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Black Redstart

Spring Buildup

Just when I thought spring was arriving, we get hit with yet more rain and another cold weather front. It’s been such an odd spring so far, no doubt April has a lot of making up todo as March had to have been one of the coldest we’ve had for a long time. Reminds me of our last ‘beast from the east’ though, thankfully not near as much snow. Either way, birds are still very much gearing up for spring, some sitting on eggs already despite the cold and many migrants turning up. Below is selection of my spring so far, everything from spawning frogs, to late winter migrants, still holding onto that bitter end of winter.

I’ve been lucky to have a few trips this season (before the busy Bat season begins), one trip to Slimbridge which is always a pleasure, another to the Forest of Dean which is another experience I enjoy during the spring. Lastly more recent local trips to see some of our last Waxwing of the winter season and a wintering Black Redstart in Cardiff, which was epic.

Above you’ll also see some weirdly colourful creatures which is a story unto itself, as I discovered these Fairy Shrimp a few years ago now on the Gwent Levels, and as if that wasn’t awesome enough, I discovered more last night under the cover of darkness, which also revealed their incredible colours!! Something you do not get to see by daylight very well at all, but the direct light from my head torch revealed what looks like a bioluminescent-like colouration, with everything from electric blue to pink in the tips of their tails. What fantastic creatures. Fascinating lifestyle too.

Whilst on a nocturnal survey last night I couldn’t resist to record a snippet of the Displaying Lapwing and Wildfowl. One thing that many landowners forget, is that it's not what they see by day that really counts, as at night the levels come alive! Not just your typical Owl activity but many waders and wildfowl function throughout the night, whether it’s feeding, displaying, mating, you name it, they do it all under the cover of darkness. With birds also migrating at night, there’s a whole world of data that we are not truly picking up on. Right now, there isn’t a major requirement todo extensive nocturnal surveys for birds, but I would argue, especially for wildfowl, that nocturnal data should make up more than 50% of the survey effort. Nocturnal displays during the spring paint a far bigger picture for waders than any daytime survey possibly could, which is where static audio data could pave a way forward for ornithological studies. Not to mention, we’re not taking any nocturnal migratory species into account.

Take note of this displaying Lapwing. If you’ve heard one before, you’ll notice that this guy has what I can only describe as a ‘sneeze’ in the middle of its display. It’s quite adorable.

Will end with two landscapes shots of two lovely locations in Gwent, Cefn Ila Nature Reserve and The Blorenge.

January Whiplash

January is giving me whiplash! Heavy rain and flooding, followed by a cold snap, followed by mild weather which spurred on an early spring with more birds singing and spring flowers emerging, then we got hit with snow, but swiftly followed by rain and milder temps again. Either way, I think the over-all pull of spring is fast approaching, no matter what the weather throws at us, it’s just around the corner.

January has the potential to be a little depressing for me, especially with Lockdown’s and a period of ill health and in general, a lot of stress in the family right now. So far though, we’ve dealt with everything together, no thanks to a good support system from my loved ones. The reassuring feeling that spring is fast upon us, is also very up-lifting. Already in the Garden I’m hearing a variety of different birds joining in on the action, as winter food supplies are running out, it can be a difficult time of year if the cold drags out any longer, but despite the cold night time temps, the daytime temps have been way above average and I’m already seeing substantial growth from my Daffodils in my Garden. Reports online of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming, Blue Tit’s making nests and plenty of Frogspawn in ponds. It’l be a few more weeks yet and really anything could happen as I’m reminded of the beast from the east that we experienced a few years ago.

I had a period of ill health, back and forth hospital with suspected gall bladder problems (again) but once I was feeling a bit more myself I started to record the birds I could hear from my doorstep. Everything in the little playlist below was taken from the comfort of my home.

Prior to the hospital trips I was enjoying getting out on my daily walks along the canal, and thankfully I was in walking distance of a Black Redstart, that was found by Marcus Doolan along the cycle track near Tesco. Such a random place, right next to a busy main road, but I believe the bird stayed for a while. It could even be still there! It was so tame, not very often you have to take the teleconverters off the camera, so all these were shot at 300mm (on a 1.6x crop sensor). Such a beautiful bird though, and well worth the walk.

Along the way, I was surprised to see so many Goosander, that appear to be getting a lot more socialised around people than they once were. I remember just a few years ago with one or two present along the south Sebastopol stretch of canal, but as soon as they saw anybody coming, they would fly away. Now though, they are following the Mallards around and coming in for the bread thrown out by public. Considering bread is bad for Ducks, I can’t imagine it’s that great for Goosander either, especially given that their diet usually consist of fish.

I’m back to work now though, awaiting some results from the specialist, so hopefully this experience will push my investigation along a bit quicker. My surveying Jobs take me to some random places, but for the last two years I’ve spent a lot of time surveying parts of the Gwent Levels. This week I had two very different locations to survey, one being a very busy farm and the other alongside the very tranquil Magor Marsh Nature Reserve.
I am very appreciative of my Job at the moment as I’ve particularly struggled this lockdown, as I know many of you are too. So I took the time before and after some of my surveys to capture a taste of what those areas sounded like. I hope you take the time to listen with your headphones as I’ve embraced the sounds of the environment, including sounds that I would typical avoid, like tractors, dogs, cars, trains ect, as we don't always get to chose our daily soundtrack, especially during these lockdown periods.

I’ll start with my day on the farm. Snow was on the ground, with -5 morning temps on a dawn survey, but spring was still in the area, with my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and plenty of other birds to keep me perked up.

Also you’ll know by now already, I enjoy recording mimicking birds, and that morning I recorded this Robin, which gave a few good impressions during the short period I recorded. One phrase of a Great Tit, followed by another of a Blue Tit, but attempts were made to mimic Cetti’s Warbler and Goldfinch towards the end.

By far the best mimicker of the bunch though was this iconic Starling, which towards the end does a very convincing Yellowhammer Song! when not being outcompeted by a nearby Robin. As incredible Starlings are at mimicking, they aren’t very loud singers.

On another survey, I was lucky to have Magor Marsh Nature Reserve on my route, as part of a wider scope survey across the Gwent Levels. I was surprised to see Mute Swans building a nest already, but listening to the recordings below you would think it was spring, as so much was singing that morning. 2 Gadwall of note from the hide, one female of which has a white wing bar, which I have seen before. Only 6 Teal, 1 Kingfisher and plenty of Mallard, Coot, Little Grebe and Moorhens on the pond. Lesser Redpolls seem to be using the reserve quite often too and still plenty of Cetti’s Warblers making themselves known from time to time.

As I said, there were a lot singing that morning, but it’s always nice to get a recording of wintering birds singing, like this Redwing. This is their subsong rather than their full breeding song, but personally I tend to prefer the more complicated, scratchy subsongs.

I’ll leave you with plenty more songsters, including a performance from a Jackdaw that was trying to impress a female. Finishing with a Great Tit alarm calling, but specifically using their ‘Human’ alarm call, which is basically the bird telling me that they know I’m there… a bit pointless if you ask me but who knows what experiences these birds have with other people.

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush

Last weekend I made the effort to go and see a rarity to the Uk, a 1st winter male Rock Thrush! I've personally never seen one before, particularly because we've only had 2 Records in Wales since 1981. They breed anywhere from southern Europe to North Africa and even parts of Central Asia. They winter in North-east Africa however so to get them this time of year, this far south, gives you a clue how far our this guy is. The strong southern winds caused from Storm Ophelia proved too much from this bird that must have got caught up during migration. Either way, this Rock Thrush couldn't have picked a more suitable spot in Pwll Du quarry which still has a ready supply of insects but also plenty of un-touched berries on the trees. Not for long however as our winter visitors such as Redwing and Fieldfare are already on their way. Other notable species at Pwll Du quarry were a single Black Redstart, Redkite, 4 Wheatear (should be gone already) and lots of Meadow Pipits. 

Blaenserchan - Black Redstart

Today I visited most of my local wild spaces and spent a fair few hours in the Blaenserchan Valley in search of Common Lizards. I did find some, 7 in-fact, but they were proving extremely difficult to find on this hot day. Usually you find them basking in the sun in the morning and evenings but it was so warm, they were disbursed all over the mountain in amongst the bracken.. Don't know if you've ever seen a Common Lizard in a mountain full of bracken but it literally is like finding a needle in a hay-stack. I came prepared for it however, even brought my chair along as I know, once you find one, you have to gain their trust by sitting and waiting until they realise you aren't going to hurt them. I got so close I could have reach out and touched a few. Blaenserchan was so good today, it brought me a 'lifer' in the form of a female Black Redstart! - Thanks to birding friend Tim Griffiths for that one as I surely would have missed it with my head stuck in the bracken looking for Lizards. I also found a Yellowhammer in the valley which I personally haven't seen there before. Insect life was great too with Bloody-nose Beetles, Green Tiger Beetles, a Stonefly, Brimstone Butterfly and many more.