[Fountain]

Not used to logging the birds I watch so bear with me on this one :)

First day this year the house martins & swallows have gathered on mass early morning, some sand martins joined in too, along with the odd pipit and mistle thrush.
about 250-300 ranked up the electricity wires to enjoy the early warmth of the sun, it seems a good opportunity for the fledglings to practice some moves.
Out for a short walk around 9z, all birds on wires gone. green woodpecker flies by and stops in nearby spruce, near the top and lets out a top class squawk.
Lots of goldfinches, greenfinches and linnets feeding on thistles/ragwort etc...very noisey. another few yards and a group of tits makes its way through some willow trees........ The long tailed tits seem to be joined en-route by others for a short while...that fascinating!!
Near the lake the meadow pipits are on the tarmac picking up seeds and near the waters edge pied, white & grey wagtails hop about sometimes flying up to a passing swallow to attack it. out on the water are five tufted ducks 2 adults and 3 Juvs. adults plumage regaining its distinct white now. A cormerant surfaces with a 2lb trout in its beak, within secs its been swallowed.
about 300m away by the river a heron flies up and after around a further 500m struggles to perch on top larch.
around 50 sand/house martins & swallows are feeding over the lake which was dead calm.....excellent to watch them break the water , like a mini version of the osprey.

Further along the banks of the lake in an area of willow, warblers are hoping about, mostly out of sight but I did enjoy a quick glimpse of a grasshopper and wood almost next to each other.

nearing the end of the walk a couple of red kites arrived in the area and a rather noisey buzzard, 3 ravens flew by heading for the upper parts of the mountain.

Hope you'll enjoyed the birds you saw today


cheers
Andy

[Fountain]

I meant to add a couple of photos of todays log..... I'll try it now ( if it works 4 me )

I think it has....

[Fountain]

Not much to log from today ( yesterday- just gone midnight) ........I spent most of the day on the road.
However, whilst relaxing in Halesowen, W.midlands, led back on a garden chair I noticed a raptor a few miles off high in the sky..... it was a peregrine. a bit unexpected in suburbia... that went out of sight an I was left watching Swifts ....... that made up for the driving.

[Fountain]

Been busy today..... so not a lot of watching.
before dawn some ( maybe 3) nightjars were flying constantly over the garden... back to bed
3 yellowhammers flew over, juv. grey wagtails more abundant by the waters edge. Teal, tufted and unidentified duck on water messing about.
Blackbirds/thrushes retread to the forest , windy today.
whinchats very visible today ... stonechats hiding!
A group duck pic and of one duck to make a smile

[delia todd]

Thanks for posting these reports Fountain.

I'll follow them with interest now that my brother is living in the area.

D

[Fountain]

Cheers Delia - wait until I have some good days!!

Another poor day, misty drizzle until 19z and windy thru morn & early pm. Little birds had moved to deep in the shelter of the forest.... It has been late grass cutting on the farms near here, a great time to see the raptors that like carrion. watched some buzzard & kite over one field for a short while.
Ravens about too.
Late afternoon a Red Kite spend 10 mins circling above the garden....... an everyday occurance here but never tiring to watch.
the only othert hing of note was a flock of around 70 seagulls arriving on the lake, not an everday occurance in those numbers. I'll admit to being lazy and not getting the scope out to check if there were any unusuals amongst them... the light was poor.. my excuse .

A pic of one of the buzzards on the telegraph pole by the field which had just been cut today.

[pie]

Great Log Fountain!

[Fountain]

Thanks Pie

Warblers...... i find them to hard to identify at this time of year, what with the foliage, juvs and their ability never to pose for more than a few secs....So i don't bother....unless like earlier this week, its easy. ....

But it doesn't stop me watching them and today I spent some time a few yards from a willow tree, which contained around a dozen warblers...they are just so delicate.

I had fun with a grey wagtail today too.... I wanted to get on the right side of it ( with the sun behind me ) but it decided to flit further into the sun along the shore of the lake everytime i was into position... it took around 500m before I was succesful. During this 4 Linnets , 2 juv.s, 2 adults flew in front.

The carrion crows flight feather are looking well worn today poor things.

Around a dozen seagulls returned to the lake, and only one tufted duck I saw.

Today was warm, 22.6°C top temp, but accompanied by a strong wind so raptors kept to the lee side of the mountain. Housemartins were feeding at around 100' today.

Spotted flycatchers and single juv. were feeding by the sheep pens
. The juv. is still being fed by parents but is also now a very accomplished flyer/feeder....... it couldn't catch a thing a week ago.

I've included a pic of goldfinches on thistles... they are so sweet.... the first day I've seen them feeding them this year.

[Fountain]

A couple more pics

[Fountain]

Yesterday (monday 6th august) apart from the kerfuffle I created by misidentifying the little egret ( seeOther Thread ) it was a more active day.
The egret was the star, the 1st one I've seen at the lake and the 2nd recorded here ...... As it flew in the distance the sun briefly shone just on the bird, with dark clouds/wood as a background.. thats was nice.

Just before then I watched a buzzard fly around below, no purpose to his flight it seemed..must have had breakfast. in the field, meadow pipits and linnets hop around. What i like about the meadow pipits is they try and hide in quite short grass when I'm approaching, which can be quite a good disguise for them if I don't see them, good for me if I do.

earlier in the day the juv housemartins, after gathering again on the wires spent a while practising finding nest sites. only the juv.s do this and there can be six or seven clung on to each other on one site.

with the weather warmer and less windy the little birds were back from the forest.

peregrine and hobby late evening.

[Fountain]

Mostly sunny today with light winds, there were a few light showers too.

Many more Linnets about today, dozens.... another bird that is fun to watch, more so with a large group, flitting about from thistle to thistle, down on the ground up on the fence...but being abit timid I rarely get close up.
A pair of ringed Plovers were feeding on the shoreline...I managed to get within a few feet..yeh
More Kites and Buzzards about today, mostly being lazy and using the thermals.
Juv. Spotted Flycatcher feeding more on its own.

A couple of pics, a Plover and a swallow with Kite.

[Fountain]

A unusually chilly night for August with an air frost. 4 Jays were busying themselves under some hawthorn trees at dawn.

A Raven sat on the gate post for a while, about 20 yds from a pair of carrion crows, also occupying fence posts.

an hour later linnets were at dandelions...... they grab hold of the stem halfway and shake vigorously... and the seeds come floating down. ...and sometimes they shake the wrong dandelion - see pic.

later the housemartins are in full congregation mode, quite a bird spectacle I think. Standing in the open they swoop around my head for minutes, missing me by mm. pic of a few around the top of a spruce. ....... the party didn't last, about 30mins after that pic and a peregrine swooped and made a kill.
........The P made 3 or 4 sharp calls as it flew in and got the martins in a right tiswas and then dived down.

Watched the delicate grey wagtail again!! .

[Fountain]

Losts of nest sites have been fought over and won now, by the housemartins....and the gathering this morning was not so large. but they are so loveable birds... photo of juv. sand and house martins.

The few families of tits which nest & fledged from this garden are gradually returning to the garden now after spending a month or so in the forest.

[Fountain]

I've been too busy to watch many birds in the last few days....dam it.
The main notable happening:- the arrival of the first flock of Mistle Thrushes, 60 altogether. ( on Friday) A pair have nested in the garden for the last few years..they seem to like the dense junipers.
A blue tit visited me today..... sat on the arm of the bench and then onto the shingles a few feet away.... blue tits are more timid than this here usually, so I rekon this is the one that I rescued earlier in the year.

[Fountain]

So, by now, you may see my pics included are snaps i take each day... and just snaps, just a record.

I would like to take more detailed pics yet my finances or ability to carry such equiptment arn't up to the job.. I hope they provide some realism to the log.

Its been windy and wet the past 2 days, though warm for here. nowt along the shoreline on days like today - where do they go?

At night , with the new moon making things lovely and pitch black the Owls have been noisey. I suppose its the juv.s but hey, its great fun. they say short earred don't make a lot of noise, yet I find they make a lot of noise and its so great as I never know what sound they will make next - or was that a long -earred (lol)

I spent some time along one of my favorite walls......... this one runs the southern length of the upper crrig duon valley alongside the mountain road. its so hard at this time of year to identify the large majority of the birds that resdie along it because they are juv.s...so I don't bother!!, a couple of pics below of suspect juv.s, could be wheatear, whinchat, stonechat reed bunting etc.

btw flock of mistle thrushes have not been back- yet.

crossbills have been in the garden over the last few days... spruce cones just popping.

[The Valley Walker]

Nice thread Fountain, where where abouts in the Beacons are you?

[Fountain]

Originally Posted by The Valley Walker

Nice thread Fountain, where where abouts in the Beacons are you?

Ta, All over the beacons, but mostly the western end, in & around glasfynydd forest.

A nice day today, though the weather was a bit dull for pics & with an inch & half of rain.

...... spend most of my watching time up on a hill in the forest today...... for the little ones..hehe, I had some 20' spruce behind and a clearence in front with a lot of ground cover and several young deciduous. the chiffchaffs were vocal straight away and it wasn't long before some tits hopped about in the undergrowth, great mostly but a number of willow and marsh too... though no titmice.

A pair of crossbills kept their distance through out.....so timid. I did manage to get a poor pic of a female. What they did was fly around 100m away and around in a large circle stopping of at around about the same trees each time...and landing about 5m apart of each other. I felt guilty after a time as I wanted them to settle.... but they could have posed for me just once I think!!

A few Bullfinches were feeding down in a gully, they are so bright...the males that is.

Stonechats made their stone knocking noise every now and then but I never got see them which goes for most of the little birds hiding in the undergrowth. ..Grasshopper warbler came closest and i did manage to spy a very odd warbler which made a very unusual sound. It was tiny too, no bigger than a wren with a very definate dark reddy brown back and grey under.... I havn't a clue, but pics are too poor to ask for id...darn .

Buzzards down below made a din and lesser spotted woodpecker flew past with in a straggled group of tits.

later some fieldfares arrived with some mistle thrushes. Lesser redpoll and linnets keeping them company.

[Fountain]

Back now from an unexpected trip abroad.

I'm slinking back into the birds here now, with the seasons changing fast.

Just a quick post today... enjoyed a female stonechat perching from here to there, 2 Herons trying to decide which way to go.. in the end one flew east and tother west.
I watched a yellow wagtail for a while....doing acrobatics to catch some insects but the best was the finches ( & others) feeding on the now lush thistle fairies.

[Fountain]

Dank and overcast for much of the day though the kites and buzzards did enjoy the thermals when the sun popped out briefly.
Robins, the juv's. have full plumage now, are back in the garden fighting over their territories after a few months away in the forest..... they didn't do this little migration in more urban areas I've been but here its a very defined habit. As soon as the young are feeding themselves they disappear & at the end of the summer arrive back as if they have always been resident.
Wrens were making an awful din with their clicking but were keeping close company with tits.
Cormerants are also being very noisey, mostly at dusk and dawn.

A couple of pics from today, the meadow pipits are being as sweet as ever and the tufted ducks still about, I think they may have moved in permantley.

[Fountain]

Its been a bad day... 4 tawnies run over in a few miles on the A40 overnight...and added to that was a buzzard..... then not far away a fox obviously hadn't made it over the barbed wire fence and lay dangling over it.

...... not much bird wise today....Herons about more and I watched a G. s. woodpecker fumble about for insects on top of a spruce.

I have also noticed the housmartins/swallows spending much more time away from the house during the day.

[Fountain]

I've noticed over the last week or more the absence of warblers and the spotted flycatchers...... sad to see them go ..but they will be back next year.

Its been a mostly clear day with a brisk northerly, so i suspect some more migrations are underway. Linnets and goldfinches in ever increasing flocks, the thistles are running out of seeds.

yesterday I was happy enough spending a few hours watching the (rather bedragled) city birds on an industrial estate in Cardiff. quite fun, the magpies looked awful, the gulls aggressive and dunnocks hopping about the bushes. it was nice to see a sparrowhawk fly past but the gulls gave it grief.

A magpie flew down to a bit of tarmac with largish bit of rock hard bread. 4 or 5 times it flew away when cars approached and took around 30 secs to get back to it... in the end it gave up and went and joined others on a nearby gasworks.... A BB gull flew down minutes later and at the whole bit in one go.

also.. yet another pic of a tufted duck, theres 11 in the flock now.

[Fountain]

The Anticycloninc weather seems to be starting to give up its hold today, being freasher, windier and with a bit more sunshine. The Kites and Buzzards havn't had any thermals today but have been about a lot.....with some looking quite ragged with their flight feathers missing and dislodged. Ravens are great atm. ...... calling throughout the day and with regular flypasts/landings.

Quite a suprise today as well, a spotted flycatcher visited the garden, must have been en-route along with some warblers which I struggled to indentify ( as normal lol ).

Aren't titmice great.... they can be heard a mile off, they will be sure to pass-by within 10 mins and when they do they are gone within a secound or 2 and never pose for the camera ( which is the same for 99% of birds, I find )
so , a group of titmice visited fleetingly with their piercing little calls abundant, accompanied by some warblers and other tits, including Marsh... but also goldcrests......now they are a bit harder then titmice to photograph!!

Some pics from today:

[Fountain]

I forgot......

Juv. Goldfinch still being hounded by its parent to be fed and winning....even though the pics are poor I'm dead pleased with em.---- the finches are going around in large groups at some times during the day

And on Saturday I got above the inversion and got a pic of a raven with pen-y-fan in the background, and a peregrine warming itself ( it was a bit far away when the pic was taken but flew out right in front the car 10 mins before )

[Fountain]

Tuesday was mostly blue skies with a tiny bit of fair weather clouds and the thermal day of the year I think. Buzzards, kites, ravens and goshawks circled all afternoon at around 5000'..... and a lot went on with play scraps and companionship.
I couldn't get anywhere close with a 700mm lens but have included a montage of scrappy pics of , I hope, a few different buzzards to show off some the amazing variety of markings.

A couple more taken at sunset of a buzzard and a kite which came within 150'.

[Fountain]

There will be a few newpics of Kites in this thread - because I am surrounded by them every day and they are such wonderful creatures . Today I had a kite land on my bonnet while driving under an old oak on a very narrow lane, i watched it fly in to the tree and stopped underneath it, moments later it dropped out the base amongst a furore of crows cackles which also dropped down too..... now I don't think the kite was having a go at the crows, I rekon there was a preditor in the tree. near the tree. It was all rather strange, especially with the kite using the bonnet as a springboard.

....... and if that wasn't enough, I watched a kite hunt, ( They do!! ) kill, and fly off with its prey, of which a couple of pics show below.... one just before it caught the vole and the other wiht the vole in its beak.

There was a bit of watching with some little ones today, a juvenille dunnock hopped around close to me, a little late, under some spruce a pair of coal tits came within 3' of me as they had a drink from a bowl of water nearby...their piercing calls a drain, but over a couple of hours they re-visited the same bowl around 6 times..... a need for hydration? .........

The highlight of the day- if not for a much longer time, was a goldcrest which flitted about the spruce branches just infront my face. I did get a photo, but this was when it was further away and in very poor light.

The other pic is a snap of a Heron over a sheep from this morning.