A TRIP TO GOLDCLIFF LAGOONS

 I took myself down to Goldcliff Lagoons yesterday 26th March as I hadn't visited this site for a while and now as we're entering Spring I thought it might be a good time for me to take a look at this wonderful little reserve.

There's has been a new electric fence put up around the reserve to stop predators like foxes, badgers and other predatory mammals getting at the ground nesting bird nests during the breeding season. A good thing except the views now for photographers and birders a like is somewhat restricted as they've put the fence along the front of the hides and viewing platforms.

As I walked in the first thing I saw was a Redwing still here in late March and picking some sort of berries from a thick bush. There were singing Chiffchaffs everywhere I got these images as they were busily foraging in-between bursts of their familiar song. 

chiffchaff

singing it's distinctive song 

  

redwing

I went into the first hide where I met fellow birder John Lawton, he makes birding videos on the places he visits and has got his own YouTube channel. 

There were loads of Waders on the Lagoons mostly Black Tailed Godwits with a few Knot in the mix. When they all took off together it made for a spectacular site with them all twisting and turning in the air.

It's usually the presence of a bird of prey like this very distant Marsh Harrier which will spook them.

distant female marsh harrier

When it passes they all settle back down to feed.

blackwits settled back down

Here's one landing on the water.

blackwit coming into land.

We were joined in the hide by two excellent birders Craig Constance and Little Dai who spotted a couple of Bar Tailed Godwits to distant for a pic but a great species to see. They also spotted some Snipe which I did manage to get a distant pic of.

a couple of distant snipe

Avocets are always a beautiful bird to see here's a single bird and a courting couple doing a bit of displaying.

avocet

a displaying couple

We went down to the sea wall where little Dai spotted some diving porpoises way to distant for a photo but we had great views through his scope.

There has been reports of a single Pink Footed Goose swimming around with the Greylags at Goldcliff we managed to see it and I got a photo happy days.

pink footed goose

From the seawall hide we briefly saw a Bittern and Craig spotted a flyover Common Crane which him and Little Dai got very excited about.

This Oystercatcher with a Redshank and Teal for company was the last photograph of the mornings birding.

A very good morning with some good birds seen and them porpoises was an added bonus. The new electric fence although a bit of a pain didn't stop me getting some half decent images although the hides are that far away from the lagoons I think a scope would be handy next time. Made some new friends and learned a bit from them as well, so all in all it was a good day. 

A SPARROWHAWK FLEW IN

 People that feed the birds in their gardens will if their lucky have a Sparrowhawk visit. They're obviously after the finches, tits, thrushes or any other small birds that visit garden feeders as these make up the mainstay of their diet. The female is larger than the male and will tackle birds as big as a woodpigeon but the male being small will mostly hunt the smaller garden birds. I was lucky enough to have a male Sparrowhawk come into our garden as it tried to grab one of the finches that was feeding on the bird table. Luckily for the Finches it failed this time and so stood on a branch near the feeders and also luckily for myself I had my camera handy.

male sparrowhawk

What a handsome bird, I was that excited that during the brief time it was perched and I was firing away with my camera I cut part of his tail off the photo but never the less I think they came out pretty good. 

close up (look at them eyes)

Here are some of the birds that it was after.

chaffinch

blue tit

coal tit

great tit

goldfinch

robin

song thrush

 

nuthatch

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Great experience seeing him swoop into the feeders, it would be great to think that there's a pair nesting somewhere close but who knows as they're very secretive birds, until the next one cheers.

AT LAST THE ELUSIVE WATER RAIL

 After birdwatching for over 50 years and over that time I've seen some wonderful birds I'm embarrassed to say that I've never seen a Water Rail. I've had the odd fleeting glance of it's backside as it sprints into the reeds but never a really good view of one out in the open. They are notoriously very shy and seem to favour staying deep in the reed beds where the only clue to their whereabouts is their loud calls which sound like pig like screams. They may come out to the edge of the reeds or on icy Winter days come out into the open looking for food but mostly stay hidden away. There has been some cracking pictures on social media of Water Rails but whenever I've gone to these locations it's always been a no show. So on Sunday the 9th March Steve Bool and myself went to Forest Farm nature reserve near Cardiff, lovely area with an old canal and river with plenty of trees and two hides made out of shipping containers which over look ponds and a small reed bed. We sat in the first hide for a while with not really much showing so decided to give the second hide a go. Within 10 minutes of us being in there Steve spotted a small bird up near some Moorhens I got my binoculars on it and at last there it was my first proper sighting of a Water Rail.

at long last (rallus aquaticus)

 I was pleased as punch to have finally bagged my first Water Rail, it didn't hang about for long and soon ran back into the reeds. Luckily it came out a few more times allowing Steve and myself some great views and we were able to get some pics and a bit of video.

great to finally see one out in the open

                                                                                                                                                         

A short clip Steve took of the Water Rail 

After the buzz of seeing the Water Rail we decided to walk along the old canal where Steve spotted this male Green Woodpecker. I managed to get some decent images even though it was quite a way into the trees.

male green woodpecker

They are a stunning looking bird, it was calling quite loudly as we stood and watched it for a while.

Here's some more birds that I photographed while we were there.

a very tame robin

The Robin's and Blue and Great tits were so tame that they would fly into the hides inches from where we were sitting.

moorhen

grey heron

grey heron showing off it's breeding plumage

jay

A super morning at Forest Farm especially for myself having finally seen a Water Rail.

Another big thank you to Steve Bool for once again doing the driving and making my birding list grow ever bigger cheers mate, who knows what the Spring and Summer will bring I can't wait.

BACK TO SEE THE BUSTARDS AT SALISBURY

My good mate Steve Bool is a self employed courier and had a delivery job down near Salisbury plain where we had gone to see the Great Bustards earlier in the Winter. The weather then was dark and dreary and although we were both over the moon to see the birds the views we had were a bit restrictive. So on this bright and sunny Spring day I was more than happy to accompany him so we could hopefully have better views of these magnificent birds.

On the way there we drove past Stonehenge which I'd never seen before so was an added bonus.

stonehenge

We parked up at the same site we went to first time round and Steve soon located the birds I think he counted about 30 of them in two groups. He soon set his scope up which gave us great views of the birds although the heat haze was a pain the light was very good.

salisbury plain bustards

lovely male

  Here's a short video of the birds just chilling in the sunshine.

Here's one of the males displaying I think they call it foaming, and another pic of the birds in one of their small groups.

male displaying

It was great to go back and see the Great Bustards who are now doing so well and have now got a sustainable population thanks to everyone involved in their conservation.

Once again big thanks to Steve for letting me be his co-pilot and allowing me to once more see these beautiful birds. 

DANCING GREBE'S AT HAM WALL

My good friend and birding buddy Steve Bool and myself decided to spend a day at RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset last Sunday 2nd March again hoping to see a Bittern and some other good birds that were at the reserve. The weather was glorious for the beginning of March so hopefully we were in for a good day.

Walking into the place I couldn't believe how tame the commoner passerine species were you could have photographed them with your phone some of them came in that close.

song thrush

wren

Just as we were walking over a small bridge over one of the reens Steve spotted a Mink under the bridge. We stood back and waited, it soon came out first of all very wary but then it came out in full view.

looking out from under the bridge

out in full view

Although very cute these animals really shouldn't be in the UK, they've been introduced by activists who set them free from fur farms. They are deadly predators and are the main reason for the crash in the Water Vole population. They are very good swimmers and climbers and can also cause chaos in the local bird population. They should be irradicated from areas where there are breeding Water Voles and birds.

Great Crested Grebes are a beautiful bird and are fairly common but in the 19th century were killed and skinned for their beautiful feathers to adorn ladies hats. They were down to just 42 pairs, great conservation work by the RSPB and the flooding of gravel pits allowed the Grebes to make a comeback and by 1996 they were back with a sustainable population.

In the early Spring they play out an amazing courtship ritual where both male and female birds face each other and shake and twist their heads then the male will go under and fetch some vegetation and both birds will rise right up together with their bodies nearly completely out of the water as if dancing an incredible site which we were both lucky enough to photograph whilst it was happening.

facing each other ready for the dance

a bit of head twisting

rising right up with the vegetation

Here's a couple of other water birds that I took on the way around.             

male pochard

great white egret

male gadwall

cormorant

little egret

We also spotted this female Blackcap it came out from a thick hedge to give us some great views. They're a migrant species usually so it's either a very early arrival or it's over wintered here.

female blackcap

Steve noticed some Long Tailed Tits going in and out of some thick bramble, and after a bit of a search located them beginning the construction of their beautiful nest.

these long tailed tits are beginning the construction of their nest

 Ham Wall has extensive reed beds where the Marsh Harriers make their home both male and female were on show.

male marsh harrier

and the female

We finally made our way back to the car park to grab a coffee and a bite to eat when Steve spotted a male Bullfinch eating the buds of a fruit tree, before long it became like a Bullfinch twitch where everyone at the car park had their binoculars and camera's aimed towards the bird. It just stayed there eating away not bothered by all the commotion it was causing.

male bullfinch

 We had a great days birding even though once again the Bitterns didn't show but like Westhay there were booming males everywhere. Ham Wall is a fantastic place to visit and hopefully we'll be visiting there again what a fantastic day.