Birds feed on the River Severn

I was getting a bit stir crazy from not having been able to walk very much since my fall.  I realised that if I drove to a location I could at least get some air and be out of the valleys for a short while. The sun began to shine again after lunch so I decided to combine a trip to wards Gloucester for some shopping with a drive down to the River Severn.

I headed for Frampton-on-Severn and then crossed over the Sharpness canal and followed the road through Saul village and on to the old hamlet of Framilode, where the River Frome finally joins the Severn. The Stroudwater canal was built to make a navigable journey possible from the Severn all the way to Stroud. Its junction with the river Severn was closed after the building of the Sharpness canal as the latter provided better and safer access to the Severn. The small cluster of houses associated with the original port of Framilode are still there and the road to the hamlet's church on the banks of the Severn remains open.

I drove down the narrow single track road to its end and parked outside the church. The footpath called the Severn Way running along the banks of the river follow the tops of the engineered banks which successfully keep out the high waters of the river which at this point is tidal.

I walked over the bank and down onto the muddy reed beds above the river. The tidal range here is still about 7 metres ( I checked this figure for today) and this is one of the better spots to watch the famous Severn Bore ,which appears regularly in occasionally spectacular ways.  Where I am standing gets flooded at the highest tides, so you can probably see how big the range is and how much land in this valley gets flooded.

The wind was cold and strong blowing down the river from right to left as the meander starts which curls around towards the Forest of Dean in the distance.  It then swings back south and straightens out to form even wider sandbank areas where Slimbridge Wildlife and Wetlands centre is located, about five miles away form here as the crow flies.  Crows did fly over my head today in that direction, but I don't think they were going all the way.

But is was mostly sea gulls that were prevalent as there was a constant stream of them flying down the river's course following the receding current.  I was hoping for a greater mixture of birds, but I think they must all be at Slimbridge.  The birds seemed to be flying to the sand bars and mud flats as they became exposed as the tide exposed them and the food they contained.  If you look with the 'large' view you might see the crests of the waves in the water which shows the speed of the receding tide.

A couple of minutes after I took this picture I did see a huge flock of what I now thing were gannets flying together several hundred feet up in the sky.  I also spotted a black patch in the very distant sky towards Newnham on Severn which I thought might be the beginning of a murmuration of starlings.  One day Helena and I want to go to Slimbridge where apparently they are easily seen.

It did feel good to be in the fresh air watching the life from the riverbank.  But I wish I had a stronger zoom lens for occasions like this look more closely at the feeding birds on the sand bars, and the flight of the flocks.