(1) WWT Welney, Norfolk

First Van meet up

 So last weekend I went to my favourite spot locally WWT Slimbridge.

Always great for a spot of knitting, taking in the wildlife and nature and just knitting in great surroundings.

One of the things I love in the summer is that you can walk right down to near the esturay where you can see the wading birds and the esturary coming in and out with the tide.

 Along the footpath to the esturary the walkway was covered in so many native flowers.

 

 

I believe I have done almost every "experience" events that you can attend at Slimbridge.  But one thing I have not done was take the tour of Sir Peter Scott's house which is in the grounds of the reserve.

 

You need to book in advance to get on the tour which is run twice a day, but oh my goodness it is so worth it if you want to know about the history behind this incredible site and the story behind WWT.

This is the WWT information on the site.

It all started one day on the banks of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, with one remarkable man’s vision.

Sir Peter Scott was the son of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott who, in his dying letter, urged Peter’s mother to “make the boy interested in natural history”.

Peter particularly loved the wild open marshes of Britain and the mysterious geese that visited from unknown shores. He learned to protect first the birds, and then their wetland habitats.

In 1946 he set up the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge as a centre for science and conservation. Uniquely at the time, he opened it to the public so that anyone could enjoy getting close to nature.

Peter and his family presented the BBC’s first live television wildlife programmes from his artist’s studio overlooking the lakes at Slimbridge, from where he brought a love for the British countryside into millions of homes.

As well as setting up WWT, he became an Olympic sailing medallist and a well-known painter and broadcaster. He created the IUCN red list which measures whether species are threatened or endangered. He was the founding chair of WWF – he even drew their famous panda logo.

WWT flourished during Peter’s life and has continued his life’s work since his death in 1989. We now welcome a million visitors each year to ten Wetland Sites in the UK, and we undertake more research and conservation projects around the world than ever.

Though the challenges facing wetlands and the world may be more daunting than Peter could ever have imagined, everyone at WWT tries to approach them with a resourcefulness and positivity we hope he would approve of.

 

 

 

 

For the first time I was camping near Slimbridge at Riverside Caravan Park and we had our evening meal at The George Pub I just loved the sewing machines on the windowsill and the food was delicious.

 

 

 

The same weekend as we were visiting Slimbridge they had an annual Vintage car show in the local village.  This beauty was parked in the car park.

 For the first time I didn't take my traditional camera, but I did snap this cute little family having a walk.

While we waited for our friends to join us my patient friend Phil took this picture of me working on a pair of socks.

This was the view from inside Peter Scott's House that back at the beginning of the BBC natural History filming was where they set up the camera.  You are not allowed to take images inside the house, but I have seen this window from across the lake so it was lovely to be inside the building.

 One of the things I am truly blessed with is owning a VW Caddy Camper and they are getting more and more popular.  This image and follwoing three were taken thanks so kindly by Nath and Hannah (the owners of Claudia, the blue van at the end), they middle van is Phil on Gordan who took the knitting shot.

 This was the campsite that we stayed at, so amazing to see and arieal view.

The owner of the site was really lovely and put us all next to each other.

This was the view of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal that is such a great place to just sit and take life in.

Nath working his magic with the drone and Phil loving having his picture taken!

Yet another part I love about the van is when you wake up in the middle of the night, you can just open the van door and get a shot at 3am and see the stars.

I have a new travel companion in the van.  Meet Harold the frog, this was my Son's when he was a baby and I have now adopted him to travel in Anthony the van.

I hope you have enjoyed my latest adventure, please do comment, I love to hear what you think.

Until next time.....

Slimbridge and a new camera part 1

I have been very lucky in being able to buy myself a new DLSR camera.

Taking shots on a phone is ok but such a difference to a "proper" camera.

I have invested in a Nikon D5600  I bought it from Cotswold Camera's who provided a great price and customer service.  I have two lenses a 18-55 for portraits and landscape and then a 70-300 for wildlife.

For those who have followed my blog for a while will know my love of WWT Slimbridge. I am so lucky as it is only 30 minutes drive from home. It is a place you can immerse yourself in wildlife. 

Having a DSLR Camera meant I could capture details of the wildfowl that I just could not capture on my phone. 

I think pigeons are under rated, their colouring is just beautiful and I love how it is all puffed up to keep warm in the chilly weather. 

I love looking more closely at the details. 

This picture I love it is just the ripples on the choppy lake. 

Spent time just st watching the birds, drinking coffee and a few stitches on my current project. 

I hope you enjoy my image's I would love to have feedback. 

New year and first trip to WWT Slimbridge

For me WWT Slimbridge holds a special place in my heart.  I have visited here for many many years and this year I have decided to combine my love of the wetlands and my passion for knitting.

I will be visiting several times during the course of this year (more than normal) as I am working on an exciting new project.

Here is pictures I took on my trip this weekend where Slimbridge held a Wild Winter Wonderland special event.   The event was great they had many voluteer's who have such an incredible knowledge dotted in different hides.  I also joined the "Winter Wader Workshop" where you went into different hides and were given a huge amount of information all about the different types of wildfowl that you could see.

To end the day we stayed till just before closing and watched one of the staff doing is daily feeding of the birds at the Peng hide.  Wow it was incredible seeing so many birds coming in to feed and goodness some of the camera's the photographers had made me want to hide my mere phone camera!

I came across this brilliant resource here on the wetlands website which shows what birds where seen that day.

I hope you enjoy the images and would love to hear your thoughts on my blog.

Until next time....

Gormerants

Delicate catkins

Signs of spring

Macro shooting, it's all in the detail

The iconic Slimbridge building

View from the new hide over looking the seven esturay

Getting ready for their evening feed

A spectacular site and what a job!