A FEW HOURS AT LLANDEGFEDD

 I went over to Llandegfedd Reservoir in mid April or as it's called now Llandegfedd lake. Although it is very commercialised now to what it used to be it still is a place where some good birds can be found.

The Gwent Ornithological Society members are allowed access now to certain parts of the reservoir where the general public are not. This is to try and protect certain wintering birds and keep disturbance of the delicate breeding areas to a minimum.

First stop for me was the Inlet hide where I watched the Great Crested Grebe's for a while quietly going about their day. I think the females must have still be on eggs as there were no signs of any Grebe chicks.

great crested grebe

After watching the Grebes for a while I slowly walked down towards the Greenpool Hide where I spotted a Blackcap singing away at the top of a tree.

male blackcap

Once in the hide nearly straight away I could hear Reed Warbler calling they were flitting back and fore the reed beds. I sat patiently until they came close enough so I could grab an image.

reed warbler

Nice to see them at the reservoir where they'll be settling down to breed in the next week or so.

While sitting in the hide this Chiff Chaff came straight in front of me landing on a reed before shooting off again.

chiff chaff

I'd spent that much time in the hide that it was time for me to head back to the car park to make my way home. As I came out of the hide a Sparrowhawk flew over my head and off into the distance.

sparrowhawk

There were lots of birds about all singing and calling setting up territories and trying to find a mate but couldn't get close to most of them as they were keeping their distance or in amongst the canopy. I did manage to get close enough to this Long Tailed Tit to get an image even though it was at the top of a tree.

long tailed tit

It was time for me to get myself home though I was quite pleased with my visit the birds I had seen and the images I'd managed to capture. I was at one time unhappy in the direction Llandegfedd was going but it's still a good place to go birding and can throw up the odd rarity, I think I'll  be definitely coming back.

SPRING MIGRATION

 Spring for me is always a great time of year, the days start to get longer and the weather a bit warmer and also I look forward to welcoming back our  Spring migrants to the farm. From April on we get a nice selection of migrating birds here, but the one we always listen out for is the Cuckoo.

the cuckoo returns

This year the male has been quite showy and vocal so I was able to get some half decent shots of him.

cuckoo being harassed by meadow pipits

The Cuckoo is constantly being harassed by Meadow pipits which on the farm is it's main host species.

Also nice to see arriving are the Willow Warblers this tiny little bird with it's descending song flies here all the way from Africa to breed.

willow warbler

It's seems strange to me how we never get any Chiff Chaff up here it's a very close relative of the Willow Warbler and likes similar habitat but for some reason they don't settle here.

A bird that always does well here is the Redstart they're a hole nester and has benefitted from the nest boxes that we've put up around the place. Always great to welcome them back especially the Spring males which are very handsome birds indeed.

spring male

female

I've managed to get both male and female on the same post. I hope they're successful this year.

Moving on and the next Summer visitor is the Wheatear a very handsome bird of our uplands.  Although I've noticed over the last few years that they are very much in decline. They nested up here in good numbers going back five or six years ago but this year I've only seen them very rarely and only in one's and very rarely a pair together.

wheatear 

They are becoming a rare sight now and it would be such a shame to lose them altogether from my local patch.

The Swallows have always come back to the farm year on year but this year they were really late not arriving until late April. We have finally got a pair here now and they have started to build their nest in my rusty old shed. I think they spend a good few days after arriving feeding up after their long journey, this is so they can get into condition for breeding.

swallow

The last migrant that visits us every year is the Tree Pipit another host for the Cuckoo and a very similar looking bird to it's very close cousin the Meadow Pipit.

tree pipit in the dappled sunlight

These constantly sing either from a suitable perch or in their parachuting display flight where they'll drift either from one perch to another or from a tree to the ground.

another

Here's one from his favourite lampost he's back and fore this post all the time, which means there could be nest close by.

on his favourite post

Lovely to see all our migrating birds back here for the Spring and Summer, it would be great if a few more species decided to nest with us at the farm. There were in years gone by good numbers of Whinchat here but for whatever reason we no longer have them, but for the one's we do have here lets hope they successfully bring on the next generation of our Spring migrants.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION

 Back in March a request was put out to all the Gwent Ornithological Society members who are wildlife photographers to submit five photographs each of birds that they have personally photographed over the years in the Gwent area. The idea being that GOS could showcase the avian biodiversity in the county. The pictures that were chosen would be put in an exhibition at The Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre in Newport South Wales.

So I submitted five of what I thought were my better efforts and was delighted when three of my pictures were chosen to be in the Exhibition. So obviously I went down there to take a look.

some of the art work on show

two of mine

My three were the male Stonechat and Cuckoo (pictured above) and a Tawny Owl pictured below.

that's me pointing to my tawny owl pic

and with the other two photographs

A great venue and some fantastic photographs so I was delighted that my bird photographs were chosen to be shown in the exhibition to the general public. I hope it shows and people start to realise what wonderful birdlife we have in Gwent.

SOME BIRDS FROM THIS AUTUMN AND WINTER

Here are some images of the birds that were around the farm during this Autumn and Winter. Hope you like them.

blue tit

 

song thrush

male brambling

fieldfare

There were Redwing at the farm as well but they were far to skittish so didn't manage a photo.

mistle thrush

a cold looking male stonechat

tawny owls

Might have had trouble with the Tawny's this year as this nest box was full of twigs by the middle of April. The culprits being Squirrels, They either didn't breed for some reason or they went early and the owlets had already left the nest box by then. Will have to see if they're back in this box next year.

female blackbird

male blackbird

 

starlings

Hope you enjoyed the selection, thanks for dropping by see you soon.

PORTRAIT OF A BUZZARD

 Here's a beautiful Buzzard that landed on a lampost near my home recently and stayed there long enough for me to get a few pics before it took off.

buzzard on an old lampost

 A Facebook friend of mine Christian Paul who is a portrait artist asked if he could paint one of the pictures. So of course I told him I'd be very honoured and here is the result.

buzzard portrait

 A very talented young man indeed I was well pleased with it.

Here's a couple more Buzzard pictures I've taken recently and a couple of Red Kite photos as well, these are obviously birds in flight.

buzzard

red kite

While we're on the subject of raptors here's a Sparrowhawk pic from below which flew over the house recently.

sparrowhawk

Big thanks to Christian for painting my Buzzard pics a very talented man, I was very humbled that someone wanted to paint one of my pictures it just makes you feel good.

THIS WOOD IS ON FIRE

 Early last Summer my old mate Steven Bool and myself went to a lovely wood near where he lives to do a bit of birding and hopefully capture some images. The wood was alive with the calls of loads of different species, warblers, finches, thrushes and lots more. He had located some territories of Gold and Firecrests which made my adrenalin rush as these two species had been on my photography wish list for some time. We sat and waited and after some time to our sheer delight this little beauty showed up.

firecrest

Yes a Firecrest what a beauty, we couldn't believe how lucky we were that it came in so close. I rattled off a few pics and then we decided to leave the area as it might still be nesting close by.

 I think this is a female as it lacks any red on the crest. What a feeling it was to see and photograph such a cracking little bird. Big thanks to Steve for his local knowledge, without him I would never have found let alone been able to see these beautiful birds.

A KESTREL FLEW IN

 At the tail end of last Spring this female Kestrel flew in and stayed around near my home for nearly a week. It was great to see it and gave me some great photographic opportunities. Don't really know why it chose to stay around for so long maybe it's a non breeding adult or perhaps it's breeding attempt had failed for one reason or another. 

It was relentlessly dived bombed by the Swallows that were breeding in my shed but still stayed for them precious few days.

the female Kestrel

Where it went after it departed who knows? but I was mighty pleased it stopped by.