An unusual bird crosses our path

Helena organised a wonderful trip for the WEA to go on a cruise up the River Severn from Upton on Severn to Worcester, and return. We have been on this before but it was a first for the group and twenty members turned out.

We drove to Upton in various cars and set off on the 'Conway Castle' at 10-15am for the two hour journey upstream.  The river flows through open fields, woodland banks and steep cliffs bordering the meandering bends. 

It was overcast all day but the rain didn't arrive until we reached Worcester, and even then was only an occasional fine drizzle. I stood out on the front deck for most of the two legs with my camera at the ready. It was very pretty with reflections and occasional vistas of horses on the banks, scullers, fisherman on the banks and in boats and some working boats hauling quarried soils loaded from neighbouring fields behind the high banks which act as barriers for flood prevention.

I saw many kingfishers and managed to photograph a few.  Herons were plentiful as were swifts and swallows. At one point where high trees lined the banks, a large bird swooped across the river between the banks and then landed high in a tree. I thought it was a sparrowhawk, but now I've checked it on my screen I realise it was a cuckoo, the first I've ever seen!

I've added a few kingfishers pictures as many of the others on the tour hadn't seen them before and asked to have them pointed out to them. You can imagine how difficult that would be when they are so hard to spot at the best of times.

So I've added a varied bunch of images from the day, including a few interior shots from Worcester cathedral to this Flickr gallery.