Tag Archives: England

Birds and Bluebells around Aldermaston wharf

24th April 2016 Armin Grewe Leave a comment

Following yesterday’s 1.5 hours walk I doubled my efforts today and walked for three hours until the clouds came in. Today I stayed locally and walked to Aqua Vitae Copse and Padworth college. On the way I spotted a variety of birds: a Sparrow was carrying grass in its beak, I assume for nest building. Two Blue Tits were sitting among the fresh shoots on a tree. But the highlight was a Red Kite eating its catch while in flight before resting on a tree. Finally I enjoyed Bluebells carpeting the woodland floor.

Picture of a Red Kite eating its catch in flight — Red Kite eating its catch (1)

Picture of a Red Kite resting on a large branch in a tree — Red Kite resting a tree

Picture of a Sparrow carrying grass in its beak — Sparrow carrying grass in its beak (1)

Picture of Blue Tits in a tree — Blue Tits in a tree

Picture of Bluebells on a woodland floor — Bluebells (1)

(click on the pictures to view larger versions)

Pictures, Thoughts

Two bird sightings on a nice afternoon out

23rd April 2016 Armin Grewe 1 Comment

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to have a at least one hour walk of some sort every Saturday and Sunday (unfortunately having a daily one-hour walk isn’t logistically feasible). While I have already failed that resolution for various reasons I’m still trying to achieve that goal when possible. Today I managed 1.5 hours at the Hosehill Lake nature reserve near Theale.

Among many other birds I spotted two birds I don’t think I have taken pictures of previously. I’m not sure if I identified them correctly, if I’ve got it wrong please let me know in the comments. I believe the first one is a Gadwall Duck, the second one I think is a Garden Warbler. As I said, if I got it wrong please let me know so that I can update the post.

Picture of a male Gadwall duck — Male Gadwall duck (1)

Picture of a Garden Warbler singing — Garden Warbler (1)

Picture of a Garden Warbler — Garden Warbler (2)

(click on the picture for a full-size version)

Pictures

A few local birds from this weekend

13th March 2016 Armin Grewe 4 Comments

This weekend I visited two local nature reserves, on Saturday I visited Decoy Heath, on Sunday I visited Padworth Common. While I didn’t spot any rare birds there were a few common local birds around. Here are a few of the pictures I took:

Picture of a Long-tailed Tit in a tree in the mild evening light — A Long-tailed Tit in a tree in the mild evening light

Picture of a Robin singing in the evening light — A Robin singing an evening song

Picture of a Red Kite in the afternoon sun — A Red Kite in the afternoon sun

Picture of a Buzzard in flight — A Buzzard in flight

Picture of a Buzzard in flight, head turned — A Buzzard in flight, head turned

Picture of a Pheasant on a path in the mild afternoon sun — A Pheasant on a path in the mild afternoon sun

Click on a picture to see the larger version.

Pictures

Woodpecker and Shovelers

28th February 2016 Armin Grewe 1 Comment

On a cold February Sunday afternoon with short sunny intervals I went out for a short walk to see if I could spot any local birds. There wasn’t an awful lot around but I managed to get decent shots of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and two pairs of Shovelers.