The Severn Hams    by Mike Smart. Photos by Juliet Bailey   

The Severn Hams is the name given to the floodplain of the Severn between Gloucester and Tewkesbury. "Ham" is an old Gloucestershire and southwest word for a low-lying grassland alongside the river, producing hay in summer and often flooded in winter (cf. "Cheltenham" = the meadows along the River Chelt); in recent decades some of these ancient hay meadows have been ploughed up and planted with maize or other arable crops, but there is nowadays a strong tendency (with support through government agricultural subsidies) to maintain the untouched hay meadows (which have great botanical interest) and to restore to grassland those that have been ploughed. It's hoped that one day the "Severn Hams" will be as well known to birdwatchers as other wetlands with strange names like the Derwent Ings, the Ouse Washes or the Somerset Levels.

In winter the floods on the Hams may cover an area three miles by five; they attract wintering swans, ducks and geese; when the floods are up, the Bewick's Swans from Slimbridge move in; in summer they have rich breeding populations of waders and passerines. Among the waders, the bubbling call of displaying Curlew is a very familiar and typical sound, and there are still breeding Redshank and Lapwings and even the odd drumming Snipe; among passerines special mention must be made of Redstarts, which have adapted to nesting in the boles of old pollarded willows rather than oaks; the Hams were once the favoured breeding site of Marsh Warbler and Corncrake, sadly now disappeared, but Corn Buntings and the odd Yellow Wagtail still breed; in passage periods anything may occur, though spring is best as the hams get very dry in autumn.

The two best known sites are Ashleworth Ham and Coombe Hill Meadows, both of them reserves of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT). Ashleworth is west of the Severn, on the Ham Road between the villages of Ashleworth and Tirley. There are two hides alongside the road, and another opposite in Meerend Thicket, overlooking the reserve, and the reserve can be well surveyed from public roads. Up to two or three thousand Wigeon and plenty of other surface feeding ducks occur (sometimes numbers of Pintail are spectacular and may exceed 1000) on the water surface which is maintained at an artificially high level in winter, a small flock of wintering Whooper Swans has been regular since the early 1990s and returned, after a two year absence, in winter 2005/06; in flood conditions, waders such as Lapwing, Golden Plover, Ruff, Dunlin occur. Recent rarities include Great White Egret, White Stork, Spoonbill, Crane, Quail and Aquatic Warbler (see pic below taken by John Wells).

Coombe Hill Meadows, east of the Severn, are reached from the Wharf, at the end of the lane off the A 38 beside the Swan pub at Coombe Hill. A walk down the canal bank, (likely to be muddy in winter) takes you to the Grundon hide, overlooking new scrapes; a second hide on the Apperley side gives views into the centre of the Long Pool, and a circular walk right round the reserve, including both hides, is now operational (a leaflet with map is available in the box by the Wharf). There's much exchange of birds between Coombe Hill and Ashleworth which are only a couple of miles as the Wigeon flies, but eight or ten miles by road. Especially good views of nesting waders from the Grundon hide, and the hedges and ditches are full of breeding Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings. With lots of patience you may find Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Rarities in the last year include Bittern, Spoonbill, Greenland White-fronted Geese, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Avocet and Grey Phalarope.

Other sites in the Hams with a similar array of species include: the Leigh Meadows beside the River Chelt upstream of Wainlodes by the Severn (a public footpath runs from Wainlodes to the A 38); the Severn Ham at Tewkesbury (footpaths all round); and the Sandhurst brickpits GWT reserve just north of Gloucester.