Had a brilliant day with my youngest yesterday. Alarm set for 04:00 we headed off for Gloucs/Somerset.
Arriving nice and early at Highnam Woods there were Warblers everywhere. The boy wanted a walk to stretch his legs and very quickly he was on to a Chiffchaff. He was able to pick this out with naked eye whilst I was struggling with my bins:-O Blackcaps, Song Thrushes, and Willow Warblers were all around us but then we heard the unmistakable notes of the Nightingale. Again, I struggle to pick these out in the undergrowth but he came up trumps again:t:
177. Nightingale
Next we were off to Ham Wall. A Great White Egret flew over us in the car park and along the track Garden Warblers, Common Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were singing away. But then we heard what we had really come for - a booming Bittern. To say my youngest was happy would be an understatement! With Cuckoos also in the background he was very happy. The RSPB volunteers we met were really friendly and chatty. Woody the Cocker Spaniel was a big favourite. At VP1 we had a flyover Hobby which was another year tick :t:
178. Hobby
Now my original plan was to wander around Shapwick Heath and then over to Westhay. Given that we were both up at 04:00 I decided that this was going to be too much. I really wanted to keep this enjoyable for both of us. Now, looking at RBA, I hatched up a cunning daddy plan - there should be a handbook for birding parentso
"Oh look - there's a KFC in Taunton. Shall we go there for a change?" With both agreed we set off. And lo and behold the sat-nav took us past Isle Brewerso
A quick walk to stretch our legs and just before we were about to leave, the girl turned up. A stunning female Red-footed Falcon. A great bird and some very friendly birders to boot.
179. Red-footed Falcon
So we headed home via Taunton and Rich's Cider MillB
. We ended up having a KFC at Cardiff services where the young fella on the drive through commented on much he liked the seats in the Skoda:t:
The day had turned out to be one of my most enjoyable birding sessions ever. It was great to hear my boy excitedly ringing his grandfather (a keen birder) to tell him about all the birds we had seen. I think the two of us will be heading to Skomer next for the Puffins. We also discussed looking for Golden Eagles next year in Scotland. :t:
Rich