobb we headed along the waterfront until we reached the (relatively) new esplanade and sea defences at Church Cliff Beach. 

New Sea Wall and Esplanade

New Lookout Tower at Church Cliff Beach

From here you get some good views of Lyme Bay:

Lyme Bay View

Lyme Bay, looking back towards Lyme Regis

You can now walk from here to Charmouth on an even newer esplanade, but we only strolled along part of the way, which took us past a sculpture of Mary Anning and her dug.

Mary Anning Sculpture (and her dug)

New Esplanade to Charmouth

View of The Jurassic Coast 

View towards Charmouth

In case you don't know Mary Anning was a fossil hunter back in the early 1800s and many of her discoveries were made in the cliffs and beaches around Lyme Bay. Her most famous discovery was the fossil of a Plesiosaur, the first ever found, and many of her other finds from the Jurassic period led to the area being known as the Jurassic Coast. 

She was also the inspiration for the rhyme "She sells sea shells on the sea shore". Many of her finds can be seen in Lyme Regis Museum, well worth a visit.

After a spot of lunch in The Lyme Bay Bar we had a wander through the town, ending up in the Langmoor and Lister Gardens:

Langmoor and Lister Gardens

Pretty Flowers and Lyme Bay

View of The Cobb from the Gardens

Poor attempt at a Selfie

Rusty reading his book (get wired in my friend)

From the gardens we headed downhill to the harbour area, grabbed a couple of ice creams, avoided the residents of 'Gull Alley" and headed to the car park. What a lovely day we had in Lyme Regis.

The next day was a chillin' day at the holiday home. I did however go for a short walk (a couple of miles or so) along a nearby lane called 'The Drift'. It is a former drove road where the farmers would walk their farm animals to the nearest livestock markets for sale. It isn't used for that purpose anymore, but there are still a few farms and small-holdings along the lane:

Heading along The Drift

Views across the fields

There were plenty of birds chirping away amongst the trees and hedgerows, but they were very difficult to spot and almost impossible to photograph. I did get a brace of Pheasants on the track side:

Can you spot the Pheasants?

There they are!

You could argue that Pheasants don't count as wildlife as they are not native to to Britain. The next birds I saw were definitely not native to Britain and were in a field, so not wildlife:

Emus in a field

Emu, not something you see every day

Coming to check me out!

Glad they were in the field, a big bird you don't want to argue with.

A little further along I passed one of the small-holdings on The Drift, this one needed a bit of work done, especially to the garage:

Garage (just) on The Drift

Don't think I would park my car in it.

At was about this point I noticed a bird dotting about under the cover of a large tree. I tried my best to get a good view of it and even took this photograph:

Possibly a Spotted Flycatcher

It was hard to get a good view of it because it always seemed to be in the shadows or silhouetted against the bright sun. I thought it looked like a Spotted Flycatcher, see what you think?

 I carried on along the track until I reached a small farm:

Keep on drifting!

Small farm near end of track

I could hear the main road at the end of the track and decided it was a good time to turn around and head back the way. After a short while I noticed this Owl on a post at the side of the track:

Owl on post

As I got closer I realised that it was a metal owl and wasn't considered as wildlife. It was on the fence of this pretty little cottage:

Pretty Little Cottage on The Drift

I continue on my homeward journey along the track until I reached the place where the Emu were. This time I was faced with some other farm creatures:

Return Journey along The Drift

Free-range Goats

Whether the goats were free-range or escapees I don't know, but I quietly sidled past them whilst they continue to munch on nettles. I did get a video of them for some strange reason?

 The rest of my journey back to the holiday home was pretty uneventful, until I spotted this Buzzard circling above the fields near to where we were staying:

Buzzard Circling

Buzzard above the holiday home

You guessed it! I caught it on video as well.

Safely back at the holiday home I relaxed with a beer and a visit from a friendly long-horned beetle (as you do):

Long-horned Beetle (Small Poplar Borer; I think)

So that's basically it for the first part of our West Country Odyssey, the second part will be posted in a few weeks time. I can promise you plenty of wildlife, a couple trips to the seaside and even a ride on some vintage transport, in the meantime take care of yourselves.

Cheers

Teddy Edward

Spring Round-up 2024

 As the title suggests this is a round-up of what's been happening in our area and places we visited over the Spring months. It doesn't repeat things I have already covered in earlier blogs this year and concentrates mainly on the wildlife we encountered during April and May.

Let's start with our local area and in particular our garden. Early on in April the garden look much like it did in Winter, with only a few deciduous trees and bushes starting to bud:

The Garden in Early April

 However the signs of Spring were starting to appear. Birds were exploring the garden and the surrounding scrubland looking for potential nest sites:

Magpie in the garden

Wren on the Fence Post

There were new lambs in the fields beyond the scrubland and the spring flowers were appearing in the garden:

Spring Daffodils

White Daffodils

Ewes and Lambs in Field

If you like watching Spring lambs here is a little video for you taken over our garden fence:

Very cute!

In early April Blue Tits started to show interest in our bird box:

As we moved through April the birds seemed to be getting very excited; this little Wren was dancing about on the garden fence:

Excited Wren on Fence

This Magpie was busily searching through the leaf litter looking for grubs to eat:

A pair of Magpies decided to nest in one of the Cherry Trees near to our back garden, but it was so high up and well camouflaged by branches, so I didn't get any photos if them.

By the end of April the garden was starting to look a bit more Spring-like as leaves were appearing on the shrubs and trees:

Spring in our Garden

Garden is Springing into life

Several Blue Tits seemed to be spending more time in our garden, either on the feeders and at the bird box:

Blue Tit on Feeder

At one point we had no less than three Blue Tits visiting the bird box at the same time:

We thought we were on a winner when we saw two of these Blue Tits collecting nesting material for lining the bird box:

However nesting did not happen; one Blue Tit took up residence in the box and he/she chased all others away. We called it Nibbler as they spent all their time nibbling the edges of the entrance hole and was very aggressive if another Blue Tit showed any interest in the nest box.

One unexpected thing that did happen in my garden was that a Sparrowhawk landed on our fence post, then flew off leaving a dead Starling behind. I didn't get a photo of the Sparrowhawk so I decided to set up my trail camera on a tree looking towards the Starling carcass. That way if the Sparrowhawk returned for it's dinner I would catch it on video.

Nothing happened for the rest of that day so I left the camera out all night; this is what I managed to capture:

No Sparrowhawk, only a Blue Tit in the morning.......................... but what about the Badger in the scrubland on the other side of the fence,  just after one o'clock in the morning! Brilliant!!!

At the start of May I travelled down to East Ayrshire to carry out my annual Upland Breeding Bird Survey for the BTO. I camped at Loch Doon Caravan Park over night and carried out the survey in the hills to the North East of Loch Doon the next morning.

Here are some of the views from the caravan park area:

Loch Doon View

The Main Dam at Loch Doon

Here is just some of the wildlife I saw in the area near the caravan park, starting with a Formula 1 Beetle:

It really was that fast, I didn't speed up the video. I think it might be a type of Click Beetle, it was certainly an impressive metallic copper colour, and it was in a hurry.

There was also a striking Male Wheatear perching on a post in the caravan park:

Sorry about the wobbly camera, I had my old camcorder with me and it's image stabiliser isn't as good as my new camera (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

Early the next morning I got up, had some breakfast then headed to the other side of the loch to carry out my survey.

East Dam at Loch Doon

My survey starts at this East Dam then heads up the nearby hillside before returning to the shores of the loch:

Loch Doon from Survey mid-point

The Southern Uplands

I didn't take many photos during the survey as I am pretty busy recording what I hear and see on the hillside, but here are a few:

Tiny Anemone (I think)

Yellow Bog Plant?

Hairy Caterpillar

After the survey I managed to capture this little Whinchat on video:

Not the best of videos I'm afraid, but a good little upland bird to see.

Meanwhile back in our garden Spring was in full song; in particular this Song Thrush who sang from the crack of dawn through to late in the evening (even if it was dark):

Song Thrush singing in the morning

Song Thrush singing in the evening

If you don't know what a Song Thrush song is like then listen in:

It is quite repetitive, but it does interject with some other tunes occasionally. It not a bad song, but after about 16 hours of it you have had enough. It does this to compete with other Song Thrushes for territory and to attract the females. At one point it was having a sing-off with a Chaffinch, which didn't make sense. 

Other birds visiting the garden included some Dunnocks, Magpies which were nesting in the Cherry Tree and some sleepy Greylag Geese in the nearby field:

Dunnock on the Fence

Magpie on the Grass

Sleepy Geese in the Field

Later on in May we headed North in the motorhome to spend a few days in Banchory on the banks of the River Dee. The weather was great the first couple of days we were there, but showery with occasional heavy rain the other days.

Here are some photos from the nicer days:

River Dee near Banchory

River Dee

 

There was a great riverside walk at the rear of the caravan park, where we saw this Heron on the opposite bank:

Heron on banks of River Dee

However the highlight was when we went down to the river's edge and were visited by this beautiful Grey Wagtail:

Pebble Beach on River Dee

Grey Wagtail Singing

Grey Wagtail Posing

It is not unusual to see Grey Wagtails on Scottish rivers, but they usually are on stones in the middle of the river and you see mostly grey with only a glimpse of the bright yellow underside. This one perched on a branch next to us and then proceeded to sing!

Marvellous! it almost looks tropical, a memory to savour. The weather towards the end of the week turned tropical as well, during monsoon season. We left a day early before the thunderstorms took hold and headed home.

Back home in late May the garden was looking very lush and colourful:

Verdant Scrubland

Purple Flowery Shrub

Pink Flowery Shrub

Well that's it for my Spring Round-up, hope you enjoyed it.

Take Care

Teddy Edward