Biking Birder VII
The Laurie Lee Adventure
Back in 1934, a young man named Laurie Lee walked away from his home in the village of Slad, Gloucestershire, UK.
Detailed in the autobiographical book, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, tells the story of a young man, nineteen years old, seeking adventure.
Remember the advice, the two metre rule, the isolation . . .
. . . the fake messages . . .
Of course we all followed the rules, no parties!
Actually, as the weeks went by I visited The Knepp less and less; I had fallen in love with a smaller and yet vital for nature place, Daylands Farm.
Leaving eventually, I cycled in the direction of the ship canal once more but was distracted when I passed a garden with an incredible bird table. Curiosity peaked, I stopped and went back to a gate, the other side of which was a gentleman and his son. They were working on chopping logs but were very friendly and chatty when I asked about the bird table come mansion!
Cycling on eventually, after watching Grey Wagtails by a sluice, I stop at a five bar gate which leads down to the adjacent wet grasslands and in this case, unlike the ones at Elmore Court earlier, there are large areas of shallow pools and rushes.
Hob Nobs and juice for my evening meal, I settle down in my sleeping bag, hoping that the cold north-easterly breeze will go and that no one will disturb my slumbers.
At 9.00pm I settle down for a hopefully restful night's sleep.
From his home, Laurie walked first Southampton in order to see the sea; something Laurie had never seen.
Disappointed with his first view as the sea at Southampton was muddy, Laurie found that he could make a living by busking with his violin. Therefore he continued along the south of England coast to Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and Worthing before heading north to London.
From London, after a year working as a labourer on building sites, Laurie took a ship to Vigo in Northern Spain and from there walked, eventually to a beach east of Malaga.
My aim is to cycle his route with the occasional detour to visit nature reserves, particularly RSPB and W&WT ones and sites of interest, such as Stonehenge.
And so the real Biking Birder VII adventure continues . . .
April 4th 2025
Up early and out, cycling into and out of Gloucester.
Down the Gloucester ship canal before branching off to reach Elmore Court.
I had contacted the project a few days before asking whether I could visit. I find all rewilding projects fascinating, indeed for the first Covid lockdown back in 2020 I found myself half a mile from The Knepp Rewilding project!
Having the whole estate to myself day after day, no one was allowed to travel there if you remember, was thrilling and being able to monitor all of the wildlife there, see the changes as Spring progressed and be there when the Summer migrants returned, was amazingly lucky.
The amazing White Stork reintroduction programme was successful that year, with youngsters to be seen on nests. Herds of Fallow Deer to be seen, Nightingales in good numbers once they had arrived back from the winter quarters in Africa, Turtle Doves too. I got to know the layout of the estate and posted for almost two months, an almost daily checklist of the birds seen there on eBird.
Common Whitethroat
Take a look at the Cuckoo photo on this eBird checklist of mine from at The Knepp in 2020
One of my favourite things are trees and the one on the opposite side of the road to the entrance to The Knepp was an absolute beauty. Such beautiful symmetry,
Remember the advice, the two metre rule, the isolation . . .
. . . the fake messages . . .
Of course we all followed the rules, no parties!
Of course we ALL did!
Mind you even during Covid, children should not have had to be told to drive carefully!
At least Paddington was with me through all of the weeks of isolation immersed in nature.
Actually, as the weeks went by I visited The Knepp less and less; I had fallen in love with a smaller and yet vital for nature place, Daylands Farm.
With two wonderful owners, Margaret & Derek, I loved exploring their fields, hedgerows and woodland fringes. They too, as The Knepp, had large herds of Fallow Deer, good numbers of Nightingales and Turtle Doves and maybe best of all, a pair of foxes with four tiny fox cubs. I would sit against a large Oak Tree and watch their antics early each morning in May 20202.
Back to Elmore Court, a very pleasant few hours were spent walking and recording, Chiffs and Blackcaps represented the only migrants in and a couple of late Snipe were surprising as the whole area was so dry.
The wet grasslands were anything but, no substantial rain here for weeks left it all so bone dry.
Leaving eventually, I cycled in the direction of the ship canal once more but was distracted when I passed a garden with an incredible bird table. Curiosity peaked, I stopped and went back to a gate, the other side of which was a gentleman and his son. They were working on chopping logs but were very friendly and chatty when I asked about the bird table come mansion!
Impressive!
Back to the canal and a cycle along the towpath heading south, I stopped for a Hob Nobs tea beside a canal junction section, Saul Junction, with a working swing bridge.
Cycling on eventually, after watching Grey Wagtails by a sluice, I stop at a five bar gate which leads down to the adjacent wet grasslands and in this case, unlike the ones at Elmore Court earlier, there are large areas of shallow pools and rushes.
Resting my bike against the gate, I prepare my inflatable mattress bed and 'borrow' an aluminium chair from a nearby barge.
Hob Nobs and juice for my evening meal, I settle down in my sleeping bag, hoping that the cold north-easterly breeze will go and that no one will disturb my slumbers.
At 9.00pm I settle down for a hopefully restful night's sleep.
Tickle My Feathers
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