After the Storm

With heavy storms hitting the Uk the last two weeks, we've seen Migration in two very different ways. Firstly a halt in activity due to high winds coming from the south, this brought us 3 Juvenile Ospreys at the same time, just over a week ago. They are all still at Llandegfedd and are continuing to catch fish and put on a great show, right from the visitors centre. Following the high winds, the weather has taken a change with rain storms coming from the north, which has seen the swift movement of thousands, if not millions of Swallows and House Martins all over the country. It was quite a spectacle today to see so many bird moving south. One of the 3 Juvenile Ospreys showed a Blue Darvic Ring (Blue JL8) on the left leg which we've tracked back to Aberfoyle, Scotland this year. Darvic rings are proving to be vitally important in tracking birds of prey as the large rings can be read with a good telephoto lens. The last two photos in this group show all three Ospreys in one tree and the last picture is one of the Ospreys looking at a Fox in the background lol. Something I never thought i'd see in the same lens, despite it being a way off. 

Pontypool Uplands and Cefn Ila

Yesterday's upland birding session with Craig Constance brought about some nice migrants passing thru, starting off the day with a Juvi Merlin hunting over the moorland above the British, later picked up again as it flew over our parked car and flushed a flock of starlings off the road side! It continued to mob a Red Kite while heading south to the next mountain. Nothing great to show you photograph wise, only this very distance shot of it heading off in the distance. We also noted 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Redstart, 2 Wheatear and plenty of resident birds like Green Woodpecker, Buzzard, Kestrel (3), Raven and plenty of Stonechat fledglings. It's starting to get a little colder on the mountain now but still plenty of insect life and this Devils Coach Horse Beetle put on a good show walking across our path. 

I visited Cefn Ila today also in search the Wasp Spider, previously introduced by local spider expert Mike Kilner. I was shocked however upon visiting to find that most of the pristine Wasp Spider habitat has since been lost and overshadowed by newly planted Trees and shrub. The site is run by the Woodland trust who've done a marvellous Job at planting a great variety of broad-leaf trees. No-doubt a wonderful woodland to come! But a shame to lose a fantastic spot for such an iconic species of Spider. I did however find plenty of the Spiders food with lots of Grasshoppers and Roesel's Bush Crickets (My favourite british cricket). Also at Cefn Ila were lots of Spotted Flycatchers near the Bee Hives / Orchard. 

Tirpentwys Nature Reserve

If you're lucky to get a space in the now downsized car park, this Nature reserve is well worth a visit. When not used as a pick up point for downhill bikers - (who've created a huge downhill course on the north facing mountain side) - it's quite a peaceful site, rich in flora and fauna. The Common Lizards were showing really well in the closed section of the Car Park in the walls, but you do have to be slow approaching and patient, for they always see you before you see them. Further up the valley the Migrant, Southern and Common Hawkers were putting on a decent show, with lots of newly emerged Palmate Newts exploring their surroundings, possible eyeing up any winter hibernation spots as the colder weather is approaches. 

Despite the breeze, Butterflies were showing well also with Common Blue, Essex Skipper and about 30 Small Coppers (The most I've ever seen). So many that they were squabbling over available flowers. 

Something I wasn't so impressed with was the worrying amounts of Himalayan Balsam. An invasive plant that is spreading like wild fire through our countryside and isn't very easy to get rid of. Our native bees pollenate them rapidly which sounds good but this actually is a bad thing because it detracts the bees from pollenating our native flowers. Between that and the incredible seed dispersing mechanism that the plants have, I can see us having real issues in the future if this isn't dealt with soon. 

Llandeg Updates

What a weekend! and what a pleasure to see so many birders this weekend turning up to see the 2! Ospreys present at Llandegfedd. Our original male has picked up a female bird and both are showing signs of courting so it's worth keeping a safe distance from any perched birds and observe them from the Dam, North Car Park, Petingale or Bert Hammar Hide for extended viewing in the morning or late evening. Quite a few birders were treated this morning only feet from their cars at the north car park (Glascoed End) with a fly-by from both birds as they inquisitively checked us out while fishing. 

Possibly the same male? 

Looking back through old records and our current male could well be the same male we had July 2016 last year, (See picture above) that also stayed for over a month in July before heading off. There were two other birds present last year also, one with a Blue ring that we didn't make out in the end. Could be a coincidence but the female he's picked up this year also has a Blue ring which we finally got a closer look of today and it so reads NW1

Female Osprey NW1

I'm yet to find out details from this bird but it's likely a young female as the Ring info isn't on any of the Ring Data listed online. This could mean it's been rung very recently but time will tell, I'm just waiting on a phone call. 

A beautiful Common Tern showed really well from the visitors centre around 8am and tucked up most of the day on the Fishnets after a mornings fishing. Loved the fact that it landed on one of the safety boats I regularly use. 

Cattle Egret

'Patching' is so important and there is nobody that's more committed to a single patch than Craig Constance. He really does put a lot of time and effort into birding Llandegfedd and as a result, he has found some great birds over the years. Yesterday evening was another classic example as we were just about to meet up after my shift and he finds a Cattle Egret right opposite the visitors centre, much to my approval, as I've never seen one before!. They are usually winter visitors to the Uk but breeding records are increasing yearly, this year even breeding at the popular RSPB site - Hamm Wall Nature Reserve. Llandegfedd is a perfect breeding site for Cattle Egrets with plenty of mature trees around the outskirts of the water to nest in but also plenty of farmed fields for Cattle Egrets to feed. As the name suggests, Cattle Egrets are closely associated with Cattle, in that they prefer to be feeding at the feet of cattle as they disturb insects off the ground. They are native to places like Asia, Africa and Southern Europe and you may have seen them in Nature documentaries on TV, feeding around the feet of Elephants and larger cattle. Here their feeding methods remain largely the same, only they feed around Cows, Horses and Sheep. 

In other news, the resident Osprey is still present, seen only early hours and late evening. I would recommend making an early appearance for best chance of seeing it fishing (between 5-7am, or late evening between 7-9). 

Osprey Activity

Our annual Osprey visit at Llandegfedd seems to be giving everyone a run for their money, showing only to the select lucky few as it catches a fish and disappears for days on end. Lucky for me, part of my Job as a Ranger at Llandegfedd requires regular boat patrols / rescues and on one occasion it flew as close as I think I'll ever get to a wild Osprey before returning to its roosting tree. This individual has been present for a couple weeks now and has become quiet at home for the time being. I'm not sure how long it will hang around but if you're yet to see it, I'm working lates for the next 9 days so pop by the visitors centre and if I'm available, I can give you up-to-date info on it's activities.

In other news, another victim to fishing line as a Carrion Crow manages to tangle itself on the highest branch it could find on a completely dead tree, leaving Craig Constance and myself completely helpless as it struggled. We tried literally everything and even rang our local Fire department in the end in desperation. They did everything they could to try and get it down and not even they could reach it. The bird unfortunately didn't survive the trauma. Sorry to share the images with you, I know it's not nice seeing anything suffering but we really did do everything we could. A hungry Stoat watched intently at the bird but not even a Stoat would have got that high. 

Wader Week

The last two weeks we've started to get our first southern movement of Waders, along with other early spring / summer breeders that have either failed to breed or have already fledged their first brood of chicks. It's a good time of year as you really could get anything turning up at the Reservoir. Lucky for me I get to scan the banks while on Boat patrols at work and the last two days have pulled up quite a few waders that I would have missed if walking on the bank. Today I found a single Oystercatcher, 6 Common Sandpiper and 2 Redshank. Also this week we've had a pair of Little Ring Plover, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper and a single Juvi Lapwing. 
Hard to believe that we used to have Lapwing breeding onsite in decent numbers and now we're lucky if we get a single summer visit from one. 

Back on track

Back to work and back on track! I think it goes to show I lucky I am when the place I spend my days off at, is also the place I work. Llandegfedd will always be a special place for me and this weekend it revealed some more of its secrets, this time in the form of a lovely Butterfly called a Purple Hairstreak. I've heard they were present but never seen them for myself till today. I didn't get anything great photography wise to show you, as they remain high up in Oak tree canopies, not to mention they are pretty darn small so even a bigger lens than my own wouldn't quite cut it. Other notable species this weekend - Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Kingfisher, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Little Egret, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Scoter and the today ended with a Juvi Cuckoo. 

Garden Pond

Earlier this year, Jodie and I decided to put a pond in the front Garden and committing ourselves to having a 'wildlife friendly' garden. It was so easy to put in, just bought a plastic pre-moulded pond, dug the hole and popped it in. Adding a water source to your Garden can increase the bio-diversity so much, inviting not only water dwelling creatures like Frogs, Toads and Newts but also giving the insect life a source of water to drink on those hot days. We already have lots of life in the pond, with most of our Tadpoles fully formed and hopping around the Garden in Frog form. I haven't really managed to venture that far from the house the last two weeks so today I concentrated on the pond and in doing so, found two Toads enjoying the new features.  

Garden Pond

Garden Pond

Garden Toad

Garden Toad

Fake Toad? 

Fake Toad? 

#Health

The last two weeks I've been back and forth the hospital with abdominal pains and to cut the story short, my Scan results show Gallstones and a problem with my small intestine. Could have been a worse result so staying positive, as either of the conditions suspected are treatable. It has knocked me back a bit though and I've even managed to lose a stone in weight in just over a week. Moving forward I'm due for another Scan and will be referred to a specialist to decide what to do from here. Either way, this shouldn't effect me in the long term and I hope to be back in action soon. My only gripe is for this to have happened at peak season, usually my busiest and most productive time of the year - something that may take me more time to get over than the illness itself. Thanks for all who've supported me through this difficult time.