HARTLAND

Had a week away to Hartland North Devon a couple of weeks ago, staying at East Titchberry farm. It's right on the coastal path with some spectacular views and beautiful walks, and it turned up two lifers for myself which made it extra special.

our cottage for the week

 Here's some of the fantastic views we had on our walks.

Here's a map of  the coastal path around the area we were staying.

walkers map

There were some fantastic habitat there mostly fields with hedgerows and trees, some small woods and rocky cliffs and seashore. 

Hartland Point has a lighthouse which is no longer open to the public as the shore line around there is very dangerous. 

hartland point lighthouse

On the rocky cliff above the lighthouse a female Kestrel was resident.

the rocky cliff above the lighthouse

the resident female kestrel

Opposite Hartland point was a field where Lamas were kept, not something you see everyday.

some lamas

Besides the Kestrel the cliffs also had plenty of gulls - with seals, whales and dolphins sometimes swimming in close to the shore. I personally didn't see any of the latter but here's a Herring gull I did see plenty of them.

herring gull

My biggest disappointment of the trip was that there were Peregrine falcons nesting on the cliffs and although I had some spectacular views of them through my binoculars I never managed a decent image. The best one I took was this brown blob in the picture below (gutted).

superb flight shot of a peregrine 😂

Back at the farm the owners had set up some feeders where the usual garden species would visit. There were chaffinches, House Sparrows, Robins, Blackbirds and the more common Tit species with the resident Pheasant making the odd appearance.

the feeders

 

the resident pheasant

 On one of my late afternoon walks I was stopped in my tracks when I heard this sound coming from deep inside some thick hedgerow.

Yes a Grasshopper Warbler a bird I've often heard but never seen. I recorded it's call on my mobile phone then played it back, within a few seconds up it popped. I grabbed myself a few pictures before leaving it in peace.

grasshopper warbler

here's it reeling

I was over the moon to have finally bagged my self this very shy and secretive bird.

what a beauty

My luck was about to get even better. Cirl Buntings are quite a rare bird in the UK, with pockets of them in South Devon and some being reintroduced into Cornwall. There was talk that there were a very small number that had made their way to North Devon where I was staying. The coastal path is miles long with vast fields and hedgerows so locating such a small bird would be impossible, but miraculously whilst out on one of our walks I thought I heard the call of a male Cirl Bunting. Scouting along the fields and vegetation with my binoculars there it was.

cirl bunting

I couldn't believe my eyes my heart was pounding as I started taking some pictures. It was a fair way off  but with my new 600mm sigma lens I was able to grab some usable images.

another beauty

What a cracking bird and it sure made the holiday even more memorable than it already was. After that I was on cloud nine seeing a Cirl Bunting I still couldn't believe it.  

Here's some pics of other species that were in the area. Including this family of Stonechats.

male stonechat

female

juvenile

There were some nice Whitethroats around the hedgerows

white throat

 

Also Linnets

male linnet

female

Lots of Goldfinch

goldfinch

And Skylarks

skylark

I had a great weeks birding and seeing the two lifers was the icing on the cake so I was well pleased we went. Beautiful cottage which is owned by Nigel and Karol who were great hosts, just a pity about them peregrines never mind let's hope we go again.

RHIWBINA HAWFINCH

 The Hawfinch is a bird that's escaped me over the years, so when fellow photographer and Gwent Birder Mike Gough told me about them being at a place called Rhiwbina Hill near Caerphilly, I just had to get over there and take a look.

It's on a country lane where there's a pull in and right next to the pull in there's a small open area where someone puts food and water out for the woodland birds. It didn't take long for the birds to start coming in.

 the feeding area

I sat in my car for about five minutes and then there it was my first Hawfinch a handsome male.

my first hawfinch

hawfinch

The Hawfinch is supposed to be a very shy bird but this individual was coming in to feed on a regular basis. It usually feeds on things like nuts and cherry stones which it cracks open with that huge bill.

The light was difficult to photograph in as it was very dark where the food was, and there was also a sprinkling of dappled sunlight but I managed to bag myself some usable images. 

Here's a selection of  the other species of birds that were coming in.

great spotted woodpecker

chaffinch

jay

woodpigeon

 I was only there for about half an hour but I'd bagged myself loads of pictures and was very happy that I'd finally seen a Hawfinch and in Gwent as well.

handsome male hawfinch

Big thank you to Mike Gough for putting me on the right track and for finally letting  me put the Hawfinch on my British list. Cheers!!

TAL-Y-BONT OSPREYS

From their return to the British Isles at Loch Garten on Speyside in the mid fifties to have finally spread to South Wales in 2024 the Osprey is a remarkable success story. In fact they had come back here last year to perhaps look for a breeding territory but this year they had built a nest and there was hope that they would breed.

The site that they had chosen was a tree on farmland in a place called Tal-y-Bont on Usk, so me and my good mate Steve Bool went down there to see them.

The viewing point is at the side of a canal looking over the farmland and although you can just about see them through binoculars you do need a telescope. Luckily Steve is an ace digiscoper and he got an image and a couple of short videos of one of the birds.

part of the canal near the viewing point

osprey at tal-y-bont

You can see how far away they were by the picture and footage but it was great to just see them.

Tal-y-Bont on Usk hosts a Summer festival called The Green Man which was going to be situated on the farmland that the birds had chosen as a nest site. Now because of the Ospreys they've called it off to leave the birds in peace.

The Ospreys failed to raise any young this year for whatever reason but hopes are high that they will return next Spring and be successful. 

CWMTILLERY NOT JUST THE LAKES AND RESERVOIR

Cwmtillery I feel has a lot more to offer than just the lakes and reservoir, with it's wooded and bracken hillsides, farmland and heather moorland. It's host to a wealth of birdlife and here's just a few of them.

Although obviously not all the birds of Cwmtillery are going to be in this blog, I think it's a fair reflection of the diversity that it has.

At the lake there are now established nesting Coot and Moorhen as well as the resident Mallards.

nesting coot

On the lake there's also been listed - Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Canada Goose, Goosander, Heron, and the resident Dippers there's also been sightings of Dunlin and Common Sandpiper the list of birds grow ever larger. That is a wonder in itself with the lake being such a popular place for people to visit, especially with dog walking and other recreational activities going on making it a very busy place to live if your a bird. Besides all that there is a good number of passerine species in the trees and bushes that surround the lake as well as Grey Wagtails, Gulls and Corvids that all make the lakes their home.

goldfinch

male blackbird

As you walk up towards the reservoir you'll hear the calls of the Warblers and other small birds and up towards the farm you'll find Swallows swooping over the fields and House Sparrows chirping away in the farm buildings and surrounding bushes.

male house sparrow

swallow

There's also a very good chance that you'll see Pied Wagtails and Starlings in and around the buildings at the top of the reservoir.

pied wagtail

starling with juvenile

Sometimes there's birds on the reservoir but not as many as there should be. I think they're discouraged from being there by the fishermen as the reservoir is used by a licenced angling club. Cormorants use it and Kingfishers have been seen at the far end, although I've yet to see them.

cormorant

The marshy fields near the top end is a good place for Reed Bunting there's also a small pocket of Whinchat that's just about holding on. I've only seen one bird this year so haven't been able to photograph them.

female reed bunting

male reed bunting

male reed bunting

As you go up past the reservoir you come to a bit of an impasse you can either go up on to the road above which will lead you to the top of the Coity mountain (via hill 60) with it's rough heather moorland where Skylark, Meadow pipits, Red Grouse and the odd Merlin can be found and even sometimes in the autumn the odd Ring Tailed Harrier might pass through. There is a quarry just off the road with a sporadic covering of trees and bushes just below this is where the old purifying ponds are situated, there's been sightings of Ring Ouzel our only Summer migrant thrush but so far I haven't been lucky enough to catch up with them. When I was there Tree Pipits were singing loudly and calling - they're staking out their breeding territories.

tree pipit

Another option is to follow a path that will take you through some woods and around what we call the horseshoe bend where you then keep walking passed some bracken covered hillsides. You then walk into open woodland which brings you out onto some open grassland which eventually joins the road and takes you back down towards the lake. 

In the wood I was fortunate to see and photograph this Spotted Flycatcher it's a Summer visitor and is another species that's becoming a rarity. 

spotted flycatcher

spotted flycatcher

spotted flycatcher

Also whilst in the wood I got close enough to this male Redstart to grab an image.

male redstart

The wood was full of life with lot's of woodland species all singing and calling I captured this Wren and Long tailed tit on my walk along the path.

wren

long tailed tit

There's still good numbers of Wheatear up there in different areas, here's some pic's of this beautiful summer visitor.

a female wheatear

wheatear spring male

summer male

and another

and another

At the bracken covered hillsides there always good numbers of Stonechats you hear them before you see them with their clicking alarm calls which sounds like two stones being knocked together hence their name.

the handsome male Stonechat

There's a good number raptor species that's been recorded with the return of the Red Kite being most welcome.

soaring red kite

I've recorded Sparrowhawks, Kestrels, Merlins as well as Tawny and Barn owls and who is to say that there isn't any other birds of prey nesting up there that just haven't been found yet. 

Buzzards have been breeding there for as long as I can remember and they didn't let me down as this one soared above me allowing me to grab an image.

buzzard

I'll end this one by saying that we are blessed living in an area that has so much wildlife around us. Cwmtillery will always be close to my heart and is a jewel that should be cherished. If I had my way I'd make it into a national park though I doubt that will ever happen.