MORE BIRDS FROM THE LAKE

 Whilst up Cwmtillery lakes looking for the Dippers I decided to have a good scout around to see what other ornithological treats were up there. I wasn't disappointed with some nice birds on show not only on the lake but walking up to and on the reservoir.

mallard

female mallard

There's always good numbers of mallards on the lake with people always willing to feed them.

coot

moorhen

There's also good numbers of Coots and Moorhens.

female goosander

This female Goosander was a lovely sight, the males must be around somewhere but not to be seen on this occasion.

little grebe

The little Grebe's have established themselves at the lake now and this one was in it's full spring breeding plumage.

lesser black backed gull

There's usually numbers of gulls around and on the lake this one is a Lesser Black Backed Gull.

grey wagtail

At the top side of the lake is a man made river that runs down from the reservoir, it's become pretty overgrown at it's edges I spotted this male Grey Wagtail at the waters edge.

kestrel

This distant Kestrel was hunting over the mountainside.

grey heron

cormorant 

This Heron and Cormorant took flight one at the ponds below the reservoir and one on the reservoir itself.

So a nice selection and a great couple of hours spent out with the camera at my old stomping ground really enjoyed it.

DIPPERS

Made my way upto Cwmtillery Lakes a few weeks ago to see if the Dippers were still there. Being born and bred in Cwmtillery I can remember Dippers breeding up there in the 1970's.

I settled down with my camera at the ready for what seemed to be an age before one came in with a clump of nesting material they were still here, and starting to build their nest excellent.

dipper with nesting material

It dropped down into the tunnel at the bottom side of the lake where the water flows into where the nest must be. It's good that they're nesting there because the tunnel is shut off by a metal grid to stop people going in there.

I then waited for what seemed an age before it made an appearance and stayed for a good few seconds, allowing me to get some more images before it set off I suspect to look for more nesting material.

nice pose before it set off

Nice to see the Dippers doing well and hopefully bringing on the next generation of these lovely aquatic song birds.

A LATE WINTER VISITOR

 Early March produced the first really significant snowfall we've had in South Wales over the last few years. 

This year up until this event numbers of passerine species visiting my garden and bird feeding station had been a bit thin on the ground. Perhaps the avian flu pandemic had hit them hard I was thinking, but the snow and freezing conditions brought them out in force with good numbers of the usual suspects back at my feeders gorging on the seeds peanuts and other birdy food I put out for them.

A very nice surprise was this female Brambling that popped in amongst the Chaffinches to top up it's fat reserves before it sets off back up to Scandinavia where it breeds. It must have felt it was back up North with the wintery blast we've just had.

brambling

and another

Here's a selection of other images taken on the day.

great tit

male chaffinch

dunnock

male reed bunting

male reed bunting

great spotted woodpecker

and another

With Spring being just around the corner and the start of the breeding season for some species already here in March, though the bulk of birds usually breed between the months of April to June. This icy blast from the North has I suspect knocked them back a bit.

A PAIR OF TAWNY'S

 I'd blogged in the spring about a Tawny owl that had started roosting in a box that I had put up near my home. A couple of weeks ago I photographed it again peering out of the box but it wasn't until a close inspection of that picture that I noticed there were two Owls perched at the entrance.

if you look closely you can see two birds.

Well the next couple of weeks I would periodically check if they were there but no show from the birds. One day I could hear a racket from some birds alarm calling from near where the box was situated so I grabbed my camera to take a look and they were there. I snuck around to a vantage point where I could see the front of the owl box and I could clearly see both male and female Tawny's snuggled together at the entrance hole.

male and female tawny's

That's great news and should mean that they'll start breeding in that box in the next couple of months.

SOME LANZEROTE WADERS

 Went on a weeks holiday to Lanzarote in October with the Wife for a bit of autumn sunshine. We love walking on the beach where I noticed on some rocky little outcrops some wading birds. I had taken my binoculars and the wife had taken her Canon bridge camera so the next day I got up early and ventured down there armed with both.

There was a nice selection of waders with Sanderlings being the first I managed to photograph.

sanderling

There was also Turnstone present another coastal wader.

turnstone

To finish off this small group of coastal waders there were also Ring Plovers on the beach.

ring plover

I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted this Whimbrel amongst the waders.

whimbrel

I'd never been so close to waders before the whimbrel even started to walk up the beach about ten yards from me, you wouldn't get within a hundred yards of them without a hide in the UK.

To finish my morning off I got a couple of snaps of this Yellow Legged Gull.

yellow legged gull

We both had a lovely holiday in Lanzarote and seeing them waders so close was the icing on the cake.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I'll catch you on the next one.

AUTUMN ARRIVALS

Back at the tail end of October we had our annual visit from our winter thrushes the Redwing and Fieldfare. This years berry crop was very good so with some very patient waiting in my mobile hide "my car", I managed a couple of decent images of the birds.

the redwing

the fieldfare

Also trying to get their share of the Berry's were the Mistle thrush and Blackbirds.

mistle thrush

female blackbird

On a different note here's a pic I took at the end of September of a female Pied Flycatcher that must have been on passage and the first one I'd seen at the farm.

female pied flycatcher

Was also nice to get a couple of images of some long tailed tits that had ventured onto my feeders, I don't get to photograph these handsome little birds to often so it was good to see them.

long tailed tit

That's it for this one. It's great to see the winter thrushes back and that Pied Flycatcher was a nice surprise, until the next time cheers for calling in.