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In Our Nature CIC

Happy New Year

Well, considering my last blog was titled ‘I’m back’ all the way back in February, I wouldn’t take this blog very serious if it involves speaking about my goals for 2024, as they never seem to materialise lol..

As soon as the breeding season hits, my work load just skyrockets and I rarely get the time to do photography and sound recording anymore, let alone blog. We all need money though and without it I couldn’t do all these wonderful things anyway. Gear is so expensive these days and with constant new innovations, there’s always something to spend money on..

Photography


Below, seems like a lot of photos but most of these images were taken on just a handful of trips and most from the comfort of my garden for the latter half of the year.

Skomer Island was certainly highlight, which it always is, but every trip to the coast is uplifting.
Otherwise, I spent my usual free time over the summer months monitoring over 20 pairs of Nightjar and Long-Eared Owls, both for personal and licensed work. Overall though I spent more time searching new areas than I did re-visiting old ones. For instance I spent a fair few hours in search of Club-tailed Dragonflies along the River Usk, (with no luck might I add) but if you don’t look, you don’t find, and I’m not afraid of going home empty handed anymore. A recent trip to Whiteford point was a nice refreshing example of that for me, as I left the camera at home. It’s nice to be free of that pressure of ‘getting nice images’ and just enjoying yourself, being outdoors and taking it all in. Strip yourself back and leave the camera at home, it’ll do you the world of good. Oh, and buy yourself a pair of binoculars if you’re still relying on other people finding the good stuff for you ;)

New Home & Garden

Amongst everything else, the new house has taken priority above all this year, with so much that needs doing. The Garden being the biggest project left to complete, with every single bit of wood, completely rotten, so it needs to go. Some how though, I did find the time to dig a pond, which actually resulted in me getting a mega garden tick in the form of an Osprey!! lol. Would upload the phone video but internet is terrible here. So here are some funny progress pics instead and a screen grab of the Osprey.

Sound Recording

My sound recording journey this year really paints more of a picture of the seasons than any of my photographs do really. Even though I still wish I had more time for it, with sound, you don’t just need free time, you need good weather, so it’s even harder to find those windows of opportunity. Low wind is my friend though, no matter what the temp, even if it's wet, if it’s windy, it’s hard to work around with a parabolic dish.

The first recording of spring migrants for me this year was this Tree Pipit, at a time were there really wasn’t very many in the county yet, this guy was pumping it out on a clearfel.

Skipping ahead, it’s always nice to hear the sound of mammals. They’re a difficult subject to record as you may have one in front of you but there’s no guaranty you’ll get any vocals, so with mammals like this Water Shrew, you just have to make the most of the opportunity you’re given. This was during a Lapwing Survey on the Gwent Levels.

Whilst in full swing of the busy season, spring migration can turn up anything but I don’t think anybody was expecting a few Great Reed Warblers, and this has got to be one of my favourites of the year, even though I didn’t get a very good image, the sound recording was far more impressive and it’s not very often you’ll get a nice singing male performing like this in the Uk. Another first for me from Hamm Wall Nature Reserve. Does this beat the River Warbler from last year? I’ll post that recording below so you can compare ;)

This was always going to be a length blog… Below, an annual trip to hear the Nightingales at highnam woods is turning out to be a little bitter-sweat, as whilst I absolutely love hearing them, it’s so annoying that the woods are so close to the road and there really is no escaping that sound. If there’s one thing i’d love todo in 2024, it’s find a better location to record these fast declining species.

A few of licensed Long-eared Owl work this year

I think I’ll leave it there lol, trying to cram in what should have been several blogs into one but I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to at-least some of it. If any, listen to this garden warbler with a good pair of headphones. They’ve got to be one of my favourite songsters. That tonality just carries itself and needs no accompany.

In Our Nature CIC

Just a final plug for my business, ION is still doing really well and has been so busy this year, running weekly guided walks since April. The project ‘Take A Moment’ was granted in April and is running to April 2024! So if you haven’t got on the band wagon yet, check out our What’s On Page. We’ll be running plenty more specialist Saturday events too, with Fungi, Otters, Tree ID, Spring Flowers, Bird Song and many more that have been quite popular so far. Here’s some pictures of our events, mostly of the back of my head lol. Quite proud of the amount we’ve achieved this year, with the new house, ontop of all my ecology work in the private sector, Bats, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibian work. It’s been a crazy one, but all worth it.

Happy New Year all, hope you all have a fantastic 2024, especially if 2023 has been a difficult one for you. Now get outdoors and enjoy the planet before we screw it up even more!! The clock is ticking.

I'm Back!

Photography and Updates


Honestly, I didn’t realise I had that many readers but I’ve been asked quite a few times now why I haven’t been posting for a while, so here’s a quick update. I’ve been moving home over Christmas, which hasn’t been the smoothest process, having had todo most of the actual moving myself, with a herniated disk and two lumps on my spine, so that wasn’t fun, but it’s all done now! We’re settled in, just got a loong list of things to fix or replace on the new house but all doable work. Despite it being cold outside right now, signs of spring are really showing and I really wanted to focus on these signs this year, as for me, they are the highlight of this time of year.

A goal of mine has always been to record the sound of Frogs Croaking / Spawning, but I haven’t had the right location or a gap in the weather just yet, but I did manage to have a great photography session with my Amphibian specialist friend Michael Rodgers. I remembered an old spot that I had previous success from, so thought we’d give it a go and was shortly rewarded with several males and females popping their heads up to keep an eye out. Must admit these are some of my best Frog images I’ve ever taken, capturing them spawning, mating and croaking, painting a true picture of the atmosphere that filled the pond. I’ve thrown in a few images from my travels, usually between work breaks on the Gwent Levels, with Magor Marsh and my home Garden being my go-to break time locations at the minute. Despite several ill-health moments over Christmas, with Viruses, Shingles, and my usual health issues, I’m back at my ecology work, mostly on the Gwent Levels but in the uplands of Swansea soon too, not to mention the Bat season is fast approaching so it’ll all be chaos soon again!

Here’s the shortest video in history to make up for the lack of sound recording gear! That Croak is epic :)

Sound Recording

I’ve done very little this winter, as it’s been quite a windy one! Here’s a recording of 50mph gusts from the backdoor of my new home to prove it!

But still, signs of spring started quite early in the year, with short windows of southerly winds spurring some early spring songsters into action:

These last two recordings I’ll revisit in a future blog, as the mimicry in these two very different species of bird, is spectacular and whilst the Starling is very well known for mimicking, I think the Siskin can give it a run for its money!

This year I also intend on doing more ambient recordings, and I’m off to a good start with some Wave recordings at Goldcliff, and River Recordings along the Usk. These recordings directly tie into my Mental Health company called In Our Nature CIC, which I’ll give updates on also below.

Glad I brought the Dish on this river visit as further upstream there were two Oystercatchers chasing each other around, so I was able to continue recording the river sound with a stereo pair of mics, whilst also pointing my parabolic dish upstream to capture the echoing sound of the Oystercatchers as they flew up and down.

In Our Nature CIC

We’re kicking this year off with a bang! No thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund which has allowed us to continue offering our services to the public, totally FREE of charge. You can expect weekly walks, special events, everything from Birdsong Identification to Tree’s, Otters, Bats and Flowers, keep an eye on our website for more details or head over to our Facebook group. The project is called ‘Take A Moment’ which is a fitting title that encapsulates our message that we’re trying to send thru our company. We could all do with Taking A Moment this year with nature, as the mental and physical benefits aren’t just incredible beneficial to us, but they’re absolutely free!!

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In Our Nature CIC

Be sure to check out my business In Our Nature CIC as we roll out free online workshops and downloadable resources, as part of our Heritage Lottery funded project My Local Patch.

We have a few dates for the diary, which were intended on being outdoor workshops originally but we’re having to adapt like many other businesses and provide our workshops online. It’s all new for us so bare with us as we digitise all our material. It’s the perfect time to celebrate our local patches, and be thankful for the things we do have on our doorstep during these difficult times.

Naturally I’ve diverted a lot of my time over to In Our Nature, which is another reason why I’ve focused so much on sound recording the last year, to increase my sound library to produce content that will be beneficial for educational purposes and therapeutic, as the sounds of nature really do have a positive impact on peoples mental health. That sense of freedom, roaming your favourite forest straight after a long lockdown is one of the biggest releases and I cannot wait to be able to travel again for that reason alone. For now I’ve been exploiting local patches, getting up that extra bit early to avoid the sounds of traffic, which isn’t always achievable but I’ve done my best. Local Marsh Tit’s were a real nice surprise, especially as they appeared to be paired up and singing. Generally though I’m just happy to start hearing more birds singing.

One interesting songster came in the form of this Chaffinch, which gave a little ‘brrrrrrr’ type trill at the start, as if it were warming up the vocals before giving it the full shebang.

Nocmig

I haven’t posted any updates on my nocturnal migration progress for a while, but I’m still at it!
So much to talk about I don’t even know where to start, but I hope to reveal some mystery files soon once I’ve got them approved but so far, a few good movements of Song Thrush, small numbers of Redwing, but the Mallards, Moorhens, Coots and Oystercatchers have began. I know as soon as I start to get Oystercatchers going over the house it’s game on.

I’ll end with some random doorstep photos, in what has been a variable and unpredictable few months of weather so far this year.

Seasonal Greetings

Summary

What a year it’s been. The impact of 2020 will be felt for a long time I’m sure, but I do believe there’s been some important lessons for us all this year. I had a very scary experience with Covid in April, being hospitalised twice, and despite coming out the other end, it’s been months before I’ve felt some what myself again. I have been very lucky, and I think that’s the whole point with this virus as it affects everyone differently. To think that there are still sceptic people out there who deny the very reality of Covid, just because there remains a cloud of mystery around how data is interpreted. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about how accurate the death counts were, people ARE dying and HAVE died from this virus, and that should be enough for people to start thinking about their actions. That doesn’t mean living in fear, it means proactively making decisions to minimise risks. That is literally all we can do. I think the government have had to make very difficult decisions this year, for the economy and peoples wellbeing. Do I think they made all the right decisions? of course not. There were times that too much trust was given to the people, and there were times where we weren’t given enough trust., timings were never perfect, typically too late to act but sometimes too early. Ultimately though, the power always remained in own hands and if we all continue to make sensible decisions, that doesn’t put others at risk, then that is all we can do. I really do feel for people who’s careers have been put on hold, kids that have lost out on a basic education and the amount of pressure put on small businesses, people who are self-employed or rely on face-face interactions to do their Job. I can’t imagine what you’ve all had todo in order to survive this. Of course some people simply haven’t, and are continuing to find their way out the other end of this long tunnel, but I do believe this will come to an end. Who would have thought we’d already have a vaccine? Am I sceptical about how fast it’s been produced and approved? Not at all. Will I have a vaccine if they become available to public? without a doubt, because I do not what to catch that virus again. If there is anything we had to succeed in as a race, it was this. We’ve overcome so much in our history already and I’m sad to say, this will unlikely be the last. We’re going to face big challenges in the future, with even greater stakes on the table. Climate change is catching up with us but all we can do is work together and great things can be achieved.

Willow Tit

So what else has 2020 produced? Well, conservation partners like the RSPB, BTO, WWT, DAERA, JNCC, NatureScot, NE and NRW have all worked together to compiled a ‘State of the Uk’s Bird’s 2020’ report.
It’s worth a read so here’s the link to BTO’s website, on which you can download the report yourself.
We all new species are declining all over the world.

One of the many declining species on the report, was the Willow Tit, which is now Britains fastest declining native species. This news comes just in time as one of our last breeding sites in Gwent has been decimated, so much so that there’s not even a stump left of what was perfect habitat. Enquiries are underway as to how and why this has happened. Thankfully, the site is located in Gwent’s largest forest ‘Wentwood’, so I can only hope the birds that did breed there, have found a suitable alternative elsewhere in the forest. Prior to knowing about the destruction of this breeding site, I found not one, but 3 Willow Tit’s, feeding and following each other around at a new spot in the forest. The habitat isn’t perfect, but it has a mixture of tree’s that will become much more suitable in the next few years. One of the three birds was actually singing, which is early as they don’t usually start till January, but temps so far this winter have been quite mild. I also managed to capture a sound that as apparently been undocumented before, which I’m told is an aggressive ‘warble’ described in old text to have a ‘nightingale feel’. I mistook this sound at first as being some sort of courtship contact call, as it was following what I thought was a female, but it could of actually been another male as I’ve been told that they also flock up in the winter, typical behaviour from the ‘Tit’ family.

Their song though is quite beautiful, and one I won’t mistake if I heard it again.

Looking Back

It seems to be a trend to look back on the years achievements, and despite all odds, it’s actually been a very productive year for me. Developing my sound recording has been both a therapeutic exercise to improve my own wellbeing between lockdowns, but it’s also been an opportunity to develop ideas that supports my new, collaborative business ‘In Our Nature CIC’. We’re so excited to be kicking off 2021 with our first project, which has been supported by HLF Funding. The Project is called ‘My Local Patch’ and you’ll be able to learn more about it here. Soon we’ll have a members area for participants of the project where you’ll be able to download resources and get involved in our workshops between now and the end of March. You can show your interest by creating an account on the website, so we know who you are and can invite you to events. Otherwise keep an eye out on our Facebook group
It’ll depend on Covid guidelines as to how we run this project but we’re hoping that it has a little of something for everyone.

I think we’ve all had our mental health tested this year. We’re not built for confinement, we need the outdoors, which is why we encourage everyone to make the most of each opportunity we get to enjoy our green spaces. This is where sound recording’s come into play though, as there are people who are stuck indoors, so to be able to listen to nature at home can be a powerful thing.

Watch this space: https://www.inournaturecic.co.uk

I've had lots of memorable moments with nature this year, most of which have been without the camera to be honest, but despite getting many planned Nightjar shots, it was this unplanned scene that was my favourite. I’ve learned quite a bit this year about the requirements and preferences of Nightjar, why they choose certain spots over others and what they do in all kinds of different weather conditions. They are quite incredible birds and can be some what predictable once you know what they require, but this spot was totally out of the blue and the last place I expected to find her as it was right out in the open. This was post-breeding, so I suspect she was enjoying the open area for a change after spending most of the year sat in wet poo on the ground from the youngsters.

Some of the biggest highlights though have most certainly been whilst sound recording.
As horrific as it was, for the first time in centuries the world was almost faced with complete silence with no cars on the road, no planes in the air and factories closed. Just sticking your head out the window was very strange and people were starting to notice the sounds of birds once again. Suddenly peoples Gardens become more important than ever, as people fed their garden birds and appreciated what they had in their doorstep.

I was lucky to still be working at that point, as I work alone in the countryside so no risks of social engagement. Farmers were still working though, so I couldn’t escape that sound, but considering this recording was taken under a mile away from what would otherwise be a raging sound from the M4 motorway, I was amazed I was able to capture such a peaceful recording of this Grasshopper Warbler:

Another lockdown magical moment was with a pair of displaying lapwing on the gwent levels. The only sound of man came from a nearby farm but the location was otherwise deadly silent, so much so that you could hear the wingbeats of passing Bats! It was insanely quiet and a moment I will never forgot.

I had many throughout the year, too many to share but here’s a Nightjar, Cuckoo, Pied Flycatcher and a Weasel, which was one of many mammals I got to record this year, like Water Shrew, Wild Boar, and a few Bat species too.

The list is too long for me to chose but I think you get the picture. We have almost come full circle and soon spring will be here. I hope this spring will be the release we all need but if we are back in lockdown once again, just think about the peace that wildlife will get during that time of silence. I hope 2021 you’ll be able to find your own tranquility in this busy world.

Wild Boar Humbug Hug 6th March copy.jpg





Winter Thrushes

It’s been another random month so far, with Lockdown restrictions disrupting day-to-day lives yet again. There seems to be a lot more uncertainly this time around, with localised restrictions. Especially for people who live on the edge of county boarders who aren’t able to travel under a mile in one direction, yet people from the other-side of the country can travel there no problems . Well of course all that’s changing now, and about time it was really as it’s no longer about everyone being in the same boat, it becomes a little bit more about pot-luck as to where you live, as people living on the board-line will feel these restrictions even more frustrating. Of course it’l all be worth it in the long run, so long as everyone plays their part and doesn’t stretch things too far. Though I do think if the Government acted faster in the first place, they may have been able to avoid a second outbreak entirely.. I’m lucky that my Job gets me out of the county a little, whilst my survey work on the gwent levels continues. Here are some photos of a very mixed autumn so far. Not much on the photography side of things but I’m fine with that as it’s meant spending more time birding, sound recording and generally just being outdoors and learning more about the natural world.

Nocmig

This has been thee month for Nocmig recordings it would seem, as the winter thrushes arrive, the time spent going thru my nocturnal recordings has almost tippled, largely due to the sheer quantity of Redwing but also because the winds are up, and my neighbours wind chimes make it even harder to pick out the birds.
I’m trying to not let it get to me though as I’m as determined and committed as ever to these recordings.
It’s truly amazing what you get over your house at night. So far this month I’ve had a total of 686 Redwing, 118 Song Thrush, 37 Blackbird, 4 Fieldfare, 8 Robin, 5 Dunlin, 1 Wigeon Flock, Grey Heron, Curlew and I’m yet to total up the amount of Goldcrest calls as I had a huge movement of them in one night, made difficult to count due to wind chimes. Bare-in-mind that these numbers are only the birds that call. If you’ve ever watched a flock of Redwing fly over, you might only get one or two actually call in a flock of 70 birds, so the sheer number of Redwing flying over to get a total of 686 calls, is quite staggering and this is just the beginning of migration season.

I almost forgot that at the end of last month I also had a few Plovers, with Golden and Grey Plover and by far my favourite was 2 Barn Owls! Since they dug up my local fields for housing, I did wonder if we’d ever see them again as they used to breed here. These are just migratory birds though I believe, either young birds looking for new territories or adults seeking warmer climates for the winter.

Birding

I had hoped for a Yellow-browed Warbler this autumn, with a hope of getting a recording of that iconic call they make, but the only local bird found, was by Steve Preddy in Newport, which of course is out of county and despite working in Newport, this would have been for total pleasure and not work.. :) So i’ll just have to keep my ears out for my own, or wait till next year. Llandegfedd Reservoir has seen some nice birds though, which is about time, it’s been quite poor this year really for rarities. On the same birding trip with Craig Constance, soon after getting out of the car, Craig latches eyes on a Red-throated Diver which just dived, which I confirmed for myself once it emerged from the water. Before I even had time to lock the scope onto the Red-throated Diver he spots a second rarity in the form of a female Red-breasted Merganser! He was on a roll that morning for sure lol. Below are some phone pics thru my scope. Talking about phone pics, here are some more Phone-scope pic from not 1, but 13! Ring Ouzel in Blaeavon last week. Craig and I also had a run in with a ‘Mealy Type’ Common Redpoll that landed at our feet to feed up the British, but continued north up onto the moorland.

Sound Recording

Below are a few calls that you’ll only hear in the autumn and winter time really. A flock of Fieldfare, and also a small feeding flock of Redpoll. Both were quite windy but nice to get recordings either way of a new species.

I’m continuing to record as much Robin’s as I can this winter, 1. because it’s my form of bird therapy, and reminds me of spring and 2. because I’m intrigued to see if I can spot any different dialects, or any mimicking phrases they might possess.

For example, this bird I recorded on the Gwent Levels, does a fantastic job at interjecting a Blue Tit song, within it’s own phrase. This is quite a popular way of using mimicry in birds with complex songs, as in order to stand out from their rivals, they need more material to work with, so interjecting random sections of songs from other species of birds, makes their own song sound more elaborate and therefor, more appealing. It also demonstrates their ability to listen, learn and perform difficult tunes that fall outside of their typical vocabulary. Listen to that third phrase and see if you can hear it for yourself.

I’ve also been continuing to record water sources, that I intend on using to create a nature album. I hope to sell this album on In Our Nature CIC’s website, so that people who might be stuck indoors or are suffering from mental health issues, can bring the sound of nature into their homes. We’re offering a number of different activities at In Our Nature CIC, but one that I’m particularly excited about is our Sound Walk. Be sure to join our facebook group and keep informed about upcoming projects.

I’ll end with a distant pic of this female Marsh Harrier from my dusk survey near Magor Marsh this week.

Female Marsh Harrier

Mystery Grasshopper & New Business

It’s wet outside, and despite still working outdoors, I’ve not been able to do much sound recording, so I’ve revisited a few of my old recordings, and in doing so, I’ve listened with a new set of ears. As it would appear that on the 13th of August 2019, the same day I found this beautiful Southern Migrant Hawker, I also recorded this Grasshopper, which I’ve now identified as a Long-winged Cone-head, after much trawling of the internet and research!

At full speed, it sounds quite similar to a Great Green Bush-cricket, which is what got me so excited as they haven’t been recorded that far inland in Wales, and it would have been another first for Llandegfedd. Take a listen below;

Southern Migrant Hawker 13.08.19 Llandegfedd

Slowing the recording down, however, revealed 3 distinct syllables, as opposed to the 2 syllables you typically find in Great Green, so I had to rule that species out. I needed to find a source of online audio files, preferably that were in high enough quality that I could slow down and compare to my own recordings. As despite posting these recordings on designated Othoptera groups, I wasn’t getting much luck!
Unexpectedly the info I needed was found on a BAT website. Which makes a lot of sense because Bat surveyors often pick up grasshoppers and crickets by accident, but so much so that a bat detector has become a good tool for ID’ing orthoptera. Thankfully they listed the frequencies and patterns of enough species for me to identify my grasshopper as a Long-winged Conehead, with 3 syllables in each phrase.

You can see it quite clearly in the sonograph below. It seems obvious now, but I wasn’t aware that Long-winged Cone-heads were able to perform this slow! I’ve certainly not heard any recordings online that sounds remotely the same. Usually, they are much faster, so fast that the individual beats are usually inaudible at real-time. He must have been tired after a long day of performing, as it was getting late in the evening. Goes to show that even species that are usually reliably and easily separated, can throw a curveball every now and again.

All of this has got me even more excited about the year ahead. I’m going to record more species than ever this year. But I’m not just going to do that..I’m also very excited to share a new business venture with you, called ‘In Our Nature Cic’

Wildlife Photography and Sound Recording are just excuses for me to spend more time outdoors for the sake of my own mental health, but also so I can share this experience with other people in the hope it enriches their lives too. I’ve never really felt that I was doing enough to share my experiences with you, but thankfully there are others who share this passion. Veronika Brannovic has worked in the third and public sector for over 20 years, developing and delivering projects that connect people to nature. Together we’re launching our business that aims to improve peoples wellbeing through contact with nature. We aim to do this through various activities but for more information, head over to the website which is almost complete.

‘In Our Nature Cic’