Shapwick Heath - Nov 2024
| Birdwatching in Shapwick Heath | |
| One beautiful day Matthew, Kelly, and Oscar took us to Shapwick Heath - for a hike and some birdwatching. We parked our cars at RSPB Ham Wall car park 30 minutes from Burnham. It was a busy day and volunteers were there not just to collect parking fee but also to inform willing listeners about their work. | |
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| We crossed Ashcott Road and walked along the drainage canal along a good gravel path into Shapwick Heath. No wellies needed there, so we were happy to have chosen hiking boots! Our first stop was Shapwick Tower Hide. | |
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| In the ceiling under the tower there are several plaques. One of them is from Leo, Oscar and Ian in memory of John. Beautiful, with lots of flying birds as a backdrop! | |
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| The hide had a few photos and descriptions of birds we might see in the area. With Matthew's keen eyes and knowledge we saw a Great White Egret! | |
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| With our limited knowledge, we can really only hope to recognise swans, mallard ducks, coots, and cormorants. Swans are so common they aren't even listed on the "Watch for these birds" lists... poor guys and gals... | |
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| We spotted these young swans - very organised all in a row powering along the drainage canal. | |
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| Our hike took us through some woodlands too. We spotted decorative mushrooms growing on dead trees. Google is guessing that this mushroom is "Chicken of the Woods" - named so because it tastes like chicken. Another name for it is "Sulfur shelf". So, no, we weren't going to taste-test for either name. | |
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| We also stopped by Noah's Hide where we got a good view of birds living in Noah's Lake. | |
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| There were many birds in and around the lake, but they were too far away for our cameras. | |
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| Hild tested using our binoculars as a telescopic lens for her mobile phone camera. | |
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| Rob was trying to spot familiar or rare birds. Supposedly there are Bitterns in the area - a type of heron that went extinct in the UK at the turn of the 20th century. Now they are back and loving reed-bed habitats. With their brown plumage it makes them difficult to see, but we tried. They also make a sound like a cross between a bull mooing and a foghorn. Well, we definitely did not hear that! | |
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Postscript: A good day for hiking boots. |
November 2024