Rhaslas

Found part of a short-eared owl wing this morning, appears to have been dismembered by a raptor, no damage to wing, parted from body by a smooth cut. Any ideas, I've had peregrine on site in the recent past. Also present; wigeon[12], goldeneye[10], tufted[3], pochard[1m], pair of stonechat and 5 skylark apparently on territory.

Hen Harrier

Had a message today from Marc Everett of male hen harrier at 13:35 hours, seen from the Beacons reservoir to Penderyn road. From description of location sounds like SN9410, but inside Powys, another HH I've missed this winter. Also messed up a 2007 moth record, see Glamorgan Moth Recording Group site, why I should have put my pin number down as my chestnut count is beyond me. HoHum

Birding pal

This is Jenny Welch she was my birding pal in Florida and was very up to date on the sites in the Kissimmee area and also good company.

musings on roosting gulls

I've always (well for the last few years since I moved up the valleys) thought that all the gulls around this area roosted on Pontstic' res, except their rare shift to Llwyn Onn. Walking home from the station this evening I noticed a group of large gulls flying down the Taf, from the Merthyr direction. In a 10 minute period I counted over 200 heading down the valley, towards Cardiff. I guess they were heading to roost in Cardiff Bay area as I can't think of any large water body that way before you hit the Bay. I've not noticed any significant movement og gulls down the valley previously, though I have noted gulls flying up the valley early in the morning., so it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. This number of gulls would constitute some 10% of the Pontstic' roost (Mike, correct me if I've got my maths wrong). A portion of the Merthyr feeding gulls roosting down the Bay would go some way to explain the occasional Great Black Backed, Yellow-legged, Iceland and Glaucous turning up in the area.

Why did the Partridge cross the Road?

As I had an athletics meet in Birmingham today, and needing to be there by 8:30am, I did my WeBS yesterday - no reappearance of last months Water Rail, but both pair of Dippers look to be well into breeding mode.(4 is an unusually high number, apparently for this species). After that I took a walk over to Nelson Bog where the highlight was 4+ Willow Tit.
On to today. The drive up to Birmingham was enlivened when a Red-legged Partridge walked across the M5, followed not long after when a Glossy Ibis flew across, the later about a half mile before the junction with the M5.
Athletics duties over by 11:30, and it was off to Hams Hall to catch up with the wintering Hume's Warbler. Park up, kit on, walk down to join the other birders, there it is, nice - and it more or less was about that quick. It certainly showed a lot better than the Dorset bird from a couple of years ago even though it wasn't that much closer. after watching the Hume's on and off for about half an hour, I spent an hour or so wandering around the area, but nothing of note was seen.
On the way home I pulled into Rhaslas (about 4:40) to see if any SEOs were making the most of the pleasant weather. Unfortunately, no SEO's, but there was a distant male Hen Harrier. Ducks on the pond were - Wigeon (21), Goldeneye (9), Goosander (5), Tufted duck (2). A single Curlew dropped into the pond, while overhead 100+ Carrion Crow, 1600+ Starlings and 2000+ Jackdaws were impressive. 

Pwll Waun Cynon Webs

After thinking about it for awhile I finally give myself a kick up the backside and got myself a WEBS count to do. The site I picked is Pwll Waun Cynon Nature Reserve ( Peace Park ) in Mountain Ash.

And what I glorious morning to do my first count, no wind, no rain just lovely bright sunshine, it was a really pleasure to be out and about.

Bird wise I managed 10 species which were Mallard x 7, Moorhen x 5, Coot x 2, Teal x 6, Water Rail x 1, Little Grebe x 1, Herring Gull x 2, Dipper x 2, Cormorant x 3 and Lesser Blacked Backed Gull x 1.

I then walked down the River Cynon which was still quite high after all the rain and therefore very quiet, the only bird of note was a Redhead Goosander just below Mountain Ash Bridge.

Happy Birthday Mike

I know many people will be surprised thinking that it happened about 10 years ago but Mike Hogan has reached another milestone today he has turned 65 and to be honest looking good for it.

So all together now

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Michael,
Happy Birthday to you 

With our voices it's better to write it than sing it to you.

Rob said it's his round next.