CWMTILLERY DIPPERS

 My old homestead of Cwmtillery have had nesting Dippers there since at least the seventies and perhaps even maybe before then. Cwmtillery Lake has been transformed over the years from the feeder pond for the old Cwmtillery coal mine into the little beauty spot it is today. The Dippers have come through all this and still manage to flourish here every year.

I visited the place back in May hoping to see if the Dippers had returned to their breeding site once more. After a short wait I was delighted to see this little brown bird with it's white breast and whirring wings heading for the nesting site.

dipper

As the bird landed near it's nest site I noticed that there were two young chicks already out of the nest and eagerly waiting to be fed by the parents.

young dipper

I watched for a while as the adults came in with food for the chicks it was great to see that they had once more been successful.

looking for food

adult dipper

I left them in peace to hopefully steer these two chicks into adulthood. It was great to spend time and watch this handsome aquatic song bird and I hope that they make Cwmtillery Lake their home for years to come. 

A DROP OF GOLD AT GOYTRE

 I went to Goytre House Wood in mid May with my good mate Steve Bool looking mainly for Pied Flycatchers. It's a lovely wood which is owned and maintained by The Gwent Ornithological Society. As you walk up the path towards the entrance you pass some farm buildings where there were loads of House Sparrows in and out of the gaps in the walls making their nests calling loudly they are great characters here's a Male.

male house sparrow

As we entered the Wood there's a small pond where we hoped the Pied Flycatchers would be. There's nest boxes put up as well to encourage them to breed, but sorry to say there were non to be seen. The wood was full of birds though Thrushes, Finches, Tits, Warblers etc, here's a Willow Warbler.

willow warbler

 
We did briefly see a Spotted Flycatcher but I wasn't quick enough to get a picture. We were lucky enough though to have some great views of a Goldcrest this tiny little bird came down in front of us and I was lucky enough this time to get a couple of shots.

goldcrest

goldcrest (these birds are tiny)

So sad to say we didn't get to see the Flycatchers I don't know why they wasn't there as they've been breeding at this site for a good many years but that's how it goes sometimes, but seeing and photographing the Goldcrest more than made up for it.

A LOCAL MARSH TIT

 In mid May my good mate Stephen Carter had located breeding Marsh Tits in a wood down near a place called Usk. I personally have never seen one and they are becoming more scarce nowadays as is the very close cousin of the Marsh Tit the Willow Tit. Both birds are hole nesters with Marsh Tit using natural holes and nest boxes where the Willow Tit excavates it's own nest hole. The two birds are almost identical with the best way of telling them apart is by their calls and song. 

We were joined on the trip by another good friend, birder and excellent photographer Lee Parsons who was also very keen to see the birds.

Steve located the nest box and Lee and myself waited at a safe distance to see if the birds would show. Within a couple of minutes the birds started to come in with beakfulls of food which obviously told us that there were chicks in the nest. We managed to get a few shots of the birds and then left them in peace.

my first marsh tit

marsh tit

Below is myself and Lee Parsons photographing the Marsh tit at a safe distance.

here's me

and Lee

It was a great moment for me personally to finally see a Marsh Tit let alone photograph one, so I was well pleased it was a great mornings birding.

THE WARBLER IN THE WOODS

 Back in early May my good friend Stephen Carter and myself went to one of our local woods. We knew that there would be a good chance that the Wood Warblers would have arrived back on their summer territories  after spending the winter in Tropical Africa.

On my way over to meet him I came over some moorland where there were good numbers of Skylarks. I was fortunate enough that a Skylark landed pretty close and started singing not taking any notice of me at all.

singing skylark

On meeting Steve on the entrance to the woods we noticed A pair of Grey Wagtails catching insects. After observing the birds for a couple of minutes Steve found their nest in a wall with four healthy chicks.

male grey wagtail with a beak full of insects

We moved on into the wood where Steve soon picked up the call of the Wood Warbler. We found there were three different territories and we soon picked up the birds as they were flitting about in the canopy.

wood warbler

wood warbler in the canopy

They're a very pretty little warbler a lot greener than their cousins that also arrive here in the Spring from Africa the Chiff Chaff and Willow Warbler. Their call is very distinctive and is said to sound like a spinning coin finished off with a few piping notes.

another wood warbler

We watched them for a little while before heading back to leave them in peace, glad in the knowledge that they had made it back to hopefully breed successfully for another season.

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.