Tonight is GWT's Annual AGM meeting, at which they announce this years photography competition results. Last year was the first year I entered this competition and I was lucky enough to win! So the pressure is on this year! I have no idea what the outcome will be but it is nice to have been shortlisted again this year and invited along to the AGM. I'm really looking forward to it! The meeting starts at 7:00pm tonight so wish me luck!
This years GWT Photography Competition Entry
Well done Beavers! though next time you better bring some Camera's! Hint hint parents ;).
Congrats to the few that did bring camera's and I really look forward to our trip next week to Pontypool Park.
We should expect to see lots of Autumn signs like Grey Squirrels burying their nuts in the ground and also Jays in the trees. We may end up seeing some Southern Hawkers on the Ponds along with Mallards and other common birds. Get those cameras ready!
Below are some older pictures of those species mentioned
Tomorrow I'll be meeting up with 1st Panteg (St Mary's) Scout Group in Newinn where they are awaiting being taught how to use a Camera! I'll be starting with the youngest group, showing them some of my photographs on this very website and hopefully teaching them what it takes to be able to get creative and take photographs that they are happy with. I'm really looking forward to meeting with them as the scouts will have to work really hard to earn their photography badge! (yes, they have a photography badge!). This week we'll be indoors but next week will be the tester as we venture out to Pontypool Park to put their skills to the test.
Good luck Scouts!
This Friday the Pontypool episode will be aired again on BBC 2 @ 7:00pm! If you haven't seen it yet, please watch it and let me know what you think?
There is never a dull day at Slimbridge! Even when you see the typical common stuff, you get such great views of them that you can really appreciate them for what they are. A Rook for instance is recognised by most people as 'just a crow' but they are really great birds! They are very different from their urban cousins and specialise on probing into the ground with their long bald bills to cache their food so that they can return later. They are more like Jay's than Jackdaws and Carrion Crows in that sense.
If you are reading this on my new website, welcome! I hope you find this Blog easier to navigate and find exactly what it is that you'd like to read. As a quick run through, down the right side of the page (or at the bottom if you're on a tablet or phone) you'll see a calendar and also a list of tags. You can navigate my blog by either date or through specific topics that I have set out for you. You can now 'like, comment or share' my blogs and I encourage you to do so as it will help me develop my blog according to my readers.
While re-designing my website, I thought it would be a good time to give my bands logo a new lease of life and here is the design! You can few my bands live session via this link .
I will also be designing a new website for my band but that might take a while to get organised. Sorting payments out between 4 band members can be hard lol.
A single Migrant Hawker was the only large Dragonfly on the canal today along with plenty of Common Darters that like to sun themselves on the pathway. Despite them having vibrant colours, they are actually quite difficult to spot when they remain still.
Golden-ringed Dragonfly / South Sebastopol
September so far has been a little mixed, mainly down to how unpredictable the weather has been but overall, not bad at all! It's even been warm enough for the Hawkers, Club-tails and Darters to be on the wing and despite having the heat, I found this Golden-ringed perched up eating a wasp. It was so distracted and subdued that while still eating this wasp it allowed me to pick it up! You can really see the size on these beautifully striking dragonflies and I have to say, I think they may well be a personal favourite of mine.
Had such a great time on a beautiful day up the Coity Mountain conducting an annual survey on the status of our Heathland. Though our Red Grouse survey won't be conducted till later in the year, the Heathland status up there seems fairly typical in that, while the majority of the mature heather seems in great condition and covering a large area, most of the outskirts have already been taken over by spreading bracken and on the steeper hills there is hardly any heather present at all. Bracken rolling has already taken place on some of the problematic area's but pockets of bracken inside the heathland itself still pose a threat. We actually saw 4 Red Grouse on this trip that bursted out of the heather in their typical fashion but this wasn't the main focus on the trip. Nice to see some Wheatear still onsite and also Kestrels were abundant.
Here are a few images from my Heather Monitoring day out with Gwent Wildlife Trust
Despite the sun making an appearance the last two days, there has been no sign of flying or perched Emperor Dragonflies, this is a clear sign of the end of summer but all's not lost on the Dragonfly front just yet because this is where the Hawkers take over the party. On this particular patch, the dominant species has been Emperor's for the most of the year but now they aren't around, Southern Hawkers have moved in. With nothing to chase them off territory, they can carry on getting the last of they're breeding out of the way quick enough before summer really does end and the cooler weather leads them to either die or hibernate. There are sections of the Canal that aren't favourable to Emperors and you'll find in those area's, they will be dominated by Common, Migrant or Southern Hawkers. These areas are usually surrounded by trees or woodland rather than meadows. Emperors will happily perch up in a meadow to roost and also actively hunt over fields but Hawker dragonflies favour woodland areas and can tolerate more shaded areas. It is this reason that (despite their frequent fighting) both species can thrive on a long water system like a canal. Soon however, the open grassland that surrounds this particular section of the canal will soon be lost and we may see a drop in numbers of Emperors as a result. With large houses either side of the canal system, we won't see the same amount of sun getting to the water and that will effect the dragonfly/damselfly activity.
