News and Photographs - Archive News - Somerset & Glamorgan birds - to 31st May 2008
13th May. A few days good weather and time off from work equals a busy Chris! Leaving early I arrived at Shapwick Heath before 7am in the hope of seeing the seasonal spectacle there. What followed was amazing with views of Hobby catching dragonflies and eating them in the air. There were around 25 birds there with often several birds visible at a time. Most of the morning a Cuckoo could be heard, with one bird briefly perching for a snap and a pair seen flying. On the pools there were Gadwall, Shoveler and a real bonus with a drake Garganey. A few dozen Black-Tailed Godwit and several Lapwing were scattered around the pools with the more common species. A walk to the Decoy hide gave me a distant view of an otter and a few more Hobby sightings then it was back along the path to the other hides past a performing Garden Warbler. More shots of the Hobbies followed before nipping off to the reserve at Greylake to hopefully find a Yellow Wagtail. Yet again, no luck with the ever more elusive Motacilla flava but I did see another pair of Hobby and had a great view of a single Curlew with a Mute Swan attempting to get airborne!
Seeing as opportunities were a little restricted at Greylake it was back to Shapwick Heath for another view of the Hobby fest, this time with better views as the wind direction had changed and the birds were lower and closer. Still very difficult to photograph with a bright sky and very quick birds! Sitting in one of the hides an otter briefly surfaced about 10 meters away to give a stunning glimpse. On the way back to the car the drake Garganey finally put in a distant appearance and was promptly snapped!
14th May. Another glorious day dawned so it was time to get out and birdwatch this time on the Welsh side of the border. Down the M4 to Kenfig to see if anything was hanging around the pool. Not much there in the early morning light but a nice shot of Coot and then a distant flying summer plumage Golden Plover. After watching a songflighting Sedge Warbler for some time and failing to get it airborne I decided to walk across the dunes to Sker Point. On the way there I had lovely views of Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, more Sedge Warbler and a pair of Reed Bunting with the female doing all the nestbuilding work! Once at the point, the Golden Plover immediately set off from the sands not to be seen again and a fifty strong flock of mixed small waders soon followed suit. I did manage to see a single Whimbrel before it too vanished! I wandered on to the point itself to be greeted by a pair of Wheatear with the male being remarkably tame and in full song. As I scrambled over the rocks the wader flock returned so I headed down to the sands and managed to get within 10 meters or so of the mixed flock of Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover in a mixture of winter, intermediate and summer plumages. Very happy with the photographs of these, I headed back down Haul Road towards the golf course and back to the car. The path was littered with Stonechat and Skylark and one bird lifted into the strong breeze allowing me to get some nice aerial shots.
After spending much more time than anticipated around Kenfig it was straight in the car and off to Cwm Clydach to hopefully find a Redstart. Once I arrived there it was evident that it wasn't prime habitat for them but it was certainly perfect for Dipper and Grey Wagtail. Both the Dippers and Grey Wags were feeding recently fledged young with the juvenile Dippers bobbing exactly like their parents. I sat down by the side of the river and had lunch in the dappled sunlight with Dippers bombing past every minute or so. Happy days! I headed back towards the car and noticed a "different" bird in the trees. I was really surprised to find a pair of Spotted Flycatcher in the trees above and after some patience was rewarded with a lovely picture. I certainly wasn't expecting a new photo species for the day! Back down the valley I stopped off at Aberddulais and took some more Grey Wagtail photos with an adult feeding two hungry fledglings. With an hour left of "free time" I decided to head back to Cardiff but stop off at the bay where I managed to get some nice shots of House Martins as they collected mud for their nests. Another full and very successful day!
20th May. Seeing as I couldn't get back to sleep at 5am I headed off for work via a very long route! I hoped to see the Great White Egret that had been reported on Cantref reservoir in the Beacons but there was no sign of the bird when I got there so after a few other unsuccessful visits to other spots I found myself at Langorse Lake where I finally caught up with my first Yellow Wagtail for over twenty years! Then it was off to work. Pah!
24th May. Bank holiday weekend so before the typical deluge arrived I tried again for the Egret with little success as the lake was covered with anglers and only a pair of Great Crested Grebes to be seen. A quick trip to Brechfa pool still didn't manage to get the camera out of the bag with only a few Coot, Tufted Duck and a single Curlew adding to the Black Headed Gulls there. I then decided to take a trip to a place we refer to as "Redstart Hill" in the Brecon Beacons to try and find one. I did find a few singing male Redstart but it was very difficult to get close, especially with the steep hillsides. A pair of Cuckoo and also several Wheatear were nice distractions. At least the drive back was productive with great views of Whinchat sitting on the fence wires.
