South Sebastopol

Lovely couple hours of Sun! What a difference a bit of Sun makes. The Buzzards are all on the wing displaying this time of year and you will always see them flying when the Sun comes out. It is like a trigger that sets them off but it probably helps with their sight anyways. Nuthatches were very vocal today as they protect their nest holes and managed to time it just right as one was investigating a large hole in a dead tree. 

I think his name was Mark, apologies if I got that wrong! I'm terrible with names but he caught a very decent size Pike today on a stretch that is well known for them but extremely hard to fish. I've seen countless amounts of people fish this part of the canal and coming home disappointed so for a first cast catch, he did himself proud. Before he arrived a Goosander took his place, yet another Male found on this little body of water. 

The Lords and Ladies plants are really popping up everywhere now and it was nice to actually get a bit of light on them this time so I could get a photo. I'll try and document the changes in this plant as I have lots of them on my street.

Newport Wetlands

Cheddar Woods & Slimbridge WWT Weekend Break

This weekend was great! Me and my Gf has a nice valentines get away in Cheddar and spent perhaps a little too much money! The weekend wasn't the best weather what so ever but for the most part it stayed dry. We spent a lot of the time on Cheddar Res and ended up stopping off at Slimbridge on the way back which ended up being the best idea all weekend! I did however drop my phone in the hot tub... So currently phoneless haha. Plenty of photo's taken this weekend so I'll post them all in a gallery below. Some of them I'm really happy with! Goshawk, Waterail and many more great Birds seen today at Slimbridge so check it out. 

Canon 7D mk ii Test

Well, a very rubbish day for photography but perhaps that is the best way to test a camera? My street has always been the toughest street for wildlife photography because it is down an embankment and covered by tall tree's so in the winter hardly any sun gets to it. Yet, even with the cloudy dull skies, I still managed to get sharp usably shots with this new camera! I'm so so impressed and can't wait for some decent weather so I can get some more photography under my belt. It's fair to say, when you have good gear, you get inspired to make full use of its potential and the headroom has gone up vastly with this upgrade. I unfortunately however have to upgrade my photoshop due to the Raw files not being supported by the version I had.. So this is even more money to spend but currently on a 30 day trial to get the ball rolling. 

I visited 2 schools today with Project Nestbox to get some more footage for a new episode of Forest School :) (38 kids with hammers didn't go down so well with my headache)

Canon 7D mk ii First Impressions

As I've said before, I'm not one to post my spending habits however, considering this purchase effects my images I'm happy to announce my new Canon 7D mk ii has arrived! Now all I need to do is find some time to use it! lol With a new Job I'm struggling to find some day time to test the new gear out in the field. It's set for cloudy this week so won't be able to get anything great.. Or will I? The mk ii boasts better ISO noise performance so who knows, it may take nice photo's in low light conditions. With a new camera and lens, I'm really going to go all out this year once spring arrives. Today I've already noticed the Great Spotted Woodpeckers are doing their anual drumming/nest building so I'm hoping to get some shots of them doing this but I would need some light for that. 

I'll post up some test shots as soon as I can! :D

Cwmbran Boating Lake

My new lens turned up today so had a chance to test it out on a few fast subjects on a short trip to the Boating Lake. Couldn't believe that there are already some daffodils flowering alongside the lake and also, there is a Waterail out on the island which happens to be floating close to the bank so allowed fairly close shots. 

Project Nestbox Update

27 small Tit boxes, 2 Robin boxes, 1 Little Owl and a huge Barn Owl nest box kept Project Nestbox busy today in Monmouth. We tackled it well however with systematic idea's coming from the brains of the bunch ;) I came up with the idea of using the ladder to carry 12 boxes at a time instead of making several trips up and down a muddy bank and it worked absolutely perfectly. 

The Barn owl box was a nightmare though! They are just so large and heavy, you really do need 3 people! Myself, Richard Evans and Ray Williams worked through it well using rope to hall the heavy box into place while it was screwed to the tree. A Woodcock and Goshawk was seen while out but currently without a camera/lens as my gear has yet to turn up... (estimate was today, so not happy!). 

Yesterday I came across and unknown plant! Rather than go through lots of books and crap descriptions online, who better to ask than the knowledgable Iolo Williams himself lol. It didn't take him long to respond and turns out the plant is actually called 'The Lord and Lady's Plant' which was news to me. Turns out they are quite fascinating plants indeed! "they have a penis-like appendage inside the pitcher which attracts insects. These pick up pollen then move on to the next plant. In Welsh, it's called 'pidyn y gog' (cuckoo's penis!!) Because the penis-like appendage appears around the same time as the cuckoo" Iolo Williams random fact of the day for you ;). 

Winter 22 Degrees Moon Ring

I had the pleasure in witnessing a beautiful moon ring last night after looking out my window late into the night. I've seen this type of moon ring before but haven't seen it officially advertised as happening at a certain point in time, other than knowing it happens in the winter months. 

I did a bit of reading into this before and I read something about 22 degrees being the cause of the light catching crystallised air which would make sense why it only happens in winter. Even though I don't fully understand it, sometimes that is exactly what makes it so special. 

Pied Wagtail Roost & Here Right Now Show @Congress Theatre Cwmbran

After performing in the Congress Theatre for a show called 'Here Right Now' with Katie Vally's School of Music, while loading my drums into the car I noticed thousands of tiny white specs in the Tree's in the centre of cwmbran Bus Stop. I instantly knew what it was and quickly pointed it out to everyone who didn't believe me at first until they heard a few of them chirping away. What a spectical! Such a beautiful site watching that many Birds in 1 tree and glad that the numbers of Pied Wagtails are do well. 

Llandegfedd Nature Awareness

A lot has gone on behind the scenes at Llandegfedd this winter. All raved to be great pre-planning but things are starting to become clearer as to the vision of Llandegfedd created by Welsh Water. A new Visitors Centre once to be described as an all round centre with a dedicated wildlife section has turned out to be nothing but a café and the Water Sports Centre will simply improve on the activities on the water but perhaps with less boundaries than previously set out. 

I'm in discussion with all the right people currently to help shine some light on this situation because the wildlife has been till this day, an after thought. Anybody in conservation would know that just isn't how it works and measures should be made prior planning to prevent any issues like the ones that have come up regarding a new pathway to the North End of Llandegfedd from the new visitors centre. 

I've pointed out where the path is going to go on the map below and as you will see, it ventures right through the wild meadows to the Fishermans car park which is currently for fisherman and permit holders only (Birders/Photographers mainly). 
Of course, it isn't fair to let some in and not others but opening it up to everybody including Dog walkers would be an absolute nightmare for the wildlife there. This location is home to many protected species of plant, insects, reptiles and mammals and to get thousands of people walking through there every day in the spring/summer would be catastrophic to the breeding activities. 

We have enough places to take our Dogs for a walk and ruining this wildlife sanctuary is just one more step closer to ruining everything great about Torfaen. Every inch of this site needs to be protected and I hope my pictures below do it justice.