Just fledging in Saul

Helena and I drove to Gloucester this afternoon after her work finished as we wanted to stock up on some staple foods, particularly fresh tofu, and some new Asian food provisions. Helena went on an Asian street food course recently and wanted to try some of the recipes, but the Chinese based emporium didn't have all of the ingredients so some of the recipes will have to wait. She also managed to buy a couple of good sweaters elsewhere which was a bonus for her.

Then we headed a few miles south of the city, crossing over the Sharpness canal and then wandering the back roads between it and the river Severn. As soon as you cross the bridge it immediately becomes a very rural country setting with winding narrow roads and lanes, small farms, hamlets and a generally beautiful rolling farming landscape. It isn't easy to get there because of the lack of bridges so it is always very quiet and quite isolated.

The darkening sky duly delivered a sharp shower and as we reached a T-junction we drew to an enforced halt caused by a herd of milking cows going home. They were lead apparently by a horned goat, which looked as if it thought it was a sheepdog, whilst the rear was brought up by a farmer on foot with a long stick and another driving a very old tractor, which had obviously just dumped a load of muck in the fields. We were forced to wait, so I grabbed my camera from the back seat and took some pictures of the wet scene, as the herd finally entrance to the farm a few hundred yards up the road.

We carried on towards our destination, which was near Saul Junction, a settlement built close to the junction of the Stroudwater canal and the Sharpness to Gloucester canal. We had an arrangement to pick up a snow board on behalf of Helena's nephew, Connor, who is at university in Scotland, when he isn't at home near Oban. He had found the snowboard for sale secondhand online and I think we will be taking it up to him when we go to Argyll in the summer.

Since I had got my camera out, I couldn't resist pulling over when we passed the old farm buildings where 'Jess's Ladies' organic milk is produced. They have a stall in the Stroud Farmer's Market and are well known local organic producers. I took a couple of pictures of the old wood clad barn with signs for the milk attached which i rather liked. It reminded me of the barns we had at our house when I was a kid growing up in surrey.

On we went until we reached a point where the road reached the bank of the river Severn at Epney. I got out to look over the protective flood prevention wall and saw that the swallows were back, and I knew from last summer that it was a good place to see them. I took a few pictures of them flying round and round, out over the river, along the reedy bank and then back over and in front of the farm buildings. I also got a close up of a swift, after it had landed on a telephone wire to preen its wings. I've put a lot of today's pictures here on this Flickr gallery.

Time was running out so we drove the few miles further to where the snowboard was waiting, and after finding it had been left for us in a garage close to some converted farm buildings, we set off to go back down the drive towards the road. As I pulled out onto the drive, I saw a bird fall into the grass at the base of a tall tree and then another larger bird flew up beside it. I realised immediately that the first one was very young and I'm pretty sure it had probably just taken its first flight. Without moving the car from the gateway, I rolled the window down and took some pictures quickly of it in the grass. Then the small bird flew a few yards up onto a type of cloth tape acting as a form of fencing. The mother of the young bird then flew back and approached its baby with some food in its beak and I took a few more pictures of them together. It was so sweet to see this little fluffy creature trying so hard and its mother looking on attentively.

We left them to it after they flew down onto the grass and drove down the drive. Helena said she had seen a horse on the way in, so when we passed a pair of beautiful horses grazing by the fenced drive I had to get out with my camera again. I think I would have blipped the horses if I hadn't already got the unique shot of the fledging bird, but you can see them all on the gallery. I don't even know what type of birds they were.

Press 'L' to see them more clearly.