Slimbridge & Shropshire

 Last week were headed south to spend a couple nights in the campervan in Somerset. On the way back up we stopped in Gloucestershire at a campsite near WWT Slimbridge. Slimbridge is brilliant for bird watching and that was instantly clear as in the first hide we went to there were views of one of the UK's best birds - the avocet. I've seen avocets before at RSPB Burton Mere but it was great to see them again. Avocets are one of britians most interesting looking birds (their upturned beak helping with feeding) and they are the bird on the RSPB's official logo. They're probably my favourite wader.

Here is a nice one of an oystercatcher:

While at Slimbridge there was one bird I was desperate to see in particular - the UK's tallest bird: the common crane. We did see two of them from the next hide but they were super far away (probably just under a mile away). The camera does have a brillaint lens but the photos still weren't great:

We stopped for lunch and then walked around to the other side of the reserve towards a tower hide that overlooks the estuary. On the way, we stopped at a hide looking onto a reed bed where several reed warblers kept giving us fleeting glimpses. I've never phtographed one before, so we waited a couple of minutes until I got lucky and managed to get a couple of brilliant photos. 

From the tower hide we saw barnacale geese, greylag geese and even more cranes. They were still a really long way away though:

We could spot two more cranes much closer to another hide though, so I decided to walk round there. On the way there I saw these avocet chicks which are super cool:

I got to the other hide and I was right - the cranes were much closer and I finally got the photos I was after. Here are my best shots of the UK's tallest bird:

Here's a photo of a reed warbler I took while in the same hide:

That was everything we saw at Slimbridge, but here are some more photos from a river near the campsite. They include mandarin ducklings, a damslefly and a cignet. 

 The next stop on the way home was Shropshire. Here are some photos I took while out on a walk.

One of the best parts of my walk was how quiet it was - I didn't see another person the whole time. I found a spot with a brillaint view but also noticed a bird I hadn't seen in a good while - the linnet. Not just one either, there were several hopping about the bushes in front of me. This allowed me to take some brillaint pictures, probably some of the best I have taken of a passerine before. Here are some ones of a female linnet:

And here are some brilliant shots of a male linnet:

The next day we stopped off at the national trust site carding mill valley. I was hoping to spot a ring ouzel, which I did get a glimpse of, but didn't manage to get a photo. I also heard quite a few whinchats but didn't get a picture. My best picture I took there was probably this one of a wild pony with the shropshire hill in the background. 

Here are a couple photos of a wren and a chaffinch.

That's all for today's post. Some more great photos and sightings to add to the year. Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading.