Mute swans Cygnus olor on King's Sedgemoor Drain at sunrise near Greylake, Somerset Levels, England, UK, October 2018
Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope, flock in flight over Greylake RSPB Reserve, near Othery, Somerset Levels and Moors, England, UK, February 2019
Eurasian hobby Falco subbuteo in flight, Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, Avalon Marshes, Somerset Levels and Moors, England, UK, April 2019
Rhyne and footpath in early morning mist, Greylake RSPB Reserve, Somerset Levels and Moors, Somerset, England, UK, 2019
Barn swallow Hirundo rustica adult feeding young, perched on a metal gate, West Sedgemoor RSPB Reserve, Somerset Levels and Moors, Somerset, England, UK, July 2020

The Somerset Levels have changed greatly since Stone Age man first visited the area and laid bundles of hazel sticks to be able to cross the boggy ground.  Over 5,000 years later, drainage ditches, pumping stations and clyces have made a very controlled landscape where wildlife thrives and a number of nature reserves have been established.

In this talk we witness a typical year with the birds, flowers and a few of the insects as well as enjoying some of the Levels landscapes with its pollarded willows and rhynes.  In the spring and summer flowers add colour to the place as do butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.  Birds include up to six species of the heron family, raptors such as marsh harriers, buzzards, peregrines and hobbies as well as huge flocks of wintering waders and wildfowl.  There is also a successful reintroduction scheme to bring back common cranes to the area and the marvellous spectacle of many tens of thousands of starlings flying in to roost in the reedbeds at sunset, their murmurations weaving ever changing patterns in the sky as hawks and harriers try to secure a final meal of the day.  This is a wonderful place to go wildlife watching at any time of year as this talk illustrates.

If you would like to book this or any other of my talks, please telephone me or send me an email.  Sending an email can be done via my 'contact me' page.

Pollarded willows and the Sowy River at sunrise, near Greylake, Somerset Levels, England, UK, October 2018
Large redeye Arythromma najas resting on a leaf beside South Drain, Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, Avalon Marshes, Somerset Levels and Moors, Somerset, England, UK, May 2020
Yellow water-lily Nupha lutea in South Drain, Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, Avalon Marshes, Somerset Levels and Moors, Somerset, England, UK, May 2020
Common starling Sturnus vulgaris murmuration over Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, Somerset Levels, Somerset, England, UK, February 2019