Cloudy, dark, wet and windy....anyone would think it was Winter!!
Ironically, the day Storm Doris arrived was actually bright and sunny, but the winds were ferocious!
The fences at the bottom of my garden had stubbornly been braving the elements for 25 years, but Doris quickly put pay to that!
At nearby RSPB Greylake most of the birds sheltered behind the reeds. A brave Snipe did venture out briefly, but was soon hidden again! The hide was shaking like a train on a track! It's a good job it was well built!
On another day, at Puxton near Weston Super Mare, I saw a huge Gull roost building up in a wet muddy field. There were hundreds of birds, Mainly Lesser Black Back Gulls and Black Headed Gulls, but with a few Common and Herring Gulls too. I quickly scanned the flock for a possible rare Gull amongst them, but nothing was obvious, although I couldn't see every bird!
There had been a very rare Gull at Chew Valley Lake, a Ring Billed Gull, plus a scarce one, a Mediterranean Gull, in the last week, but when I popped in they weren't there. Typical.
In Twitcher parlance, this is known as 'Dipping'.
I'm an expert 'Dipper'.
To console myself I photographed some of the woodland birds at RSPB Swell Wood, and yesterday I spent my break on the rocks at Brean Down Cove, again photographing the delightful female Black Redstart that has been there for a few months now. An aggressive Robin kept chasing her away though. I think he/she was jealous and wanted to be star of the show, as she posed for me too!
Also creeping through the rocks quietly was a little Jenny Wren. I managed a few close up shots of it, something that's not easy to do usually!
Below are some of the pics from the last week, starting with the Wren, as the Black Redstart has already had blog posts dedicated to her! ;)
^Above^ - The little Jenny Wren at Brean Down Cove in North Somerset.
^Above^ - The female Black Redstart at Brean Down....no apologies for so many pics of her!!
^Above^ - The Robin at Brean Down.
^Above^ - A rather scruffy looking Pied Wagtail at Brean Down.
^Above^ - Jackdaws at Brean Down.
^Above^ - Kestrel at Brean Down.
^Above^ - House Sparrow at Brean Down.
^Above^ - Teal at a very windy RSPB Greylake in Somerset.
^Above^ - Snipe walking past a sleepy Wigeon at Greylake.
^Above^ - Song Thrush at Greylake.
^Above^ - Female Chaffinch at Greylake.
^Above^ - Pochard at Chew Valley Lake (Female in bottom pic)
^Above^ - Mallard at Chew Valley Lake.
^Above^ - Male Tufted Duck at Chew Valley Lake.
^Above^ - Female Goldeneye at Chew Valley Lake.
^Above^ - Black Headed Gulls at Chew Valley Lake.
^Above^ - Unusual hybrid Gull at Chew Valley Lake, possibly part Herring and part Lesser Black Back Gull!
^Above^ - Little Egrets near Westhay Moor in Somerset.
^Above^ - Grey Heron near Westhay Moor.
^Above^ - Just a record shot, 2 Peregrine Falcons chasing each other near Westhay Moor!
^Above^ - Parts of the large Gull roost at Puxton in Somerset.
^Above^ - Coots at Chard reservoir.
^Above^ - Close up of a sleeping feral/farmyard type duck at Chard reservoir
^Above^ - Nuthatch at RSPB Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Long Tailed Tits at Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Great Tits at Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Robins at Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Coal Tits at Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Blue Tits at Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Blackbird at Swell Wood.
^Above^ - Collared Dove in my Somerset garden.
^Above^ - Goldfinch in my garden.
^Above^ - Female Blackbird in my garden.
