Saturday, 25 May 2019
Great to see some Butterflies out
Thursday, 23 May 2019
Mini trip report - Lithuania
Just back from a long weekend in Lithuania. The main purpose was to support athletes racing for Gb in Euro Team Championships, but had time for some birding/psl'ing.
I was based in the Alytus area, in the south east of the country. The first birding stop was on my way from Kanaus airport to Alytus, stopping at a smallish lake/marsh at Kasoniu. The edge of the lake reverberated to the sound of Pool Frogs with a backdrop of several Sedge and Savi's Warblers. Mute Swans, Mallards and Coot were the only waterfowl (OK, so Coots aren't waterfowl). Two Marsh Harriers hunted over the larger, eastern part on the site. Walking over to that side, a couple of Yellowhammer sang from the roadside copse, to be joined by a Thrush Nightingale (Sprosser), which typically couldn't be located. A Crane and a couple of White Stork hunted in the fields surrounding the marsh/lake, with a single Common Tern and a couple of Black-headed Gulls.
On to my accommodation in a little village not too far from Alytus, Venciunai, with another Sprosser audible from the hotel, whilst House Martins hawked round the village. Fieldfare were proving to be the default thrush for the country. Walking over to Alytus to meet up with friends and a beer/meal, the local fields were home to good numbers of Whinchat and Skylark. A small pond, held a female Goldeneye. The woods around the edge of Alytus held several Sprossers singing away, with a few Wood and Garden Warblers. Black Redstarts, Tree and House Sparrows were frequent. Only in the deeper wooded area did Blackbirds become apparent. Into Alytus and Redstarts started to appear. After a good meal and a few beers I walked home in the dark, stopping a few times to listen to the Sprossers.
Day 2, Sunday. Race day so a quick walk over to Alytus, with the only new birds for the trip being a couple of Rook and a Meadow Pipit. A break in the middle of the day saw me watch a territorial dispute between three male Redstarts in a city park. The evening walk home was enlivened with a fly over roding Woodcock - not bad for a city park!
Day 3, Monday. A day birding. I set off early for the Zuvinto Biosphere Reserve - a massive wetlands area edged on one side by mature forest. Arriving at 6 I spent most of the nest 6 hours walking the short boardwalk and standing in the excellent hide. Wildfowl were surprisingly thin on the ground. Greylag Geese and Mute Swans were common, Mallards a bit less so. After that it was a single Pochard, Tufted Duck, Wigeon and Shoveler. A large, scattered, breeding colony of Black-headed Gulls was located across the open water, but marsh terns were notable by their absence. Eventually a couple of Black Terns dropped in and slowly the numbers grew to include Whiskered and White-winged Terns. These soon dissappeared with individuals arriving and leaving almost all the time.
In the surrounding reed bed, Sedge Warbler was the default warbler, but a very showy Savi's kept me entertained as it sang from an exposed perch.
The boardwalk provided great views of a Lesser Whitethroat - down to less than 2m from me, and a very showy Marsh Warbler. Several Sprroser sand and a vigil eventually was rewarded with excellent views of one individual singing away in a willow.
Several Great White Egret's were noted and numerous Bittern's heard, but, surprisingly, no Grey Heron's. Whilst over the reed beds several Marsh Harriers could be seen virtually every time I scanned over. Best of all was a male Monties that flew almost directly over me. A distant White-tailed Eagle and a couple of distant Buzzard, summed up the raptor.
I was however, surprised not to hear any Cuckoo's or Corncrakes.
In the afternoon, it was a walk over to Alytus for an explore of the woodland, a late lunch / early tea before heading back for an early night. The woodland diddn't produce much in addition except a couple of Great Reed Warblers in reeds alongside a lake in the woods. The woods did produce a singing Cuckoo.
Non avian highlights included several Bird's-nest Orchids, wild Lily-of-the-valley and Solomon's-deal and a Smooth Ground Beetle.
Day 4, Tuesday. My last day so I spent the early part of the morning exploring the roards around the village - in the forlone hope of finding Corncrake. No Corncrake, but found a few more Marsh Warblers, several Red-backed Shrikes, my first Blue-headed Wagtails, a couple of Icterine Warblers, a Barred Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers.
All in 85 species of bird, not bad for a short, non-birding (is there such a thing?) trip.
I was based in the Alytus area, in the south east of the country. The first birding stop was on my way from Kanaus airport to Alytus, stopping at a smallish lake/marsh at Kasoniu. The edge of the lake reverberated to the sound of Pool Frogs with a backdrop of several Sedge and Savi's Warblers. Mute Swans, Mallards and Coot were the only waterfowl (OK, so Coots aren't waterfowl). Two Marsh Harriers hunted over the larger, eastern part on the site. Walking over to that side, a couple of Yellowhammer sang from the roadside copse, to be joined by a Thrush Nightingale (Sprosser), which typically couldn't be located. A Crane and a couple of White Stork hunted in the fields surrounding the marsh/lake, with a single Common Tern and a couple of Black-headed Gulls.
On to my accommodation in a little village not too far from Alytus, Venciunai, with another Sprosser audible from the hotel, whilst House Martins hawked round the village. Fieldfare were proving to be the default thrush for the country. Walking over to Alytus to meet up with friends and a beer/meal, the local fields were home to good numbers of Whinchat and Skylark. A small pond, held a female Goldeneye. The woods around the edge of Alytus held several Sprossers singing away, with a few Wood and Garden Warblers. Black Redstarts, Tree and House Sparrows were frequent. Only in the deeper wooded area did Blackbirds become apparent. Into Alytus and Redstarts started to appear. After a good meal and a few beers I walked home in the dark, stopping a few times to listen to the Sprossers.
Day 2, Sunday. Race day so a quick walk over to Alytus, with the only new birds for the trip being a couple of Rook and a Meadow Pipit. A break in the middle of the day saw me watch a territorial dispute between three male Redstarts in a city park. The evening walk home was enlivened with a fly over roding Woodcock - not bad for a city park!
Day 3, Monday. A day birding. I set off early for the Zuvinto Biosphere Reserve - a massive wetlands area edged on one side by mature forest. Arriving at 6 I spent most of the nest 6 hours walking the short boardwalk and standing in the excellent hide. Wildfowl were surprisingly thin on the ground. Greylag Geese and Mute Swans were common, Mallards a bit less so. After that it was a single Pochard, Tufted Duck, Wigeon and Shoveler. A large, scattered, breeding colony of Black-headed Gulls was located across the open water, but marsh terns were notable by their absence. Eventually a couple of Black Terns dropped in and slowly the numbers grew to include Whiskered and White-winged Terns. These soon dissappeared with individuals arriving and leaving almost all the time.
In the surrounding reed bed, Sedge Warbler was the default warbler, but a very showy Savi's kept me entertained as it sang from an exposed perch.
The boardwalk provided great views of a Lesser Whitethroat - down to less than 2m from me, and a very showy Marsh Warbler. Several Sprroser sand and a vigil eventually was rewarded with excellent views of one individual singing away in a willow.
Several Great White Egret's were noted and numerous Bittern's heard, but, surprisingly, no Grey Heron's. Whilst over the reed beds several Marsh Harriers could be seen virtually every time I scanned over. Best of all was a male Monties that flew almost directly over me. A distant White-tailed Eagle and a couple of distant Buzzard, summed up the raptor.
I was however, surprised not to hear any Cuckoo's or Corncrakes.
In the afternoon, it was a walk over to Alytus for an explore of the woodland, a late lunch / early tea before heading back for an early night. The woodland diddn't produce much in addition except a couple of Great Reed Warblers in reeds alongside a lake in the woods. The woods did produce a singing Cuckoo.
Non avian highlights included several Bird's-nest Orchids, wild Lily-of-the-valley and Solomon's-deal and a Smooth Ground Beetle.
Day 4, Tuesday. My last day so I spent the early part of the morning exploring the roards around the village - in the forlone hope of finding Corncrake. No Corncrake, but found a few more Marsh Warblers, several Red-backed Shrikes, my first Blue-headed Wagtails, a couple of Icterine Warblers, a Barred Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers.
Monday, 13 May 2019
Just to make Phil jealous
On the bank holiday Monday I decided to have another go to try to find Lay's Whitebeam. This time focusing on Darren Fach side of the valley. It took a while, but eventually I managed to get to a cliff edge with lots of trees. Mainly Rowan, Oak, Yew and Lime. I initially thought the Lime were Small-leaved Lime, the native spp, as habitat and range were spot on. The leaves were small, but this is not a reliable indicator. Turning the leaves over, instead of tufts of brown hairs, it was white hairs. The lack of prominent cross veins indicated it was the hybrid Tilia x vulgaris. A bit of a surprise as this is thought not to occur away from urban areas.
Walking along the ridge and suddenly next to me I was looking at the leaves of the target species - arguably the rarest plant in the World with only 16 known specimens in the wild. (somewhat dwarfed by estimates of a couple of hundred graffed sapplings at the National Botanical Garden for Wales, any no doubt making this no longer the rarest plant in the World!).
Why is this making Phil jealous?
On the walk back I almost stood on this Emperor
Walking along the ridge and suddenly next to me I was looking at the leaves of the target species - arguably the rarest plant in the World with only 16 known specimens in the wild. (somewhat dwarfed by estimates of a couple of hundred graffed sapplings at the National Botanical Garden for Wales, any no doubt making this no longer the rarest plant in the World!).
Why is this making Phil jealous?
On the walk back I almost stood on this Emperor
All Dotted out
Sunday, 5 May 2019
larking about
I think I might have been op and out before Mr Evans this morning, as I looked to enjoy the Dawn Chorus. I had been asked to co-lead a Dawn Chorus walk at Parc Taf Bargoed, they were meeting at 5:30, but I wanted to be out before the sky started to get light, so it was 3:30 when I left home.
The first highlight was my first living Hedgehog for years. The first inkling of dawn could be seen at around 4am, which was accompanied by two Tawny Owls. Soon the Robins and Blackbirds started up, but these had more or less finished by the time the guided walk started.
The 5:30am must have been too early for most as only the assistant warden, and organiser, Ai-Lin was there for the walk. Making the most of it, we went into CCF, where after most of the familiar species, I picked up the first of 3 Wood Warblers - a lifer for Ai-Lin. Overall it was quite quiet, so we made our way round the lake and settling beds. 3 Reed Warblers, is par for the course at the settling beds these days, but it was nice to see that 3 singing males were on site as a number of reed beds had been cut down last winter.
After Ai-Lin went too work, I returned to CCF, where I increased the number of singing Wood Warblers to 4, A singing Pied Fly, was defenately a bonus - I've only ever recorded females in this wood previously (albeit one was feeding a youngster). At the top end of the Wood, I found a small group of Green Hairstreaks - a site tick for me here.
A boggy area in the wood contained lots of Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage and the one next to my foot drew my attention, I picked, turned it over and - hey presto, several patches of spores from the scarce fungi Puccinia chrysosplenii. Just to be sure I brough it home and stuck the spores under the microscope to confirm id. Just as I was leaving the wood, a male Garden Warbler showed whilst singing.
Back round the lake and settling beds, and insect life was much greater than it had been, with numerous Water-cress, Mint and Dock leaf beetles. Sadly no Damselfies or Dragonflies. A couple of new fungi though in the form of Buttercup Smut, Urocystes ranunculi, and Willowherb Rust, Puccinia pulverulenta.
The first highlight was my first living Hedgehog for years. The first inkling of dawn could be seen at around 4am, which was accompanied by two Tawny Owls. Soon the Robins and Blackbirds started up, but these had more or less finished by the time the guided walk started.
The 5:30am must have been too early for most as only the assistant warden, and organiser, Ai-Lin was there for the walk. Making the most of it, we went into CCF, where after most of the familiar species, I picked up the first of 3 Wood Warblers - a lifer for Ai-Lin. Overall it was quite quiet, so we made our way round the lake and settling beds. 3 Reed Warblers, is par for the course at the settling beds these days, but it was nice to see that 3 singing males were on site as a number of reed beds had been cut down last winter.
After Ai-Lin went too work, I returned to CCF, where I increased the number of singing Wood Warblers to 4, A singing Pied Fly, was defenately a bonus - I've only ever recorded females in this wood previously (albeit one was feeding a youngster). At the top end of the Wood, I found a small group of Green Hairstreaks - a site tick for me here.
A boggy area in the wood contained lots of Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage and the one next to my foot drew my attention, I picked, turned it over and - hey presto, several patches of spores from the scarce fungi Puccinia chrysosplenii. Just to be sure I brough it home and stuck the spores under the microscope to confirm id. Just as I was leaving the wood, a male Garden Warbler showed whilst singing.
Back round the lake and settling beds, and insect life was much greater than it had been, with numerous Water-cress, Mint and Dock leaf beetles. Sadly no Damselfies or Dragonflies. A couple of new fungi though in the form of Buttercup Smut, Urocystes ranunculi, and Willowherb Rust, Puccinia pulverulenta.
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