Railway carriage houses, birds and wildlife at Winchelsea beach and Rye Harbour nature reserve - 17th April 2026

I arrived in Winchelsea Beach at lunchtime, dropped off my luggage and went for a walk in Rye Harbour nature reserve

I was fascinated by a couple of houses along the lane - the first one obviously started life as an old railway carriage that seemed to have had a modern building added above it

The second house seemed to be formed from several carriages

I walked along the road at the edge of the coast and came across the old Mary Stanford Lifeboat House

I sat on a bench by the Lifeboat House for lunch and was joined by a Cranefly

Then I saw a Peacock butterfly resting on the ground

A Common Whitethroat perched at the top of a tree

An Oystercatcher was wading in shallow water at the Salt Pool

Pair of Avocets enjoying themselves at the Salt Pool

Pretty pink blossom on the path at the edge of the Salt Pool

Beautiful Irises in a garden on the lane leading back to Winchelsea Beach

Male Linnet sitting near the top of a bare branched tree at the edge of the lane

Modern church at Winchelsea Beach, which I gather is being converted into a private house

Rabbits on the recreation ground at Winchelsea Beach

 

Birds and flowers in Battersea Park on hot sunny 8th April 2026

Lovely patch of Bluebells on the path at the beginning of my walk in the park

Egyptian parent and three goslings were startled by a sudden heavy flow of water from a nearby pipe

Close-up of gosling searching for snacks in the grass

Four military helicopters flew in formation over the park

Grey Heron pretending to be a statue in the Old English Garden

Beautiful white/yellow Irises

There were many fancy-shaped Tulips in the Old English Garden

The Grey Heron had moved round to the other side of the pond and posed in front of some flowers

Back at the lake, the Egyptian parents were standing with four of their six goslings

Oregon Grape at the edge of the footpath round the lake

Rather handsome Gadwall drake

and pretty female Gadwall

Common Pochard having a splashing time!

Coots doing what Coots love - fighting!!!

Recently I have seen none or just a few Mandarins - today one was swimming around on the lake

A Grey Heron flew overhead with what looks like a large fish in its beak

Two differently-coloured Mallard drakes swam across the lake

Back almost where I started, I was happy to see several Mandarin drakes - and just one female!

 I counted six male Mandarins altogether, but they refused to all be photographed together

Third and final visit to the Otter Estuary nature reserve on my last day in Devon - 19th March 2026

There was a group of Redshank feeding at the edge of the water in the Otter Estuary nature reserve

First time I had been to the nature reserve when part of it was still covered with water

Little Egret searching for food amongst the reeds

Four Oystercatchers on the mud as the tide went out

Shelduck hiding in the reeds behind a Grey Heron

Pied Wagtail standing on a pebbly island in the river Otter

Shelduck feeding in the mud at low tide

Rookery at the edge of the river

Peacock butterfly sunning itself on the path at the edge of the river Otter

There was a large hole in the path along the edge of the river Otter

Two male Eurasian Teal feeding on the river Otter

One final photograph of a lovely Little Egret in the Otter Estuary nature reserve

Such a great place - I only hope that I will be able to visit it again some time in the future