Up north.

For this years depression holiday, I visited my parents in south west Scotland, taking the opportunity to revisit a number of my old patches. I'm not sure whether it was down to the relatively mild weather (it reached double digits most days), but there were some significant changes in the 30 years since I regularly birded those area. There have been some notable increases - Barnacle Geese are far more common now (population up from about 3 - 4,000 to over 40,000), Little Egrets, Nuthatches and Magpies now resident. Bar-tailed Godwits have virtually dissapeared, to be replaced by Black-tailed Godwits. Duck and Gull numbers much reduced - no Potchard or Gadwall. Winter thrushes all but non existant - two sightings of single Redwings was all I could muster.

That said, I still managed some good sightings - all three regular Divers at Loch Ryan, along with Slave Grebes, Black Guillemots, Eider, Common Scoter, Scaup and Long-tailed Duck.  Green-winged Teal and Waxwing at Caerlaverock, Ring-necked Duck at Castle Douglas.

My ongoing attempts to add Golden Eagle to my British list were thwarted yet again when the weather didn't read the forecast - the forcast clear skys never materialised - any Eagle in the area would of needed to land virtually on the car for me to see it, thanks to thick low cloud! It didn't help that when I returned to my partents they informed me that they had had amost unbroken sunshine all day.

One pleasing sighting was 6 Twite flying over Seafield. There was a regular wintering flock in this area but it died out in the late 70's / early 80's.

 Pink-footed Geese, with a single Barnacle (there were more over the ridge) - an essential soundtrack to my youth as skeins regularly fly over town throughout the winter - around 300 flew over the house on Christmas Day morning. These were feeding less than a 1/4 mile from my former place of employment.

Drake Ring-necked Duck at Castle Douglas - the first bird I looked at on arrival

Upper Abercanaid

When I saw Martin's images I remember Mark pointing Hair Ice out to me when we used to survey Merthyr/Abernant tunnel for hibernating moths and bats. Quite a few specimens today noted east of tunnel along disused track to the Cyfarthfa Crossing (Parish Road east). Beware of motorcycles, several trees have been felled, amateur signage erected and the "We are not doing any harm brigade" have struck again!

Bryn du

 Hair Ice from yesterday walk and only my second time to see it .

I went to roberststown today and i found Hair  Ice in six different places and as Mark been giving me tips on looking for cobalt crust and i been looking low down and i found this bir about eight feet of the ground and on dead ivy and i hope to go back and take better shots .

Somewhere in Mount

I found this at a site near Mountain Ash, this afternoon. I had better not give the location on here, as this will probably be classed as a sensitive record and the exact site kept secret, so no guesses please.

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus (Golden-eye Lichen) The whole plant is only
15mm across.

As far as I know, this is only the second record of it in Wales.  It made my day.

Back to Porthcawl

I called in to Salt Lake Carpark to check the Gulls but the road was very busy and it was like every man and his dog was at the beach. There were only two gulls on site but when I took my loaf of whole brown bread out there were about a hundred gulls just like that. I felt like Paul Daniels. The Somerset gull was back and looking really good, I also found this first year Black headed Gull and it's 26TL and I will let you when I find out where its from. It's worrying how many gulls around with injured or no feet, I had two new ones today and one of them is a first year gull.

 Bad photo and first year bird in the centre.

 Great to see some of the Black Headed gull starting to colour up

 The very bright Sker House

There were three flocks of Golden Plover at Sker, a couple of Curlew and 4 Redshank and the most I have seen down here. Top birds seen being two Grey Plover and two Purple Sandpipers in with the Turnstone. Also at Pink Bay were two adult Med Gulls and two or three Common Gulls.

A Late Merry Christmas Lads and a Happy New Year

I had a quick walk around Aberdare park yesterday and it was nice to be out before the crazy days started. The lake looks the same as when the council started it with lots of mud with the water level still low and if this is the best they can do maybe they should have left it alone and full of water. I counted 14 Grey Squirrel as I went around and I saw some birds but it was mostly quiet. I had a flock of Gulls, there were about 50 Herring Gull and a single Lesser Black Backed Gull. The Redwing were nowhere to be seen and thats my moan over .

Abercwmboi Swan

I was working Abercwmboi today and saw the swans just before the rain came in and went home because it was too wet to work. When I got home I had a phone call to say another swan had flew into the powerlines and there was a big bang and it tripped the lights and sadly the swan was killed out right. I've just put a conplaint into Western Power and it will be intersting to see if they put those things on the lines so birds can see the lines.I went to see the swan today between showers and very sad sight and i could see the feather on the patch like snow and something has been eaten the head already and when i was walking under the powerlines i found the remains of the first swan and on a Positive not i so the lady who told  me yesterday and she said that  western power had email to say sorry and would try and put something on the line by the patch as soon as possible and could not do the bit running along the lake and it will be interesting here why they cannot .