Sandbanks on the River Severn estuary

The morning was sunny and the sky was clear of mist, but by late lunchtime when we set off on our jaunt, the wind was up and the thin cloud was thickening. I had decided to drive to Gloucester to stock up on fresh tofu which I've been missing in the last few weeks. Woodpeckers took up my suggestion of going down to the River Severn for a short walk along its bank, a swift drink at a pub followed by shopping for the tofu at the oriental food suppliers.

By the time we had crossed the A38, which follows the line of the old roman road from Bristol to Gloucester, our immediate plans had to adapt as we ran into rather severe traffic on the tiny roads, which wend through the farmland close to the meandering river. It is an old landscape, remaining relatively undeveloped because of its difficult access, and the old village of Frampton on Severn was having its Country Fair this afternoon. Normally we would have liked to attend it, as Helena had heard it has a quite traditional farming focus. But the idea of crowds put us both off, so we drove further upstream towards Gloucester, where we knew there was a pub on the river's bank. We could then have a riverside walk and return to get refreshed at the pub; and so we did.

Neither of us had much energy today so we rather ambled along, crossing rhines and stiles, through gates into fields where horses grazed under the canopy of some old apple orchards that lie down behind the flood defences. We were both carrying cameras, and it was quite interesting to see whereWoodpeckers and my choice of camera subject differed and when they were sometimes similar.

The wind was by now very strong stirring up the incoming tide so that the water was becoming quite rough, with rippling waves being audible over the sound of the many birds and the rustling of the reeds and shrubs adorning the bank. The western side of the river is also part of Gloucestershire, where the undulating farmland rises up to become the wooded Forest of Dean, and eventually the Welsh mountains.

These sandbanks are important reserves for the bird life of the region, made famous at the nearby Wildlife and Wetlands bird centre at Slimbridge, just a couple of large meanders downstream from here. At one point a huge flock of various seagulls, which were feeding in the shallows on the sandbanks, were startled and took to the air briefly. They returned quickly as they only a short time when they can access the mud and sand flats between the tides. The river flows strongly here bringing fresh water and nutrients down from the upper reaches of the Severn and its tributaries.

It was very refreshing to be out there and despite various scenes of strange human detritus scattered around the few manmade dwellings by the river, I really wanted to show the location in my photographs. I followed the flocking gulls for quite a while, but couldn't get them to repeat their sudden mass take-off. I noticed some swifts flying close by us, feeding on airborne insects. Then I saw several groups of ducks flying along the line of the river at high speed and in formation, before banking steeply round into the wind to glide down and land on some open water, between the sandbanks.