BIKING BIRDER VII April 5th 2025 Early Morning Canal Chat and WWT Slimbridge with two of the BEST couples on the planet!

 

The Holy Trinity Show 

But first . . . 

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.

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 5th 2025 

Early morning musings about The Holy Trinity Show!

Those who know me well will know of my passionate support for the MIGHTY Aston Villa and I urge ALL Villa fans to subscribe to The Holy Trinity Show.

When football vlogs came on the scene they were wonderful and usually the Villa ones at first had a group of friends gathered with face crunching close ups during goal celebrations.

Then came the journalists and friends who got together to discuss each game.

Then came Peter Schadd and the most brilliant, professionally produced football vlog ever, The Holy Trinity Show.

Approaching 250 shows now, The Holy Trinity Show changed my Dad's life and gave him so much joy before dementia sadly took Dad last year.

Dad, now a Holte Ender in The Sky, would laugh, cheer and on occasions cry because of Peter's phenomenal presentation and commentary. Possibly the best Villa pundit ever, Peter is actually Canadian and each episode is created with panache and insight.

Thanks Peter. What you did for Dad will stay with our family forever and we will always be so grateful to you.

The above I showed Dad just a few weeks before he died. I didn't tell him what was included in the show at 5:25, Mum & I just watched his quiet reaction as tears went down his cheeks.

"Brian's girl was Bluenose!"

Thank you Peter.

Dad died in January, 2024 and Peter ended the show above in such a wonderful, dignified and respectful way. 

Love you Dad.

And so the day begins after a really beautiful night's sleep beside the Gloucester Ship Canal.

Actually I had been woken up by someone or some people walking along the canal tow path in the middle of the night.

 

Back to sleep and then . . . 

. . . a noisy dawn

Breakfast of champions, the rest of the Hob Nobs and orange juice, I pack after enjoying the early morning bird listen from the comfort of my sleeping bag. 

A Cetti's Warbler does his Eine Kleine Nachtmusic from an adjacent bush just a few yards away, unaware of my presence. 

Up and at them, the cycle south once more towards Slimbridge WWT - Wildfowl & Wetland Trust Centre, is a delight.

A birder and one with vast experience of birding a patch.

Together for half an hour we watch as Hirundines, mostly Sand Martins but also a fair number of Swallows, pass us; all heading north.

Marsh Harriers and a superb Peregrine are also seen and the birding conversation is wonderful. My daily life when caring for Mum centers around helping charities and Aston Villa; especially helping The Children's Book Project, Toys4Life, Acorns Children's Hospice, British Heart Foundation, the RSPCA - well you get the idea.

To be able to listen to a birder with such knowledge, passion for birding and vast experience is nothing less than fantastic and knowing that a dear, dear friend and his wife; a friend who has not only an incredible talent for birding, who has a vast breadth of knowledge on not just birds but practically every genera of animal and plant and who's birding career includes being assistant warden on Fair Isle, just like my dear late friend, Gordon Barnes. To know that I will be spending my day with them, Lee & Cathy Gregory, at a place so very special to me, Slimbridge, well today will be a very special and memorable day.

In life one has acquaintances, friends of varying degrees but true friendship, one that lights up every moment spent in their company, is rare.

Lee & Cathy are such and my pedals go fast after saying goodbye to my early morning birding companion.

BIKING BIRDER VII April 4th 2025 Let's Go Birding - Elmore Court Rewilding Project

 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.

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!

The Knepp

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

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67325401

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