Llandegfedd, Poor numbers so far

While approaching Llandegfedd today, I got that bubbling feeling in my stomach, though this time, instead of it being excitement, it was actually nerves. I no longer have that exciting feeling because it isn't that place of solitude that I've come to know and love anymore. What a massive shame! There are still no signs or fences as promised by Welsh Water to tell people where they should and shouldn't walk (at the North end) and so far, it looks like that is reflecting upon the wildlife. Last year we had 6 pairs of Reed Warbler present throughout the year and getting on territory fairly early on in the year, but, this year we have 1 single male singing his little heart out in the hope that a female turns up. Well, there is still time yet, and I hope that what little reed bed we have, remains to be a stronghold for these fascinating birds for the future. I hope that Welsh Water get some additional funding so that they can put some money into maintaining the North side for nature. I've included pictures of what used to be our bird ringing hut which has since been demolished and abandoned. What struck me the most was seeing the old BTO birding contracts on the walls celebrating partnership between business and the environment. This goes to show exactly how good Llandegfedd used to be. 

Unexpected Twitch to Ham Wall Nature Reserve (Hudsonian Godwit)

Well, I was not prepared for this today! a few of my birding friends rang me up asking if I'd like to go see this Hudsonian Godwit and not only did we get to see it, I got to see some other birds for the first time also! Had my first ever Great White Egret and also heard 2 Booming Bitterns! Saw lots of Hobby fresh in along with 2 swifts (good sign of summer). 

Newport Wetlands Result!

This trip was legend, I won't be forgetting it for quite some time! A good friend of mine called Paul Joy has been trying to organise a trip to see the Bearded Tits at Newport Wetlands for a while now and we finally set out on my day off as early as we could to get the best chance of seeing them. We did everything according to plan by turning right as you get onto the reserve and making your way back on yourself once you hit the sea wall and returned using the lighthouse path over the water. By this point we had already seen some fantastic Migrants like Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and many others but we soon found ourselves surrounded by at least 10 Bearded Tits! They appeared only feet away from us having been there all along and that really shows how well camouflaged they really are when in the thick reed beds. I snapped 17gbs worth of photos on this trip so I've only managed to edit a few of the best. Just as we thought we were done for the day having saw what we came for, we got a tip off about a couple Grasshopper Warblers fresh in off the coast and soon enough we were onto that iconic sound of a Grasshopper Warbler right in the middle of the thick brambles. We had to have quite a bit of patience on these Birds though but boy, did it pay off! For a spit second he came out and sang right on top of the brambles for long enough for me to burst a dozen shots. Other migrants came soon after in the form of Wheatears, Whinchats and we also heard a distant Cuckoo. A female Marsh Harrier showed briefly and the Garganey Ducks were still present. 

Having spent more time at Newport Wetlands, Goldcliff and Magor Marsh this spring, I'm really starting to see for myself just how important our Gwent Levels actually are for nature of all sorts. It provides such a variety of specialised habitats for all sorts of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects. What is it that makes the Gwent Levels so good for nature? Well, in short.. Water! If you take away the obvious bodies of water like that at Newport Wetlands and the smaller ponds / lagoons in Magor and Goldcliff, we would still have one of the largest networking systems of water in the country! If you look from above on google maps or in a helicopter, you'll struggle to even see the water that I'm talking about, especially during spring and summer. This is because they surround all of the fields in a historic mote fashion. They can stretch for miles and miles connecting into various water sources together and disconnection labouring farmland. This provides absolutely vital habitats for insects like Dragonflies that need naturally fresh water to reproduce and survive while giving a home to our protected Watervoles. This vast connection of water without the sacrifice of solid land and fertile fields creates and forms the majority of our gwent levels and that alone provides a balance that suits both our coastal birds AND our inland species like Starlings throughout the winter. To add to that, we have miles of Reed Bed in various shapes and forms which needs to be protected because literally every inch of a reed bed matters! The more reeds, the more diversity and the more space for breeding birds like Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Grasshopper Warblers, Bearded Tits, Marsh Harriers, Bitterns, Little Egrets, Great White Egrets ect ect. I was also surprised by the amount of breeding avocets at Goldcliff! I had no idea that we had such a stronghold of Avocets! If you haven't seen them, check out my photo below or go and see them for yourself at Goldcliff. They are well protected with an electric fence around the lagoons but there are also plenty of hides to appreciate them. 

Home

Nice little walk along the Canal after work today. Surprised to still see Meadow Pipit along the Canal. Unless of course it is a passing bird looking to get to the nearest upland for spring breeding. Lot's of singing as the sun went down as you can see below with our local Nuthatch and Blackbird on the roof! (Happy to announce also that our local Nuthatch has a lady friend ;) took his time!)

Wildlife Weekend @ Magor Marsh & Forest Farm

Well, April has been an eventful month! With spring bursting into action, followed by a couple weeks of really nice weather, it's almost like playing a game of catch up! I don't want to miss a thing this year if I can help it which means devoting my spare time to visit various places around Gwent, Monmouthshire and Cardiff. The weekend started with me and my partners first visit to Magor Marsh and we were instantly greeted by a Watervowl right next to our car! Apparently, the 2 by the car park are very familiar with people and don't shy away upon getting close which allowed me to get some pretty decent shots right away. We met some lovely people there on both of our visits this weekend to Magor Marsh, both of which are very nice contacts to have so I hope they get in touch for future collaboration in conservation. While exploring Magor, I managed to get 2 photos that I've been trying to get for a long time, firstly in the shape of a Cetti's Warbler which ALWAYS manages to avoid my camera, but not this time! I also managed to frame two Orange-tip Butterflies together, both male and female! 

We ended the weekend with a late visit to Forest Farm and while the majority of the time there was quite quiet, perseverance paid off while waiting that extra hour longer as we were greeted by a hunting Red Fox who was actively chasing Rabbits and Magpies. 

Pied Flycatchers... Have the chicks returned!?!

Well, if you've skipped to the photos already, you would have already seen the female Pied Flycatcher that has returned to the same spot! This bird was rung as a chick last year! So it has made it all the way to Africa and back! I cannot contain my excitement having filmed these very chicks being rung last year. What amazing birds! And, it even has a Male by the looks already ;). I sense this year is going to be another great succesfull year for the Pieds but, the weather really is going to detirmined their success. 

The rest of the day was stollen by a male Yellowhammer that kept me and 2 of my photography friends occupied for longer than we care to admit. Finally got that photo I've been after with the yellow background from the gorse bushes. 

Sand Martin Colony Cwmbran Boating Lake

The Sand Martin colony has as exploded with life as 3 pairs return from Africa to their former home to breed. As if the flight from Africa wasn't hard enough, from this point onwards, it's an even bigger race to get everything sorted ready for what hopefully will be a successful breeding season. Sand Martin have always been a personal favourite of mine and I really do look forward to their return each year. They, like their cousin's the House Martins, are a perfect example of how Bird life can work along side human activity without disturbance. Situated on the banks of the Avon Lwyd River, they live along side thousands of people who walk by with their Dogs every day and they will probably witness more football matches this year than most people would in their life time. I will be returning tomorrow for some more pictures but below is a composition of quite a few photos put together in a 'string'. If you look closely in the photos, you can actually see that they are different individual birds as some have an elongated bib and others have wing damage. That wing damage may have been caused by 1 of the many hundreds of predators that these guys face each day. Just in the Uk we have Swarrowhawks, Goshawks, Kestrels, Merlin, Hobby, Peregrine Falcons and even land predators like Weasels, Stoats, Rats and Fox's, all stacked up against them! Not to mention all the predators that they encounter in Africa and on their travels. The odds are astronomical yet, some how, they return to the same spot each year, to the exact same bank or box from which it bred the previous year. The same can be said for many of our migrant Birds yet most of us don't give them to the time of day or respect that they trully deserve. I hope that 2015 brings good weather for them and hopefully we'll have even more of these beauties returning for generations to come.

Slimbridge Avocets / Garganey 

Having failed to get any nice photos the other day of the local Avocet / Garganey sightings at Llandegfedd, it was really nice to get such close encounters from the hides at Slimbridge today of both birds. Despite some of them being through the hide window, they came out alright. Nice to see the Kingfishers back at their nest sight too! Black-tailed Godwits were of plenty too! All those dots in the background of the Avocet flight photos were BT Godwits. 

Symonds Yat Rock / Peregrine Falcons

It's never a dull day at Symonds Yat! We had several views of a distant Goshawk hunting through the woodland and even chasing a Sparrowhawk at one point. The Gos didn't fly within camera range but no worries! Because our Peregrines put on a fairly decent show today! Both Female and Male were present all day and we even had a Juvi Male which the Female spotted way before we did and seen it off just after I managed to get a photo. The Juvi Male is in the bottom right corner and the local female is up top. They are possibly nesting in a different spot this year compared to previous years on a part of the cliff that you wouldn't really expect but it really does show how good that cliff actually is for them that they can change the location every year a pick various different spots. The Ravens stole the photography show however and it was nice to get to see the Deer, even if it was from 300ft up. 

South Sebastopol / Migration / Spring

Spring is in the air and with a few Migrants like Blackcap in full song, there really won't be long before they're all sat on eggs or feeding chicks. They time it just right as the warmer whether is bringing all kinds of insects out, whether they have hibernated throughout the winter or freshly emerged from eggs layed last year. The Peacock Butterfly is one that actually hibernates throughout winter so you never know how old one actually is. One insect is particularly common at the minute in this hot dry weather and that is called the Dark Edged Bee-fly. I had 4 indivuals sculking around in my Garden today which gave a good 30 minutes to observe their behaviour. The Great Crested Grebes at Llandegfedd are still having their odd courtship but I haven't yet seen their full display this year.