Wednesday 1 May 2013

The Somerset Levels - Part 2

Sorry for the delay in getting part two out. I don't have a good excuse really!  Better late than never! After crossing the reserve I walked along London Drove and came to one of the several hides. It's lovely to be able to walk on the broadwalk as if you're walking through the reeds. 
 Another lovely view out over open water and reedbed.
A pair of Gadwall were just near enough to take a couple of photos. These are heavily cropped though.
More signs of management work on the reserve were these pollarded Willows. Pollarding is when trees are cut at the top of the trunk whereas coppicing is when they are cut at ground level to shoot up again.
It was time to make my way back across the reserve to my car. There was a lovely reflection of a Willow which I couldn't resist.
And a couple of shots of Willow with the sun shining through......
My second and last visit of the day was to Greylake, an RSPB reserve not far from Westhay. It has a small area of broadwalk and reedbeds, with extensive wet meadow areas and a hide.
The hide overlooks the wet meadow area which has a small amount of water year round.
Nothing ventured very close to the hide on this occasion, so here are some distant Wigeon coming in to land! Good eh? (-:
Luckily for me, in the car park there is a feeding station and an obliging male Reed Bunting posed for a minute for a couple of photos.
I'm off to South Wales for a long weekend of birding. Hopefully I'll have some material for a post or two! (-:  Something happened in the middle of my post while I was spellchecking which I can't seem to rectify, so apologies for that!
 

8 comments:

Quiet Paths said...

The bunting is great! Wish I could see one of those. Your spring is about as advanced as is ours. We had snow on the ground this morning. Love your walks, Jenny.

Kathie Brown said...

It looks like a wonderfully peaceful place to bird! I would love it there! Thanks for visiting my blog and don't you just hate formatting issues?

Pix Under the Oaks said...

Hi Jen! I can't sleep and I saw you had a post up. Such peaceful beautiful places you have. I guess we have them around here but not like that. Your willow photos are so pretty. Enjoy your long weekend of bird hunting. Have a great time and I hope you snap some pictures to share!

Anonymous said...

An enjoyable sequel to your last post Jenny and that first of the Reed Buntings shots is a real beauty :-) The Willow catkins are beautiful too and I love that boardwalk through the reeds.

I hope you enjoy your trip to South Wales :-)

Roy Norris said...

A super Reed Bunting Jen.

ShySongbird said...

Hi Jenny, I'm not sure if I have already commented on this post (it may be awaiting moderation), I know I have read it before but just not sure if I commented. Anyway, I enjoyed reading about your visit and seeing the photos and particularly liked the ones of the Reed Bunting.

I hope you're having/had a wonderful time in Wales!

Chris said...

Except the reed bunting male, I could say I see the same thing ;-) Beautiful psot Jen!

Mary said...

The Reed Bunting is a beautiful bird!