Blog Content — Gavin Vella

Viewing entries tagged
Egyptian Goose

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Pre-spring

I’ve always thought that spring was my favourite season, and it probably is. But I’ve got to admit, Spring wouldn’t be quite the same if it weren’t for those little signs in the winter period that mark the start of new beginnings. The more I learn, the earlier these signs are, which is really making be appreciate the colder months more. Between that, and climate change, Winters don’t feel nearly as long for me as they used to.. Daffodils have been sprouting in my Garden since early January and on the warmer days I’ve seen plenty of nest building, frog spawning and flowers emerging. One flower I always seem to miss though is actually from a Hazel Tree, as they are very small and being colourblind (with Red) I find them hard to spot unless I’m quite close up.

You’ll notice a lot more landscape shots than usual and that’s because I’m lending a lens from a friend (16-35mm) which is the widest lens I’ve ever used so I’m quite enjoying it. I’ve never really been bothered about landscapes, mostly because I’ve always used crop-sensor bodies which don’t exploit the full width of the lens.


In Our Nature CIC

Be sure to check out our event page as we start to dish out this years outdoor walks: Starting with a Bird Song ID walk and a Noticing Nature Walk, which was one of our most popular walk types last year.

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Llandegfedd & Local News

News

Firstly some good news! After much hard work from local supporters and our local ecologist Steve Williams, Torfaen Council Refused the proposal for the development at Tirpentwys Quarry. I'm so happy about this decision and I hope that it doesn't get appealed in the future. I'm not sure on what basis the plans were refused yet, but I assume it was based around the proposed access route which would have required a corridor of between 25 and 30 metres of vegetation to be removed and resulted in a loss of approximately three hectares of ancient woodland. Personally, the sites biodiversity alone should have held its own. Read more about it

Birds

Local patches have really been producing the goods this week with the cold northernly winds holding migration up. We've had thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Swallows and Sand / House Martins feeding at Llandegfedd, along with 2 Wheatear,  2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Firecrest and a lingering Egyptian Goose. Short trip to the Wetlands resulting in similar activities with Common Whitethroat & Lesser Whitethroat aplenty. Bearded Reedlings were whizzing around with Sedge & Reed Warbler filling the reeds with their scratchy songs.   

Insects

The first Hairy Dragonflies of the year are emerging, picked up on the board walk alongside the visitors centre in the tops of the hedgerows. Apologies for the terrible record shot. Green-veined and Orange-tip Butterflies were also feeding / hiding away from the cold along the tall hedgerows. I hope you like my Green Tiger Beetle shot, I was particularly happy with it but still wish I had a macro lens. 

What you really come here for ;) The Photos

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