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Llandegfedd

Update

Llandegfedd:

A bitter-sweat visit to Llandegfedd, as wildlife sightings are commonly accompanied by wildlife disturbances.
Many firsts for the year, in the form of Large Red Damselflies, Fritillaries, Swallows, Redshank, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plovers.

As you can hear in the recording below, the LRP’s are getting very frisky, song displaying and remarking their territories, but constant disturbance from Dogs and People make it impossible to settle, and eventually they’ll commit to one spot and take a chance, or they’ll simply try and nest somewhere else more suitable. Dog poo bags hanging on tree’s (in no-public access areas), BBQ’s on the ground in the wildflower meadows where there are Adder’s Tongue ferns and plenty of Orchids coming thru. To most people they are just fields but they are so much more. The signage that has been put out by DCWW is so conflicting, there needs to be clear, educational messages and fencing to prevent disturbance. We need to educate people otherwise this will never change. It’s not their fault, they don’t know any better. This is where a Wildlife Educational Officer is needed at Llandegfedd. They have the facilities, they just need to pay somebody with the passion to do it.

Birding

It’s a struggle to fit any ‘serious’ birding in, but a last minute journey to Goldcliff point with Craig Constance to do some sea watching, was well overdue, but came just at the right time as there as been some considerable numbers of Terns, Gulls and Waders migrating into a NE wind. Our count was pretty good for an evening visit, with 59 Comic (Common or Artic) Tern, 19 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Fulmar, 50+ Swallow, 9 House Martin, 20+ Sand Martin, Artic Skua (lifer) and the most eventful was the Little Tern(!) passing at just 30m, but that ended up being a total disaster! as I blasted off 30 shots, each appearing to hit the mark in the optical viewfinder, but I looked down with a smile on my face, to find that I had no memory card in camera!! Lol I just about got a card in as it disappeared away in the distance lol. I was happy to still get a record shot though as it was a new bird for me. Bean Goose and White-fronted Goose are still on the Lagoons where I suspect they will stay for a while as they don’t have any adults to follow back to their breeding grounds. Good numbers of Whimbrel flocking in at the

Sound Recording

Plenty of recordings to share, but here are my favourites. I’ve got quite the collection of mimicking bird species now but I’ve got to say, this Blackcap mimicking Mistle Thrush has got to be one of my favourites. Equally, the local Mistle Thrush has a fantastic Lapwing mimic, which I only managed to capture on my pre-record function but it’s on the todo list. Just take a listen to that Blackcap, it repeats the same missile thrush phrase over and over again.

Plenty more Warblers arriving, all these from one trip to Newport Wetlands!

One bird that’s been on my list to record for a while though is a Common Redstart, as they’re often quite hard to approach whilst singing, and most of our local populations are upland, where recording conditions are challenging as it gets quite windy the higher up you get and the less objects you have to hide behind. I had to use an old stone wall / building to get this recording.

Nocmig

Tempted todo a separate blog on Nocmig as so much has happened! Barn Owl, Spotted Flycatcher, Water Rail, Little Grebe, Curlew, LRP’s, Oystercatchers and so much more! Here’s a short video clip of the Barn Owl.

Llandegfedd Rewards

Just when you’re having a bad day, struggling to get out the house and motivated due to health reasons, by which time the day is almost gone but I arrived at the north end of Llandegfedd at 3:30pm, to be rewarded with a fishing Osprey right in front of the car park. I didn’t even need to leave the car park as the bird patrolled the perimeter, giving me several hover flights as he hunted the shallows. Moments later a Red Kite flew into the same air space, and it was nice to see the size comparison between the two species. Kites certainly have the bulk but there didn’t look like there was much in the wing length between the two.

I’ve started to turn my attention to our spring bug life, of which there were plenty on the wing during this short lived heatwave. I clocked 24c in my car! and by next week we’ll be experiencing another cold snap with -1 night-time temps. This weather is truly crazy. If that’s not a sign of global warming in April I don’t know what is.

Good to see my local population of Violet Oil-beetles out in good numbers with over 20 adults and plenty of larvae on the lesser celandines. Andrenna Sp. present but not sure what species, not sure if the picture will show enough of it’s features to identify it to Sp.

Sound

I always make the effort to record Yellowhammer when able, not just because they sound amazing but because I’m hoping I one day record a different dialect. The predominant dialect in Wales is XIB but there are small isolated populations that sing different dialect, which might suggest that those birds originate from a different area, possibly even a different country.

It was nice to see a Female out in the open for a change too, as they usually stay hidden, tucked up in the middle of a Gorse bush. You can see how well her rustic colours blend into the twig colours: making them much harder to spot when they’re sitting on the nest.

Yellowhammer F - SR1A1767.jpg

A few other showy songsters came in the form of a Nuthatch, which is another personal favourite of mine. They have such a rich quality to all of their calls, and they have quite a variety of different song types. This shows two types you’ll likely hear in the spring but it also shows their high pitch squeal call which can catch some people out when heard on its own.

Common species non-the-less, but it’s cool hearing the subtle differences between the Robin’s winter and spring song. Here’s a good example of a spring song, which tends to have more heft behind the lower notes, and less scratchy higher notes.

By far my favourite recording though was of this blackbird, which was at quite the distance away, 20m or so, but thanks to the Schoeps CCM 4 inside the dish, it makes it sound like the microphone is right in-front of it’s bill. I’ve never experienced this level of quality inside a dish before, it honestly sounds like a shotgun recording. Very pleased.

Nocmig

It’s been a mixed bag so far but really please with some of the birds that I’ve got already. Waders are just starting to pour in, with Golden Plover flocks, Curlew, Grey Heron and Little Ringed Plovers, but for me, hearing migrating Blackcap, singing their migratory song, is pretty epic. How on earth these birds navigate the darkness I do not know.

I’m still waiting on confirmation from a few mysteries too, which a probable Bittern and White-front Goose flock, but they’re a bit distant so might have to let those go.

Indian Summer

Anything can happen this time of year with the weather but September has become a month not to underestimate, as we have consistently had warm weather creeping in, just when we all had a taste of the autumn in august with wet, windy and cold. Migration has some-what come to a stand-still in the last week, with no waders moving on my nocmig, but it has been replaced with a large movement of Siskin, Meadow Pipit and the odd Chaffinch. Now my Nightjar have left for Africa, I usually turn my attention to the water. Llandegfedd has already produced a few Ospreys on passage, one of which stayed for a week but remained antisocial due to all the boat activity on the reservoir. We were lucky to witness it leaving the reservoir after one last circle of the water in search of a fish and literally the next day, the same bird was picked up at Chew Valley Lake.

It’s now a great time to search for any late summer insects. Wasp Spider females are now at their largest size so they are easier to find and there are plenty of Caterpillar’s around that are fattening up, ready to pupate. In terms of resident birds, the local Raptor population seem to be turning to insects for their main source of food, including Red Kites, that I’ve observed feeding on what looked like large Beetles. This field was full of sheep so it’s likely that the beetles are a variety of dung beetle species that are draw to the fields by the sheep droppings. The coast-line is filling up with waders, with large flocks of Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Oystercatchers and Knot. It’s been a great year so far with waders, mostly around the coastline, with an abundance of Curlew Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper and Little Stint in the country, all of which have been seen at Goldcliff Lagoons in the last two months. I have a group of friends that regularly bird Goldcliff Lagoons, and if you want to see regular updates on the birds seen there. I highly recommend looking at Blair Jones’s blog - https://www.thewildlifeoculus.com/ where he has a very well written, running documentary of Goldcliff Lagoons that’s also packed full of images that paint a vivid picture of the often, action packed lagoons. I also recommend subscribing to John Lawton’ youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/johnluk/videos as John also spends a lot of time on the Gwent Levels and puts a lot of time and effort putting together video clips. Video is another ball-game, you really have to be dedicated as not only does it take up a lot of space on the hard drive, it’s pain-staking to edit footage and cut it up into a presentable form.

I have a lot of images below, some of which have been taken very recently on short trips to the beach at Ogmore-by-sea. All others have been taken in Gwent, with a Great White Egret showing well at Blaenavon Garn Lakes. Wasp Spiders at Marshfield on the Gwent Levels, Osprey at Llandegfedd and the rest, pretty much in my tiny little Garden.

I’ve also been continuing to search for natural textures. I’m planning on using these images as part of a task at In Our Nature CIC. For anybody suffering with mental health issues, it can be an important exercise to make your world smaller. You might find yourself stuck in a closed environment all the time, whether it’s office work or you might be house-bound for health reason, so open spaces can feel a little overwhelming. Focusing less on over-all landscapes, and more on the little details right in-front of you can be a good way to over-come what can otherwise be a sensory overload. The same technique also works for people who take in too much information, in that they’re constantly exposed to open landscapes, where they’re always having to interpret large quantities of information. People who drive long distances tend to suffer from this and it’s often subconsciously so you aren’t even aware of how much information the brain is actually taking in.
We’re subjected to information every single day and we can’t control everything, but we can chose to concentrate on the little things.

Sound

The end of august was quite a windy one so I didn’t do much in terms of sound recording, other than of course this recording below from the comfort of my doorstep. Here you can really hear the depth of the wind storm at was upon us that day.

Since then it’s returned to our Indian Summer, and the water coming thru the inlet at Llandegfedd sounds beautiful.

The bird soundtrack is still very much so Robin dominated now but with the hot weather I have started to hear the odd Dunnock, Blue Tit and Great Tit singing. Next on my list is to get some nice recordings at the beach, the sound of Waves are magic, but I’m saving this for those cold winter days where there won’t be any birds singing.

Nocmig

I haven’t had much on the wader front, as there’s been a low pressure over Scottish seas for a few weeks now, holding those wader flocks back. I have had large numbers of Siskin, Meadow Pit and Grey Wagtails over the house early morning though, with the off Yellow Wagtail in the mix. I’ve just started to get Chaffinch in the morning also but Siskin seem to be dominating the morning migration, with numbers reaching in the hundreds. I’ve had that many recordings I haven’t uploaded any of them yet but here’s one of the closer Yellow Wagtail calls to end this lengthy blog.

Catch Up

Garden

Those that are friends with me on Facebook will know that I haven’t been well for the past 2 weeks with Covid symptoms. I still haven’t been tested but the Doctor was convinced I had Covid-19 as I was very ill and all symptoms were textbook, with Fever, body pain, kidney problems, migraines and of course, a terrible dry cough. To cut a long and painful story short, I am so much better now, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine. Whilst doctors say antibiotics don’t work for viruses, the hospital said that Doxycycline has been responding well with covid-19 and a strong dose certainly seemed to help me as I usually struggle with chest infections anyway. Never have I experienced such a fever before, shaking all night long with temps between 37.5-38.8. Please be prepared, the shortness of breath is no joke, it was quite a frightening experience, but I got thru it! We’ve followed all guidelines set out by the government RE self-isolation and thanks to loved ones we’ve been well looked after. Happy to report I’m back on form, as you’ll tell by the number of bugs I found in the Garden these last two days. I’ve done my best to ID them but naturally have to run them by Liam Olds and Mike Kilner to be sure. This time last year I was totally new to Bee’s so was happy to ID quite a few in the Garden, which proves I’m learning. Just add a few species to your list each year and you’ll be surprised how quickly you can pick these up.

Forest of Dean

Whilst I’ve had time on my hands, I had a look thru some old files from earlier on in the spring. I spent a lot of time in the Forest of Dean in search of drummer Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers to add to my sound recording catalogue and even though I failed, I did find some characters along the way. Wild Boar are incredible creatures, so intelligent and play such a vital role in the forest. They truly belong in the Forest of Dean and I couldn’t imagine them not being there. Just seeing the habitat they’ve created in some of the dense forestry is enough to make you realise their importance. Watching the humbugs playing, feeding and sleeping is a joyous experience that I’ll carry with me forever. As the light faded she gathered nesting material for the night and the little humbugs joined in! bringing small piles of bracken over, even if it was in the wrong place. They really do learn from a very young age. Below the photos I have a short sound recording of the humbugs begging mother for a feed, much to her disapproval.

Nocmig

I stopped recording overnight during my ill period but I’ve just started back up, and this time sporting my shotgun microphone as I wanted to be able to capture the rarer species with a little more clarity to share with you. For recording purposes you really don’t need anything expensive, just a handheld recorder will do the trick, but the files aren’t that pleasing to listen to, as you’ll know from my last blogs.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve added a few new species to the Garden list, with Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Golden Plover being my favourite so far. I’ve added one more Water Rail too, this time a little closer to the mic. The recordings will still sound quiet, but they’re perfectly viewable on the spectrograph which is all you really need to ID them.
Listening back to some without decent headphones on, you may not even hear them, but they are there.

There isn’t a whole lot of resources online to ID nocturnal flight calls but that is changing as time goes on and more people are starting to join in. It’s a great way to kill a few hours in the morning and I’ve learned so much already. I mean who would have thought I would get Oystercatcher, Common Scoter, Golden Plover, Water Rail, Curlew and Little Ringed Plover over Sebastopol! Every single night I get Moorhen, Coot and plenty of unknown wing beats that I need to ID, but it’s possible to even Id those if you study them hard enough. I’ve also learned more about Tawny Owls in this process and how many different sounds they actually make. I’ve lost track of the amounts of times I’ve heard this call:

I thought this call was unique to my local tawny, as I have recorded a Tawny here before that sounded like it had some vocal trouble. You might remember from last year? Here’s a reminder below. Turns out though that this call is just a contact call, and this was proven to me by Craig Constance who also picked up the same type of call from his local Tawny Owl last night.

All in all, I’m starting to enjoy this nocturnal migration recording. Not only is it giving me something to do during this period of isolation but I’m learning something new every day. I’ll leave you with a picture from 2017 of an unforgettable experience with three juvenile Ospreys, one of which was born in Scotland and the other two who’s origin will remain a mystery due to no rings. I worked at Llandegfedd at the time so learned their every move, from favoured feeding perches, roost perches and their general routine. I’ve been recording Osprey movements at Llandegfedd for over 10 years, as you’ll see in past blogs. I’ve accumulated quite a list of ringed birds, most of which have been from Scotland. I continue to play an active role with ongoing communications with Welsh Water so we can one day erect a nesting platform once a suitable location is found. This year should be a great year for our Ospreys as the lockdown ensures our large lakes have less disturbance from tourism and boat activity. The same will apply to many shy breeders.

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’

Llandegfedd Delivers

It’s always good to have a regular patch to check throughout the year, not only do you get to learn a lot more about the site but you also give yourself more of a chance of finding something significant. Sharing a patch with a more experienced birder also helps for sure! and I’m lucky to visit Llandegfedd with Craig Constance as he really is religious about birding Llandegfedd and this week it paid off with a striking Male Smew. Last year we had a Female but she only came onto the reservoir when the water level was high on the usk river and she didn’t stick around for long. You need to time your visits in accordance to the weather and we learned a hard lesson this morning as the fog put a lot of birders off this morning, but an avid birder on the damn waited till the fog started to clear and managed to spot a Great Northern Diver leaving the reservoir and carrying on south. It goes to show how easy it is to miss migrant birds.

You’ve already spotted the pics below, but whilst watching the Gull roost we were graced with extremely good views of Jack Snipe from Petingale hide! I’ve been closer, almost standing on some in the past, but I’ve never had extended views like this. It was truly magical, and an experience I’ll never forget. I love birds that camouflage themselves. They don’t have to be colourful, but if they do have vibrant colours like this Jack Snipe, it is certainly a bonus.

Before the Rain

Spring might have been a wet one, but it’s been great so far this summer for bugs. I usually turn my attention to bugs this time of year as some species have a small window of opportunity before they all disappear again till next year. If you like Grasshoppers and Crickets, it’s worth visiting the north side of Llandegfedd as the meadows are alive with Roesel’s, Dark, Oak & Speckled Bush-crickets, Green, Meadow, Field and Mottled Grasshoppers, Long & Short-winged Coneheads and even Ground Hoppers with more to discover I’m sure.
As you know I like to record the sounds of nature, but as many people cannot hear some species of Grasshopper as they’re too high pitched, I’ve started a project that aims to record as many different species of Grasshopper / Cricket as possible and to slow those recordings down so that you can listen to the finer detail of each and every stroke of the wing cases. It’s not for everyone, but i find stuff like this fascinating as it reveals frequencies that you wouldn’t otherwise hear. Listen back to these insects in slow-motion helps you enter their world for a moment and also highlights how important it is for us to start consider the environmental impact our noise pollution has on species that are dependant on sound in order to reproduce.

I tend not to go anywhere simply for the walk these days, partly because I can’t walk far at the moment as I have gall-stones that are playing havoc, but also because I only walk 2 minutes before spotting something interesting to photograph, record or just appreciate. It doesn’t do anything for my fitness levels this way but I’ve made so much luck this way, slowly walking through the landscape, trying to appreciate everything that I see. If you do this, you’ll be rewarded more and more, and this was evident when I was accompanied by a Stoat that was quite shy, but I would have easily missed it if I was walking with the intent to walk. If you want to see things, you need to slow right down.