Rod, myself and our two dogs took a trip to Somerset at the end of June staying in our camper van on a site near Muchenley, Thorney Lakes. We have been going there for a stay for about 10 years, a great place to relax and a good place for the dogs with some lovely walks. The weather was good if a little hot a times but we didn’t want to travel around so it suited us nicely for a few days.

The site is situated in an apple orchard there is room to spread out especially out of season. They have a large fishing lake down a lane and there is a wilder wood and lake attached to it so great to explore and of course see some wildlife. We saw Kingfishers, Herons, a Cuckoo, Ducks, Moorhens, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Swallows, House Martins, Swifts and many other birds around the campsite and lake.

There were plenty of Dragonflies and Damselflies around the lake and I spent some time photographing them as it was relatively cool with the trees surrounding the lake which I was more than happy with. Because the campsite was only a few hundred yards away we could also walk down in the cool of the evening which was very pleasant and with some benches dotted about to sit on, we could just enjoy the peace and quiet. 

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The last couple of days turned out very warm, for me anyway so we stayed in the van under the awning keeping cool. I had been watching the Swallows zooming across the orchard hunting for flies and I thought it would be a good idea to practice my birds in flight images. I tucked myself in the shade comfortably in a chair and just had a go. I was quite pleased with the results as they are very fast and turn so quickly, great to watch them!

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