Griswold's Birding Year 2014 (2 Viewers)

[ClarkWGriswold]

Had a couple of hours at Kenfig Pool this morning. The pool itself was very quiet with only some Swallows of interest. In the trees were plenty of Warblers. Had a long chat with Adrian - an excellent local photographer. Some fantastic shots on his website:

www.canon4ade.zenfolio.com/

Missed out on the Lesser Whitethroat but did add:

110. Willow Warblers
111. Cetti's Warblers.


Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

A nice walk around Penclacwydd today with the boys and Sarah. Plenty of Chiffs, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Greenshank, Blackwits etc. Another walker spoilt what was shaping up to be an extremely mediocre photo of species #112.

112. Blackcap

Gadwall are extremely common around the area and there were plenty of ducklings around to keep the boys happy.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Had a lovely day with friends and their children at Dinas today. The weather was superb:t:

It's a great little reserve with good habitat for migrants. The boardwalk is being repaired but passable.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Thanks to Bill (aka Whimbrel) for the tips. Managed to add the following to the year list:

113. Yellowhammer
114. Marsh Tit
115. Pied Flycatcher
116. Common Redstart

Give it another month and Common Redstarts will be far easier to connect with. Also picked up another mammal: Bank Vole.

Cars of the day were two identical purple/blue TVR Griffiths parked up in Trecastle - superb.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Enjoyable few hours at Goldcliff and Newport Wetlands Centre today. First cuckoo of the year heard. Decent view of a Cetti's. Dipped on the Little Owls and Bearded Tits again.

Plenty of Avocet, Buzzards and Lapwings at Goldcliff. Added the following:

117. Ringed Plover
118. Little Ringed Plover
119. Bar Tailed Godwit
120. Bar Headed Goose (100% wild I'm sureo)
121. Marsh Harrier (+) (Pretty certain on this one)

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Had a cracking day today. Headed over the mountain road from Llandovery to Tregaron before coming home via Lampeter, Llangadog and The Black Mountain.

Great views of Kite, Buzzards, Ravens, Skylarks, Willow Warblers, Chiff Chaffs, Stonechats, Goosander, Jays etc. etc.

Anyone visiting Cors Caron could do worse than complete the riverside walk. it's c7kms and needs decent weather as it looks like it could get extremely boggy.

On the mountain road we added:

122. House Martin

And on the bridge over to Bethlehem outside of Llangadog we added:

123. Sand Martin

Saw heaps of Lesser Redpolls at Cors Caron and a few outside of Llangadog. The variation, particularly at Cors Caron, was quite pronounced. One or two certainly seemed bigger and paler than the ones we regularly get on the feeders. When we left there was a birder with his scope set up on the feeding station. He'd seen a couple of birds yesterday which he thought were Mealy/ Common Redpolls. If they were, he said they were a first for Ceredigion.

Below are a couple of views taken today - Llyn Brianne, looking down to Tregaron, Cors Caron and from the mountain road.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Camping at Pitton Cross (Gower Peninsular) for a couple of nights. Just came back from a walk from Ramsgrove Beach. At least half a dozen Yellowhammers about and heaps of migrants, Linnets, Finches, pair of Kestrels etc. Will put a couple of shocking photos on when I get home tomorrow. Added the following:

124. Whitethroat - quite a few singing away.
125. Lesser Whitethroat (+) - pretty certain on this from poor view flitting in undergrowth.
126. Chough
127. Stock Doves

Weather today is great. Might go for another walk later if my youngest wakes up.

Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

As promised/ warned. Some cac photos. The first is possibly the worst photo of a Chough you'll see on BirdForum:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Ramsgrove Beach and the view West toward Worms Head:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Next just shows the beauty of these little lightweight Superzooms.

1st no zoom
2nd full zoom with 1.5 t/c
3rd full zoom and cropped. From same spot though different image in set.

Great for ID purposes though with this species even I was able to recognise it!:-O

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

And finally. I managed to get a little closer before the boys scared him off.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Had a quick visit to Penclacwydd this morning to look for the Franklin's Gull but unfortunately could not find it. Did have an enjoyable 5 mins watching a Little Gull and a couple of Med Gulls from the Observatory. Also added Common Gull to the year list in front of the British Steel Hide.

128. Common Gull

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

A short walk over to the Heron Hide gave a distant view of the Glossy Ibis.

129. Glossy Ibis

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

On the way back we stopped by the Loughor Boating Club which gave great views of a Whimbrel.

130. Whimbrel

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

No new species of birds to add this weekend but did hear a Cuckoo at Cwm Cadlan and saw a few Common Redstarts, Wheatears, GSW etc. there.

Today we went with the boys for a picnic up past Ystradfellte. Again, Common Redstarts were present along with Willow Warblers, Stonechats and Grey and Pied Wagtails on the river.

Went for a wander up to the top of the mountain and came across this little fella which I presume to be a Common Lizard? Must admit that it's rare that I come across Lizards here in South Wales.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Great Day's Birding

Had the day off work yesterday so armed with some great advice from DevonBirder I set off for Ham's Wall at 5:45 and stopped off at Goldcliff on the way home.

A list of 60+ species including 3 lifers was a successful day in my book. Species included Whimbrel, Marsh Harriers(5), Avocets, Bittern (9 in the air at the same time:eek!:, Hobby(c12), Great White Egret, Garganey, heaps of Warblers etc. etc. A couple of cuckoos heard but unfortunately not seen.

I'll leave Lifer #3 out of the list for now as it's a schedule 1 breeder and would not want to risk disturbing it.

131. Swift
132. Reed Warbler
133. Sedge Warbler
134. Garden Warbler
135. Garganey Lifer#5 :t:
136. Hobby Lifer#6 B B :bounce::bounce:
137. Lifer#7 Will add at later date

Couple of rubbish photos. I added the sheep as they looked so content in the May sunshine.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Had a very decent day yesterday with members of the Carmarthenshire Ornithological Society. Jeff from Leicestershire also came along which was great as he had a fantastic ear for birdsong and gave some great pointers.

The day started well, leaving the house at 7:30 and then having a great drive whilst listening to The Blues Brothers. A bacon and egg roll with brown sauce from the West End Café in Llandovery was the icing on the cake.

On arrival a birder from Cardiff was already getting great photos of the resident Marsh Tits and Yellowhammers. At least 3 Cuckoos were heard during the day and 2 were seen. Soon enough the other members arrived and we headed off along the boardwalk. Pied Flycatchers were present but not as numerous as previous years. Garden Warblers were also present along with Blackcaps. The main group then headed down to the river whilst I decided to sit under a tree and see what came along. Whilst I missed out on the Peregrine I was more than happy with a great view of a male Redstart and a pair of Wood Warblers. Wandering down to join the group some members pointed out a female Goosander on the river.

It was now lunch-time so it was back to the picnic tables for lunch whilst watching the Marsh Tits again. After lunch instead of heading down to the river we turned left. Spotted Flycatchers were soon added to the day list and a little bit further on Tree Pipits were added. Big thanks to Jeff here as I mentioned earlier he has a terrific ear for birdsong and was able to nail them down.

A short drive up to Llyn Brianne from Dinas gave the final birds of the day - Stonechats, a Winchat (Thanks to the birder in the 3 series for getting us onto that one), Meadow Pipits and Wheatear.

Added the following to the year list:

138. Cuckoo
139. Spotted Flycatcher
140. Wood Warbler
141. Tree Pipit
142. Winchat

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

A couple more from the day:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Next just a couple of examples showing the versatility of the SX50/ Superzooms. Whilst the end results are not great they were at least a record.

The female Goosander is in the middle of the river:

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

The Cuckoo is on the tree on the hill on the other side of the valley:eek!: