Clevedon Wildlife

Several years ago I got fed up with having a sore neck from carrying binoculars. so I swapped to using a harness, first with my Opticrons and latterly with my Zeiss when I bought these for a major birthday. Recently though, my Zeiss harness has stretched so that the bins knock against my legs...if I am lucky. I tried using Ikea food bag clips to hold the straps tight which worked to some extent. It was suggested to me though, and rather forcefully I felt,  that the look was, perhaps sub-optimal. I decided therefore to get a new harness.  Initially I put out a request on birdforum and had a couple of types suggested, but I also did my own on-line research. It became apparent that there is not that much information available. The harness that looked the best, in my opinion was no longer available from any supplier which left just 3 or 4 rather similar ones and this one The Skout Binocular Harness. I had been pointed towards the Cotton Carrier website by my friend Jason  who...

 Once every 10 or so years the weather is just right for a rare event to occur along the Severn estuary including Clevedon. This is one of those times. The event is the migration of spectacular arctic waders in their breeding plumage, with a stop off at the Dowlais shoreline In the past week up to 200 Bar-tailed Godwits have put down to feed on our rich mud and are now being pushed close enough inshore to be seen from the seawall path between Clevedon and the Kenn Estuary. In winter these birds are grey and white but in spring they begin to turn to a wonderful brick red and some of our visitors have begun this change. Mixed in with the Godwits are a few Grey Plovers which are also moulting to have a dramatic black front. Two can be seen in this picture; taken this morning The flocks form swirling patterns as they move along the shore with individual birds much bigger than the Dunlin we see here all winter. More regular, at this time of year, are the flocks of Whimbrel, a small spec...

  My car has been filling up with water and was booked for a 3 day investigation starting on April 12th in North Bristol. By coincidence this was the day that Wales was due to open it's borders to visitors after several months of lockdown. It seemed best to use this coincidence wisely, so I collected my courtesy car, filled it with fuel and set off. It took a little while to get used to gears again and I was grateful that the 1000cc engine of my loaned, pedal car was not having to transport anyone else besides me. After a couple of hours I pulled into Swansea services, collected a coffee and messaged a friend to find out the latest news on Tenby's most famous visitor: Wally the Walrus. Having left my maps in my own car I now discovered that sat nav was not included in the deal. So I messaged a friend whom, I knew, would have arranged to be on site by dawn. He kindly sent postcodes for a car park and the path I would need to walk towards to get views. These and my mobile phone w...