Yesterday a storm sent hail hurtling onto our garden gazebo, almost bringing it down. The kids trampoline looked like a ball pool, a very icy one!
I had managed to get out on Wednesday, between the showers, and went up Cothelsone Hill on the beautiful Quantocks. I was rewarded with a view of a beautiful male Redstart in a bush on the open hilltops. Only the 4th time I'd ever seen this gorgeous Summer visiter!
This morning was quite bright and much more promising. My family and I had breakfast then headed to the Mendip Hills near Winscombe.
We walked through woodland, where we saw and heard Nuthatches, to the hilltops of Cross Plain, where Cows and their Calves roamed freely, along with Sheep and Horses!
There wasn't a great number of birds, the most common and numerous easily being the Meadow Pipits, an upland speciality! A few Buzzards soared overhead, there were a couple of Kestrels, a noisy Wren and some Crows and Magpies dotted about.
We walked right along the hill and up on to Wavering Down. On the way we saw Stonechats and a Whitethroat, as well as a solitary Song Thrush.
Around the scrubby areas of Heather and Gorse were some delightful little Butterflies, Including Skippers, Common Blue and Brown Argus. Further up on open tops were Small Tortoishell Butterflies and Wall Brown Butterflies.
In this area I encountered another upland speciality. The Raven! It was the call overhead I heard first, a distinctive low deep 'croak' that is nothing like the Caw of the very similar but smaller Carrion Crow. 2 Ravens were having a half hearted attempt at bothering a couple of passing Buzzards. They soon tired of this and instead flew lower and used the thermals alonside the Northern edge of the hill to twist and tumble and chase each other, seemingly simply for the fun of it! They are masters of the sky! The most I saw at any one time was 4, and this area of the Mendip Hills is one of the best areas to see them in Somerset, although they occur all over, increasingly on lower land too!
The views from Wavering Down are stunning! 360 degree panoramas taking in landmarks such as Cheddar Reservoir, Glastonbury Tor, Crook Peak, Brent Knoll, The Quantock Hills and Exmoor and the Bristol Channel and Wales!
A fabulous walk in great weather! The joyous Ravens being the highlight! :-)
^Above ^ - Male Redstart at Cothelstone Hill
^Above^ - Ravens enjoying the sky!
^Above^ - Song Thrush
^Above^ - Female Stonechat
^Above^ - Wren making a getaway!
^Above^ - Meadow Pipits
^Above^ - 2 of the Calves, being hassled by flies, poor things!
^Above^ - Curious Sheep!
^Above^ - Common Blue Butterfly
^Above^ - Brown Argus Butterfly
^Above^ - Skipper Butterfly
^Above^ - Treble Bar Moth!
^Above^ - Heather and Gorse
^Above^ - The view to Brent Knoll
^Above^ - Looking towards Crook Peak and the Bristol Channel
^Above^ - Stone Wall at Wavering Down