So, as promised (threatened) Mrs PB and myself went to Dyrham Park on Saturday, a National Trust property, near Bath. The house wasn't open, but we expected that, and as it has acres of rolling grounds and is a deer park too, no house didn't perturb us. The weather was set to be ok, fairly high chance of a shower in the morning, but clearing later.
View from the highest point of the Park, the Severn Bridge into Welsh Wales,
Given the size of the estate it was considerably lacking (we thought) in wildlife, and for me to have only taken 30 pictures sums up the dearth.... I would have taken 31 but a green woodpecker yaffled off before I could get the camera up lol.
The only other birds were a few corvids and a good few of these little chaps, but I'm not sure what they are
Despite the lack of wildlife, and the massive shower we got caught in, it was a lovely place for a walk, and when the sun was out the views towards Wales were spectacular.
Then, on to today. After seeing Nige's pics of the Kingie he saw, I decided to head back to the "old" river to see what was about. (I also had to collect Mrs PB's prescription and somehow she's remained dispensing from the original doctors surgery (mutter mumble grumble don'tgetmestarted grrrr)
First up, probably the shaggiest heron I've seen
Followed swiftly by one of two Little Egrets that were plying their trade
I happened to meet my Dad walking their dog so had a natter with him, and as we were talking a bit of movement on the far bank caught my eye... some sort of thrush I think
Hard to believe that a few weeks ago it would have been under a foot or more of water!
As I wandered (not lonely as a cloud, there were a fair few people about) I spotted a juvenile Moorhen midstream
Along the river are several parts that have been cut away to provide a path to the bank, and down one of these paths a young robin was very inquisitive (pic uncropped, he was that close!)
Across the river were several Willowchaffblers (I'm going for willow warblers, due to colouring and pale-ish legs)
And you wouldn't believe the amount of time I had to wait to get the bird peering through the leaves...
An auburn blackbird flew across the river a perched atop a tree... It looked much more orangey with the sun shining directly on to it
Good news, there are still nine cygnets with Mum and Dad both in attendance too.... it's quite a strange noise, 11 swans dabbling like that!
I walked back along the river, and caught one of the Egrets having a snack
And then rinsing his mouth out!
There were a couple of Crows feeding from the river....
And I noticed a photobomber extraordinaire as I clicked.... one of my favourites, a grey wagtail
And then as I headed back to the car, a strange bug/critter sort of flew (or maybe jumped, but I only saw the landing part) and landed a few feet away....so any idea's for an ID would be gratefully received :o)
See Linda.....I can do a post with less than 50 pictures lol
Stay safe All
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Tony
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wherryman/
Wonderful set of species and photos PB and as you say you saw plenty despite the house not open to visitors. Agree with your Willow Warbler looking at legs, colouring and longer supercilium and wondering if the first one is a Spotted Flycatcher but that is purely a wilder guess and you'll have to rely on more expert IDs. Your Grey Wagtail is a male as it has signs of a black bib. Cygnets look as if they are slurping up green soup LOL
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Regards, Hazel
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Nige Flickr
Lot to learn
No wonder your Caddisfly looked odd & bulky PB ... was being naughty with another!! Only just realised why it had two heads! Lol Here's a good ID guide if you've got an hour to spare ... www.naturespot.org.uk/.../19486 but gonna be difficult to work out your species owing to the 'unusual pose'
Your right PB NT Ickworth Park does have a pond and a bit of a river, The following illustrate the current reality so don't always go by a web site page. So I only took my phone.
The pond/lake with Water Lillys but no flowers looking across to the walled garden.
Similar view with the estate church and the buildings rotunda under scaffolding for roof repairs.
This is the River Linnet running through the estate, not the raging torrent it is in...... well I'm not sure as never seen it more than 3/4cms deep. Sadly never seen a dipper along here in Suffolk
Same spot looking the other direction of green trickle
There were a few Ruddy Darters about and a very distant Kestrel. As well as the Linnet we also have a River Lark about 5 mls away. It has a few great walks with mixed farming about the estate and great coffee.
Speaking of farming these have just been weaned from their mothers and move into a separate field..........oh where's the mint sauce