{"id":6075,"date":"2020-02-15T18:16:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T18:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/?p=6075"},"modified":"2020-03-18T11:27:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T11:27:28","slug":"shapwick-heath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/?p=6075","title":{"rendered":"Shapwick Heath"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6234\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC9006-1-385x257.jpg 385w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Mute Swan at Shapwick Heath, Somerset<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6235\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8806-1-385x257.jpg 385w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In early February the undoubted stars of the show are the Starlings coming into roost at sunset.<\/p>\n<p>With approximately 500,000 birds swirling around murmurating in an effort to confuse the Peregrine&#8217;s, Sparrowhawks and Marsh Harriers it really is a spectacular sight. The sound of hundred of thousands of wings being beaten as the birds fly overhead is incredible. Unsurprisingly trying to record it on a mobile phone camera was only partially successful. It really is one of those moments that needs to be experienced.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6236\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8800-1-385x257.jpg 385w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Starlings at Shapwick Heath\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Kymkx4qXisE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6091\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSC8981.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Coot at Shapwick Heath<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know why but somehow I&#8217;d forgotten just how bizarre the large, scalloped toes of a Coot are. With the lobes folding when the foot is moved forward it really is a remarkable adaptation that allows the Coot to swim efficiently through weedy water.<\/p>\n<p>There was plenty of other birds around but with Shapwick being extremely dog unfriendly (even banned from the public footpaths) we didn&#8217;t have chance to explore the reserve. Hopefully one day we&#8217;ll return.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In early February the undoubted stars of the show are the Starlings coming into roost at sunset (sorry Odette) . With approximately 500,000 birds swirling around murmurating in an effort to confuse  it really is a spectacular sight.  <span class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"more-link btn btn-transparent\" href=\"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/?p=6075\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[572,950,318,323,949,319],"class_list":["post-6075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-birds","tag-coot","tag-murmurartion","tag-mute-swan","tag-shapwick-heath","tag-starling","tag-swan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6075"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6239,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6075\/revisions\/6239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}