Upper Boat

20+ Swift over Upper Boat this evening.

Newtown Quarry

A quick walk this afternoon to Newtown Quarry resulted in my first Wood Warbler of the year. Apart from that just the usual woodland species and loads of Orange Tip butterflies.

A pleasant surprise

cropped and slightly enhanced - my poor record shot from this afternoon at Llwyn Onn

a bit back to front

Normally our birding days start well and go down hill as it progresses. Today was different. Myself and Phil did a run round of all the current scarcities scoring with 4 of the 5 targets for the day.

The day started with a no show for the Phal' at Goldcliffe. It hadn't been seen since mid morning yesterday, so we hadn't been too hopeful. Compensation came in the form of a Crane flying over low. Phil did manage to pick up a couple of year ticks with Whimbrel, Barwit and LRP.

Next it was over to a new site for both of us, Pilling wetlands, to try for the Citrine Wags that had been o site for a couple of days. Not knowing the site, we parked in the wrong area, quite a walk away, but have learnt where we should have gone for a shorter walk. The Wagtail was reported as we got out of the car, but by the time we made it to the wetlands, it was a no show. Compensation came this time from a slightly dowdy looking male Whinchat. It took about 90 minutes for the Citrine to re-appear. Phil got onto it quickly but I struggled initially. Eventually I got onto the bird, before it flew closer giving crippling views.

Back over to Goldcliffe to give the Phal another go, drew a blank yet again, but the male Marsh Harrier put in a short cameo.

Next up was Peterson Gout, for the Green-winged Teal. Simples! Pull in to the Golf Club car park, walk over to the gout, a quick scan of the, very few, teal, and hew presto, GWT makes it onto the year list.

Finally, off to Cardiff Bay for the 2cy Bonaparte's Gull. A scan from the Ice rink failed to locate it, but walking round to Prospect Place, Graham Smith was already on the bird and we quickly got onto it for a fitting finale to a grand day out - were we barely go rained on - honest.

Spinning tops and bigger dragons

A bit late but I spent most of Tuesday around Newport area, twitching the Red-necked Phalarope at Goldcliffe, before wandering round Redbarns/Boat lane area then Uskmouth, before heading over to Magor Marsh.

The Phal was showing well much of the time in front of the first hide, usually with a group of Dunlin

Also from the hide was a distant male Marsh Harrier seen occassionally over the sea wall towards Boat Lane. The Glossy showed for a while before heading off to the floood meadows to feed.  I did a bash around the hedges looking for migrants, with no success, so decided not to wait for high tide, but head over to Boat Lane, then Uskmouth. As I left the Lesser Whitethroat called from just behind the first hide before fling across to a nearby Hawthorn, where it showed well.

Just as I got out of the car at Redhouse Barns two cuckoos flew over low, From the hide the Glossy was picked up, but there was no sign of the recent Garganey. The Male Marsh Harrier showed sparodically, but there was little else of note. A walk down Boat Lane produced a number of Whimbrel at the pill mouth. Walking back up the lane, a Hairy Dragonfly was found sunning itself, presumably recently emerged.

Over to Uskmouth, the Little Owls were a no show, with a very vocal Cuckoo also managing to avoid detection for quite a while. A Bittern boomed from the eastern reedbeds and a pair of Beardies showed verey briefly. Sedge Warblers were very vocal and visable. Unfortunately, the Back Kite that flew over Goldcliffe was not visable from Uskmouth.

Magor Marsh was typically quiet, but a reeling Gropper, was an addition to the year list, but there was a no show from Water Voles. A Hairy Dragonfly was partolling one of the flood meadows. A second Gropper could be heard from the car park as I was leaving.

Crazy Bank Holiday Weekend

On the weekend I did 2 surveys with Mark, one of the highlights was getting Ring Ouzel on the flat with no warbler neck or playing now I see you now I don't. At the end of the survey it really warmed up and not just the weather. We had the Ouzel for easily 10 minutes, it called every now and than when it was feeding and at the same time we were being serenaded by a Grasshopper Warbler. We watched for a bit but it did not show itself. We also had a pair of cuckoos fly right by, and earlier we had a Tree Pipit which was another first for the year.

After all the excitement I planned to do one of my Willow Tit surveys, all I needed was some AA Batteries for my Ipod speaker but little did I know all the shops were closed and that was the end of that. After I recharged my batteries I went up on the mountain behind Penywaun and it was like Gropper Central. I got three in an hour and I saw two of them, I also found a family party of Stonechats and a Emperor Moth flew past me but it did not stop arrrrr.

On the Monday me and my daughter  Kathryn went to Sker, we left just before 7 and the road was quiet so we got there pretty quick. Has I knew the high tide was just after 8 we headed straight to Sker Point and along the Golf Course there were Whitethroats everywhere. Half way along we could hear a Gropper calling from the dunes and near Sker House there was a Wheatear feeding with Linnets in a field. Also towards Sker I could see a flock of waders flying towards Porthcawl and I thought maybe Whimbrel but they were just too far to tell what they were and more to the point why did they took off. On getting to the point the sea was right in, some people are just so stupid, a woman was walking the tideline with her dog and I guess thats why there were no waders on the beach. We set ourselves up and had a brew and I checked the rocks on the point and found 8 Purple Sandpipers and a hand full of Turnstones with one of them in full breeding plumage and what a cracker it was. Has time went on Neil Donaghy turned up and he told me the mystery waders were Bar Tailed Godwits and 17 in total. Some were brick red and they flew around a couple of times before they left and going by what I saw from Sker House earlier I was not going to count them. Neil  also told me he had Whimbrel on the other point and when he left I thought I better go and check the other point but sadly no sign of them. Has I scanned the rocks a group of waders were flying up the channel really close and if by magic it was 5 Barwits, two in full summer plumage. I swear I almost burnt a hole in the knees of my trousers walking back to Sker. In the distant an even bigger flock of waders were flying high towards me and I thought the Goldies have gone but on looking closer they were Bar Tailed Godwits. I took a quick photo to count later and there were 51 and 40 were brick red. I heard later there had been even bigger numbers over the channel in England with over two hundred seen. Next up was to go back to Sker to look for my daughter and dog. I found them fairly quickly sitting by a rock pool and just over the top from them was a small group of waders sleeping. On getting closer I could see they were Purple Sandpipers and Turnstone and they did not seem worried by my daughter so I took a couple photos before we walked back.

Neil also told me to check the dune slacks as he had had a drake Garganey the day before but all I found was a moron with a camera trying to take photos of two pairs of Lapwing and you could see they must have chicks or eggs. Some people should leave the countryside to people who care. Kathryn said dad that man looks like he has got no clothes on and when  I looked he was naked alright and his wife walked behind him carrying his clothes like it was all the normal pmsl.

When we got back near the centre we saw a different man with a camera and on getting closer we could see a male Emperor Moth flying around him. It would not settle and flew of out sight and just behind him I saw a Weasel run across the path. Also calling was a Lesser Whitethroat and it took me minutes to find it and for a change it showed really well. Straight after I could hear a Sedge Warbler calling from the next bush over but that took a bit of time before it showed.

It was time to head back home and what a great weekend it was. Once home I had coffee and nipped back down to Tir Founder fields. As I walked down the causeway I could see a couple and a young boy feeding the ducks and swans but little did they know there was a Greylag Goose behind them  and I wished I could have videoed it.  They jumped a mile and ran off and left the big bag of bread on the path, I was weak and tried to keep a straight face and called to them to ask if the wanted their bread back and they said no. The little boy said will I feed them for him and he thanked me and they walked away .Well after that the male swan jumped out of the water and chased the the goose and ducks down the path and has this happened a couple teenages walked past and did not want to pass him. Back to the birds and the swan is still sitting tight on her nest and a pair of Grey Herons have built a nest in the middle of the pond and on the east back I picked up a Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler and spring seems to be flying along.

Thar be Dragons

A little late with my WeBS today - quite quiet, little about, though a single Reed Warbler was in the settling beds - no song or call and busy feeding, so might be just in, and a singing Garden Warbler.

What was nice was the first Damselflies of the year with at least a dozen Large Red Damselfly

Quick walk with Martin Bell this morning to CCG to look for Ring Ouzels. We didn't connect with them which is not a total surprise but more worrying was how quiet the quarry was in general and especially when you consider we did not get any Raven or Peregrine sightings.

At another site we had more luck with 5 Pied Flycatchers and 2 Marsh Tits also hearing a Cuckoo.

Garwnant and Cwm Cadlan on the way back produced nothing of note.

Cracking!

I spend a pleasant morning in the company of Martin Bevan, as we did our BBS upland square. It felt really strange to be stripping off fleeces and birding in shirtsleeves on this early visit - I can only recall doing that once before, in the twenty-odd years we've been doing that square.

As it was so warm from the start, we saw a Speckled Wood on the first leg, which is unheard of and also, a Brown Silver-line moth.

I had my first Swallows of the year and also my first Redstart on that first transect.

We had more Stonechats than you could shake a stick at, but it was all at once, near the end that we had our best birds We saw a Male Cuckoo, pursued by a female, flying past a little way off  but the best two birds I'll leave Martin to tell of, as it was he who found them.

From the top of Mynydd Merthyr, we could see a column of smoke from a mountain fire, somewhere over Maesteg way and at the top of it there appeared to be a Pyrocumulus cloud, though it wasn't typical, as it had been forced to spread out, due to the boundary of two thermal layers in the atmosphere. 

On the way back down, we saw a Common Heat moth and four more species of butterfly; these being Orange Tip, Small White , Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

While concentrating on watching the Small white, as it flew past, Martin stopped me and pointed down. There sunning itself on the forest road was a male Slow Worm. If Martin hadn't stopped me, I would probably have stepped on it.

Spring has finally arrived.

Having not been able to get out much in the last few weeks due to a combination of ill health and weather it felt good to get some exercise and some much needed sunshine during the last few days.

Year ticks observed were Willow Warbler, House Martin and this morning a lovely cooperative Grasshopper Warbler at Llanwonno. On Wednesday a lone Tufted Duck on Abercwmboi lake was a surprise.

Butterflies have been plentiful, year ticks were Brimstone (at last), Green Veined White and last Saturday Orange Tip. Lots of Peacocks around with smaller numbers of Speckled Wood, Small White and Small Tortoiseshell.

Ins and Outs

After my Heronry survey yesterday, it was down to Cardiff Bay where I eventually caught up with the Little Gulls - 2 adults. There may have been more but looking from Prospect Place across the bay into the low sun made viewing difficult.

After coaching I took the trip down to Kenfig, making may way out to the rivermouth/saltmarsh area. The Beach was devoid of waders, not even an Oyk!. Walking up to the marsh, a Reed Warbler was singing. Getting a view of the pools, quickly delivered the Great White Egret and a host of duck, mainly Gadwall, but the drake Garganey was quickly located. 2 female Garganey was also found.

From there I walked up the river, through the dunes, flushing 4 snipe., then across to the north of the pool. One of the flooded slacks had a LRP. OIn the east shore of the pool a Whimbrel and Common Sand were noted, both year ticks.

Today was a wander locally, taking in Coed Cefn-fforest and Parc Taf Bargoed. The walk up to CCF was enlived by a small flock of Fieldfare - 7 of them - flying over. Strangely they were heading in a south-westerly direction. CCF was fairly quiet, with only a single singling Redstart and Tree Pipit new in.

PTB, pulled in the goods when a Common Sand took off as I approached, only to land next to another Common Sand. A quick scan produced 3 further Common Sands, all lined up on a low wall. Clearly a major passage of Comm' Sands' was underway yesterday night.

Herons

I've been getting a little concerned for the Darren Heronry this year. On my first survey visit, back in Feb, I counted 6 confirmed nests and a total of 14 confirmed and possible nests. The confirmed 6 is about normal for the first visit, but the total was the highest I've logged for the site. All looking good.

Come late March and the second survey, produced only 2 active nests!. Both were tight sitting birds, so its very possible that the others were just hunkerd down out of sight - very easy at this colony in conifers.Early April vists, didn't produce any more, though that was a Wednesday evening and the light was piss poor. In these two watches (1 hr each ) no birds were noted flying in or out of the colony.

So an early morning visit was on the cards, to see if I could improve the numbers. So reasonably early - not quite in the Mark Evans Raven roost timings -  yesterday morning I was sat watching the sight. Confirmed nests were up to 5, with 5 further possible nests. One nest had young, not quite half grown, so some success, but, again no adult birds were noted flying in/out during my hour watch.

Garden birding

While making a cuppa in my mums yesterday i did a double take as i saw a male Redstart in her garden what a cracker also male and female Blackcap,almost into double figures for the year now.

Weekend roundup

I headed down the Gower early saturday morning before coaching to tick a plant - quite a rare plant, only found in the UK around the Gower, Yellow Whitlow-grass. I had looked for it previously on my wanderings around various headlands but I understood that it was difficult to find as it was restricted to cliffs where the sheep couldn't graze the plants. Or so I thought! until a recent blog mentioned it was common on the walls of Pennard Castle. So it was to Pennard Castle I went, and Yellow Whitlow-grass was very numerous on the bare castle walls from ground level upwards.

 Quite a smart little plant, and it followed on from my first sighting of Common Whitlow-grass only a couple of weeks ago, but a species I have seen in a number of places since.

On the bird front, the only birds of note were a small group of Common Gulls with one Med Gull.

Sunday was earmarked for my second National Willow Tit survey. This didn't start well with no response from my first tetrad - a single female responded on my first visit. The wind was quite strong, so that may have played a part.

Onto my second tetrad and the wind dropping. This was more productive with two males located, both however in the Powys section to the north of Garwnant. Both responses were at locations which produced nothing the first time round. The first responding bird came straight in scolding and looking for a fight. The second was quietly singing before I played the tape. It came in, but never close, and remained singing. From the reactions I suspect the first was mated with a female, probably on the nest, with the second an unpaired bird.

Over the two visits this tetrad has returned birds at four different sites, and from the reactions of the bird I suspect 3 males and a female. Along with the 3-4+ suspected pairs in the Glamorgan section of the Garwnant forestry (extending to Merthyr itself), this area is clearly the species stronghold in south Wales.

Away from the Willow Tits, highlights included a juv Crossbill and a Red Kite making off with what looked very like a snake in it's talons.

RNs and RZs

It was a chilly old Raven count, this morning and a bit disappointing; with the second lowest ever April count. March and April are usually months with low counts, as the breeding pairs have all left the roost, but even so, a count of 54 was a bit low.
Low though it was, could it be part of a pattern? The chart below seems to show a series of fluctuations in the April, non breeders.

As the count was fizzling out, I heard a Ring Ouzel making its 'Chack-Chack' call and saw two of them fly out from gorse to far away, then head up the hill and over the brow.
A few minutes later, as I packed my stuff up and headed up the track, back to the car, I heard one again and saw it settle on top of a stunted pine, on the brow of the hill, then shortly afterwards appear on a Rowan about ten metres away from me, where it called several times, before flying down into some dense gorse. I didn't see or hear anything more from it after that.
Given its close proximity to me, I had really crap, into the sunrise silhouette views of it, but got the impression that the it was a female.