Ham & Cheese -

I've been long overdue my first visit to Ham Wall for sometime now. Having missed my chances to go for the autumn murmuration I told Jess we had to make a spring trip, and I'm glad we did! It was a scorching hot day and on arrival we were treated to views of a Great White Egret off the first observation point.


It was actual a bit of ornithological history in the making as it was one bird out of the UK's first breeding pair, which are nesting over at the neighboring reserve Shapwick Heath. We sat watching it eating our sandwiches and I shouted out as a Bittern flew past over the far side, Jess's first Bittern, albeit a distant one.





We explored some of the short trail hides and I'm sure I saw a distant Marsh Harrier. The reserve was stunning in the sunshine and we could see Glastonbury Tor from afar. Even the squirrels were out sunbathing on branches!

Cuckoo's were out in force with a few calling from distant parts of the reserve. Warblers, and especially Black Caps were plentiful and so were the Four Spotted Chasers! Plenty of fodder for the Hobbies.

I managed to see the Cuckoo perching on a dead tree on the red loop walk and a quick view of a Cetti's as we came back towards The Railway Inn for a cool pint of cola each. I was lucky enough to see a Weasel with what I think was a Great Tit in his mouth as I brought the car around to the car park.

After refreshments we walked down to explore some of Shapwick Heath, and saw what we think was the other Great White of the pair, along with more distant flying Bittern and our first Hobbies! By the time we had got around to the first hide we were altogether a bit too frazzled to be out in the sun much longer, and we headed around to see the Avalon Marshes Centre.

On the way home we drove through Cheddar, and visited the DWN peregrine site, and saw two juveniles testing out their wings on the steep cliff sides.













A stop at Cheddar reservoir cooled us down in the breeze, and there were plenty of Mallards and Swans, and this perky young Wagger, unfazed by the lapping waves -

The Circus Comes To Town - 25/05/2012

I had a day off today so I took myself off to the usual patch and just as I pulled into the lay-by at Sluice Farm, James text to say there was a Black Winged Stilt at Goldcliff! So I carried on driving on the coastal road and arrived there twenty minutes later to find it viewable from the first hide. It was over the other side of the lagoon but luckily Mat from the Wetlands was there with a scope. However I managed lots of distant shots (let down drastically by heat haze and well, the sheer distance!)


It was really interesting watching the Avocet driving away everything that came near, even a Heron three times their size, and any marauding gulls -

Fearing road closures because of the Olympic Torch relays I headed off but couldn't resist a quick exploration down Saltmarsh Lane on the off chance of some Marsh Harrier..

It was a stunning walk with the temperature easily in the high twenties, and there were plenty of smaller bodied birds in the lane, with plenty of Chiff Chaff, Linnet, Blue Tit, and Chaffinch. There were plenty of warblers to be heard too, and I had one short glimpse of a Reed Warbler.

And then I heard the Cuckoo.

I must have chased him up and down the lane for about 45 minutes before I could spot him perched up. After last weekend's brief sighting I was determined to get a positive ID, and I saw him fly over at one point, but it took a while to relocate him before I realised there were actually two calling nearby. This is the best shot I managed, the crafty thing was always one step ahead of me, and I think he managed to drive me a bit cuckoo myself to get this one!

 Just as I was heading off a saw a small family of Swans with some fluffy cygnets in the reen right by the small Saltmarsh Lane car park-

Newport Wetlands - 20/05/2012

The sun was shining this afternoon so we decided to try going to Newport Wetlands by driving along the coastal road. There were quite a lot of visitors around, but within minutes we heard and then saw a Sedge Warbler just up past the first screens inside one of the closed off areas. A female Pochard was keeping a close eye on her brood at the edge of the reed bed, and we were sure we saw a Cuckoo making a dash over the reeds after hearing one nearby.

The Owl and the Warbler - 19/05/2012

With the weather not so great today we decided to knock the idea of going down to Somerset on the head. Lamby Lake seemed to be heaving for some reason so we drove up the road on the off chance that the Little Owl was there and low and behold -

We then decided to have a wander around before heading back so we went up on to the wharf, and I'm very glad we did because I got this little beauty skulking in the scrub -

Of note were Whitethroats, Linnets, Lapwing, Shelduck, 4 Little Egret, and 2 close fly-by Swans from the wharf, and then Kes landed nearby at Sluice Farm -

Pie Round 2 - 14/05/2012

After being home for my mam's 60th Jess and I popped by the youth hostel woods in Brecon again to check in on the Pied Fly couple. I picked up the male immediately but did not see the female the entire time we were there, so I'm hoping she's sitting on eggs at this point. The male was on guard at all times, and this allowed chance for a couple of shots before leaving him be.

I had toil today after working at Kenfig on Saturday, so after a quick trip to the landfill I swung by Lamby Lake. There were plenty of male Reed Buntings and at least seven or so Reed Warblers in the area, another strange mallard and a family of Swans with seven cygnets in the small pool near the car park. I took the 75-300mm on the off chance that there would be a chance to get some better hand-held hirundine shots, and I had to get to grips with the manual focus to get any decent warbler shots, but it's all good practice!

Who wants Pie? - 06/05/2012

An early start and a drive-through McD's made sure we were up at Craig Cerrig Gleisiad for about 8.00 AM; not too bad for a bank holiday Sunday! We had two species to tick off in particular, Redstart and Pied Flycatcher. A quick detour to the wooded area opposite the lay-by near the youth hostel threw up a male and female Pied Flycatcher nesting in a small tree hole within ten minutes of looking for them. We watched the pair for about fifteen minutes before deciding to leave them to their nesting duties.

Craig Cerrig Gleisiad

A Tree Pipit was displaying by flying up into the air and singing on it's parachuting descent back to the top of nearby trees at the bottom of the reserve. The sun started to come out and the valley was filled with bird song. We racked up some good species, among the myriads of Meadow Pipits were Stonechat, Winchat, Raven, Buzzard and Willow Warbler.

Wheatear (F)

We took a path up around the bottom of the steep face, and around back left across the top, all the while keeping a look out for the Ring Ouzels that have been sighted there. We had no such luck with that, but two other birders we ran into on the way back said they had seen just the one near the bottom. We also found this little guy on the path on the way up -

A shrewd customer.

Stunning views greeted us at the top and there were nice views of Pen-y-Fan from different angles to the norm.

Back at the car park after a steep descent I finally spotted this little beauty out of the corner of my eye -

 A well deserved carvery at The Claude followed when we returned home!

Radyr Flood Plain - Bank Holiday 05/05/2012

The best of the bank holiday weekend weather is due for tomorrow morning, so that's when we have decided to make our trip to Craig Cerrig Gleisiad, but today Jess and I decided to go to visit the Radyr Flood Plain that Dan and Gethyn told me about. Even though it was a pretty grey day out I was prompted by seeing their post regarding their Redstart and Hobby sightings this morning. We weren't lucky enough to see either, but there were Willow Warbler and White Throat among the usual suspects.

However, without a doubt, pride of place goes to Jess's insects shots of the day:

They have come out amazingly well despite being shot without a specialised Macro lens!