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We were walking in a local bluebell wood early this morning, outside of the wood there was a bitterly cold wind blowing but in the wood it was much calmer and milder. These glorious little flowers wont be out for much longer because they flowered earlier than usual this year. Another week at best and that will be it for another year, it's a shame this lovely natural spectacle is so short lived.

I was out walking on the Beacons early this morning and I heard three male Cuckoos calling.



So at last they’re arriving at their usual sites. As I approached a large sycamore tree a bird flew out and kept low over the ground, it fluttered along like a Cuckoo and initially that’s what I thought it was. However, as I saw it in my binoculars I could see it was slate blue in colour and very small, too small for a Cuckoo, I realised then that I had spooked a male Merlin - much too late for a photograph but very nice indeed to see what is a very rare raptor. As I walked on I could hear a really raucous noise and suddenly three Jays flew over my head then some more and more again until I counted fifteen birds in total, a very good count of Jays. They all flew off into the distance interacting as they went, quite a spectacle!
As I began to drop down to lower levels, Tree Pipits were singing from the tops of the trees and Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers were all singing on what was a very pleasant morning. Then suddenly I could hear the distinctive ‘Spinning Coin’ song of the Wood Warbler. These are one of my favourite little spring birds, they look so pristine with their snow white and lemon plumage and as I got nearer to the woods I could hear a bird calling and singing. I waited at the woods edge with a lens at the ready and sure enough a bird started to display, darting around the foliage. These little birds don’t stop still for long, but I managed a few quick shots before it disappeared back into the dim light of the woods.
A nice finale to a very pleasant mornings walk.

In this warm weather Damselflies are starting to emerge and this morning Susan noticed what turned out to be a Large Red Damselfly on the flowers at the edge of a very small ornamental pond in our front garden. This little pond is no more than ten gallons in capacity so it just goes to show how a seemingly insignificant little eco system can support lots of insect life - every little helps!!

Over the last week the juvenile Sparrowhawk that is visiting our garden on a regular basis, (see previous blogs), has been resting underneath a Cotoneaster shrub during the heat of the day. A few days ago I decided to try and capture him on video. I don’t have a dedicated video camera so I used the video feature on my canon 5D Mk IV camera to try and get some footage.
I could see the branch that he was perching on regularly, so I set the camera and lens up about 18 inches away, on a small wooden box covered with some camo netting.
There are some inherent problems with filming like this, principally because I had to try and predict what part of the branch he would perch on, focus on that point and then switch off the autofocus to stop the lens possibly hunting around to focus, thereby getting blurred images or even spooking him with the noise of the focussing motor. Also, because of EU regulations, (ARRRGH!!!), top end stills cameras that have video functions are classified as video cameras, thereby, falling under the film industries taxation laws. This means in short that if your camera is able to take videos longer than 30mins then it is liable for tax. This would cost the manufacturers of these cameras money, which would be passed on to the customer, thereby increasing prices and impacting on sales.
As a result of the above, I had to reset the filming sequence, because it had stopped every 30mins and hope that the bird didn’t arrive when I was doing so. More frustratingly, it is not possible currently on Canon DSLR cameras to trigger the video function remotely, because you have to press a button to lock the mirror up before you can take a video.
I went through this procedure a few times until luckily I managed to record him on the branch, he is not ideally framed but that was all I had. On the day I filmed him he sat under the Cotoneaster for two hours but the camera had switched itself off after 30mins. Very annoying, but that’s wildlife and that’s EU regulations.
In the heat of the day he became progressively sleepier – please see video below.

https://youtu.be/Z2PySTmy7zY

In February this year we had a very mild spell of weather here in the Brecon Beacons, then we experienced a few weeks of really vicious, wet and windy weather in March, which brought damage and tragically, some fatalities. Trees were blown down and areas of the country were flooded badly which were the causes of the aforementioned tragedies. The water levels are now thankfully receding on the rivers, but Llangors Lake will take about another month to get back to normal, if we have no more heavy rain.
Wildlife, however, just like the rest of us has to get on with it and as the Daffodils start to die back the grassy areas around the Beacons and indeed my garden, are now covered with masses of Lesser Celandine and Primrose. The woods are full of Wood Anemone and Ladies Smock is now appearing with the Forget –Me - Not, a few early Bluebells are also showing through in sheltered places.
I have spent a few hours down at Llangors Lake over the last week and there are signs of spring appearing, Cetti’s Warblers are becoming more vocal - these are such a difficult bird to photograph!



Great Crested Grebes are performing their courting rituals, frustratingly at a distance.



A Mandarin Duck at the north end of the lake is looking particularly colourful.



Wrens are singing from everywhere – such a noisy - but still endearing little bird!



While all these birds have probably been in the area all year round, they liven up, as indeed we all do, as the weather improves.
Arriving over the last week or two Ring Ouzels are back on territory in very small numbers at Craig Cerrig Gleisiad in the Beacons, lovely to hear a male singing last week very early on a bitterly cold morning. There are Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps singing everywhere, along with a few Willow Warblers. Sand Martins and Swallows are now flying and one or two Common Redstarts are just arriving, while the Blue Tits in our garden tentatively explore the nest boxes.
However, there is one sign of spring that I like to look for in particular and that is the Orange Tip butterfly. This small but beautiful insect is the first butterfly to emerge from a pupa/chrysalis in spring, as opposed to other early spring flying butterflies such as Peacock, that have over-wintered as adults. Today Susan and I saw five of these little gems, it was lovely to see them flying around the bramble patches near Llangors Lake.



Another lovely Butterfly which is just taking to the wing is the Green Veined White,
and like the Orange tip, at this time of year, these butterflies have also emerged from an overwintering pupa/chrysalis.



Let’s hope we have a nice spring and summer again this year!

Nature of the Brecon Beacons.
By Kevin Walker
Last Saturday saw the release of the above book and I’m pleased to say that all the bird images featured were supplies by me. This is a very wide ranging and informative book covering most things you are likely to encounter on your walks in the Brecon Beacons. Kevin runs a local walking business featuring navigation and hill skills and also private guiding.
This is the third book that has featured my images of birds in the Brecon Beacons.
It’s nice to see my images in publication, especially highlighting the area where I live.

We decided to visit the Forest of Dean yesterday to take advantage of this sublime spell of winter weather. Our first stop was Parkend Church to see if we could locate any Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers - and along one of the forestry tracks we could hear one drumming softly but we couldn’t see where - but that’s about par for the course with these enigmatic little birds. Also in this location Crossbills have been coming down to drink from some road – side puddles, but these puddles are now virtually dry. There was a man sat in his car there with a Camo jacket on and a lens, obviously waiting for these birds to hopefully come down to drink. Amusingly, in the very warm sunshine he was fast asleep and when we returned about an hour later he was still asleep. I hope no birds came down because he would have missed them. I say amusingly, because it has happened to me previously, especially when things are quiet. I was trying to photograph a Cuckoo one morning some years ago in similar weather and I had fallen asleep in my hide and when I woke up there was the Cuckoo on a branch of a tree a few feet away just staring at me.
In Parkend, in the woodland opposite the cricket pitch in Crown Lane Hawfinches can sometimes be seen, but this is a very noisy area and there is always disturbance from dog walkers, traffic and worst of all so-called birders and photographers who get out of their cars to try and see the Hawfinches. This behaviour inevitably spooks these very flighty birds and results in nobody seeing them. We parked under the trees and saw one male bird that was still in winter plumage but the light under there was quite frankly abysmal, and there was no real chance of a decent photograph because of these dire lighting conditions. This situation was compounded when a ‘photographer’ walked right up to this woodland and produced a picnic chair and sat down with his tripod and camera obviously with the intention of photographing Hawfinches – LOL – No Chance!! We decided to leave, reminded why we hate this location.
We then visited the New Fancy View lookout just up the road from Parkend, to see if there were any Goshawks displaying and there were only two very distant birds seen. New Fancy view is not what it was, even a few years ago. We can remember numbers of Crossbills landing in the tops of the pine trees and Hawfinches flying across the tree tops regularly. Yesterday there was hardly any bird song there and virtually no raptors in the air anywhere – in weather like this you would think birds would be out displaying and singing but I suppose it’s just a reflection of the way things are these days.
However, there was one saving grace in terms of wildlife – on the walk back down from New Fancy View, on the grassy banking by the side of the track, we came across some Adders – three in total – all males. I managed some shots as they warmed – up in the leaf litter. Seeing these lovely snakes always brings to mind just how small they are, and how they are easily missed most of the time as people walk by.

These snakes are recognizeable by their individual head patterns by people who monitor them.











Despite the lack of birds it was still an absolute pleasure to be out walking around on such a glorious day.

I always thought it would be nice to have a pond where I could take photographs of birds reflected in the water but this is easier said than done. There are various problems, the main one being that you have to get down to eye level in order to do this. This means either lying on the floor for hours or digging a large pit – neither of these alternatives really appealed to me.
Then a few days ago it dawned on me – why couldn’t I raise a small pond up in the air. Ridiculous you may think, but no, not quite as it may seem!
I had a plan in mind:
As I have mentioned previously, I have already constructed a bird photography hide in my little wildlife garden, so firstly I knocked some treated roof battens into the ground about twenty feet away from the hide, then I attached some braces, also made with treated wood to stabilize them. I cut them off to the height I thought was appropriate and put a spirit level across them to make sure they were dead level. I had already bought a plastic octagonal tray that builders use to mix cement, it is about one metre around, I bought it on ebay for £15.00. I placed this tray on a piece of chipboard that I had and drew around it leaving about two inches to spare. I cut out the shape of the tray using a jigsaw and covered the exposed areas with some spare roofing felt that I had kept, I don’t throw things away! I then attached this platform onto the top of the roof battens and again checked for level. I placed the tray on top of the platform and then filled it right to the top with water and checked the view from my hide to make sure it was right for reflections. When I was satisfied I fixed the platform solidly to the battens to prevent any strong winds dislodging it and then also screwed the tray onto the platform. I placed some pieces of wood with Ivy wrapped around them into the tray to act as props.
For the first two days the birds completely ignored this construction and that’s the way they are with anything new – so no problem.
However, today they started to drink from the tray and as I hoped they were reflected in the water, as I intended. I will have to re – arrange the props from time to time, but the beauty of this is that I can put whatever props I like in the water – stones or wood, wrapped with flowers, berries, blossom etc. etc. I’m quite pleased with the way it’s started off – it’s cost me £30 and a little bit of work but I think it’s worth it because as the weather gets warmer and water becomes a priority for birds to drink there will be a lot more candidates for a reflection.

Here's the first reflection, a Siskin.



The background will always be dark which is good because it accentuates the subjects but the best images will be taken on calm days to maximise refections.
I can also have wider images, depending on what birds perch on the tray.

The juvenile Sparrowhawk that is visiting our garden is getting outrageously bold because he doesn’t care about anybody, especially us. I was watching him through a window of our house as he was perched on the front garden fence and I could see the postman coming down the lane in his van. I thought that he was sure to fly as the van passed below him about ten feet away, but he just looked at the post van with distain and carried on sitting on the fence.
Sometime later he appeared at the back of the house chasing birds around the shrubs and he landed on a small wooden fence which is a border to a gravelled area. I thought I’d open the back door a small bit to test him out and he didn’t blink an eye, so I opened it wide and stepped forward until I was literally about six feet away from him. I expected him to surely fly off, but no he just stayed there looking at me, so I raised my camera with my Sigma 150 – 600 zoom lens attached which I had carried out just in case. A big prime lens would have been no use at all, he was just too close. I fired off a few shots and he just posed there with no fear whatsoever, I couldn’t believe it, then after a while he got bored and he continued chasing the birds again – I was astounded by him!
I don’t think this brazen attitude will continue as he becomes more street – wise, but I’m making the most of it while it lasts!!

We have had a Juvenile Sparrowhawk visiting our garden for some time and I’m not sure whether it’s a male or female. It’s difficult to tell at this stage but it looks quite small so perhaps it’s a male. If it is he’s getting very confident and last week he perched in a small apple tree right by the side of me. He is still perching on the garden fence as in a previous blog when I shot him on a very wet day. Yesterday he was there again only this time he was dry, I thought that because he was so wet last time he couldn’t be bothered to fly away and this time he would be more wary. However, it’s obvious now that he doesn’t care about me watching him and I took more shots as he just perched there looking at me with distain. It will be interesting, if he continues to visit us, to see whether I am right about him?

Yesterday Susan and I went for a drive and a walk around the area, with the aim of getting a few shots of the recent snow. We attempted to get up onto Mynydd Illtud but failed miserably because the road leading up there was a sheet of impassable ice. We then decided to drive along the A470 Brecon to Merthyr Tydfil road – big mistake!! I should know better, the scene which unfolded before us could only be described as madness. Literally hundreds of parked cars lined the road and all the layby’s were also rammed with vehicles. The Storey Arms car park was jam - packed and the newly constructed Pont Y Daf car park was also ‘chock a block’. Lines of people, reminiscent of ‘Marching Ants’ were going up and down the mountain in their quest to reach the summit of Pen y Fan. I had no doubt the Neuadd car park in the next valley was also rammed full. I cannot understand why everybody has to walk up to Pen Y Fan and nowhere else, they must have a ‘Lemming’ mentality. I fear my days of walking in that area are finished because the last thing I want to do is walk in a queue!

Fifty years ago, when I was just a kid my mates and I used to ride our bikes from Merthyr up the A470 road to the Storey Arms, it seemed like an epic adventure, traffic was light and the road was much more undulating. There were no car parks then, Storey Arms had a small pull – in for lorry drivers who wanted to get something to eat in the café there. We used to have a much anticipated hot pie and a cup of tea before we made the return journey to Merthyr, which was much easier because it was mostly downhill. When I started to walk the Beacons forty five years ago, in the aforementioned Neuadd valley you could park your vehicle outside the old water treatment works and walk from there, it was always very quiet. I could walk for three or four hours and not see anyone and there would still be no other cars parked where I had left mine. If you came across anyone walking, then odds – on you would know them because there was only a small core of walkers who did the Beacons regularly. I remember three old blokes who I used to see, they were getting on for seventy then, and one of them used to use a walking stick and if the mist was down really thickly you couldn’t see anything but I could hear the ‘Tap - Tap’ of his stick and I knew who it was without seeing them - they must be long gone now, also disappeared into the mists of time.
Those old mountain walkers, if they were alive today would be amazed at the current scene.

Apologies for the digression, Susan and I couldn’t wait to escape the mayhem and we slowly drove our way back to Brecon. I have had a shot in mind for some time now and it was from just outside Llanhamlach Church with the Beacons in the background.



We pulled in near the church and after some thought on the best position I finally came up with a shot. It was now a very cold scene with a bitter breeze blowing so I took a few shots and we headed for home.

I didn’t think I would see the Great Grey Shrike outside my kitchen window again, I thought it was definitely a one - off. However, a fortnight to the day here it was again, in exactly the same bush! I’ve never known a Grey Shrike to be near our house before and to have it return is just incredible to see.
It stayed for one and a half days and now it’s disappeared again, I would love to know where it’s going - it’s intriguing. I can’t complain though, because just to see one of these elusive birds outside your house is some garden tick, there’s not many people who have Great Grey Shrike on their garden list!
I wonder if it will return again – I sincerely hope so!





Also a bonus for us of a female Kestrel at last light - what next?

There hasn’t been a significant Waxwing irruption this winter and therefore it was a surprise to hear of seven birds feeding on mistletoe berries in a local town about seven miles from where I live.
There have been many reports from Scotland and northern England but that’s not unusual because they’re there every year. The norm is that it has to be a really big irruption before any are seen in this area. However, I was cautiously optimistic because there had been one or two birds reported in mid-Wales and also twelve in Hereford, just over the border.
These local birds were first spotted by a visiting birder on his way back home from this area, purely by chance, as is the norm.
Unfortunately these birds were feeding on mistletoe berries in some apple trees outside a primary school and judiciously I waited for the morning’s activities to subside and the children to go into school because you really can’t be too careful these days. Even if it is obvious what you are doing there is still an element in today’s society that will complain just for the sake of it.
When I arrived there was no one there and I could immediately see seven birds in the apple trees, there was no activity in the playground, so I filled my boots. Waxwings are easy to photograph because they are so confiding and it’s just a matter of isolating a bird or two for a photograph. Frustratingly there are very few red berries at the site so a colourful shot is not possible but it’s always a treat to see these special birds.



For more images see; Latest Images, Waxwings in the Brecon Beacons.

I was out at first light yesterday up on Buckland Hill, this hill is situated above a village near to where I live. It was quite cold with a chilly breeze blowing and fortunately I was not there long because I had timed it to just capture the sunrise. However, there was too much cloud for a colourful sunrise but there was some ‘Drama’ in the early morning sky. The sun appeared above Mynydd Llangattwg, below which are some of the most extensive cave systems in the UK. Having said that, caving is definitely not my cup of tea, I’m OK up to a point, but when you have to really squeeeeeze yourself through very small dark places then that’s it for me - I prefer fresh air and big open skies!
In the picture below you can see from the left, ‘Sugarloaf’ mountain, then Myarth in the centre and finally the sunrise above Mynydd Llangattwg on the right.



This morning I was up early again and up on top of Mynydd Llangynidr to try a different viewpoint for a sunrise. Disappointingly, nothing materialised despite the early morning looking promising. It was bitterly cold with a heavy frost and to be honest I was glad to come back home. When I arrived back home I cooked some breakfast to warm me up and afterwards when I was washing the dishes in my kitchen and I just casually looked across the field and I could see a light grey bird in the hedge row. I thought ‘What’s that?’ so I reached for my old Swift binoculars that I keep on the window sill, precisely for situations like this. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, there was a Great Grey Shrike perched there looking across the field.



I called Susan to see it, nearly dropping a plate as I did so – I ran upstairs to get a lens and I opened a bedroom window and took a few low quality hand held shots before it flew out of sight. Susan and I saw it again briefly later, but then it disappeared.



It was without doubt the rarest bird we have seen from our kitchen.

I met up with a good friend of mine yesterday, basically just to get out and about but also to try and see a Great Grey Shrike that had been reported locally. When we arrived at the location the light was really bad with grey skies and a fine mist in the air. We realised very quickly that any shots would be mediocre at best and after locating the bird about 500 yds away we set off walking towards it, however, these birds are always mobile and this individual certrainly was. We managed to get a few distant record shots,


I lined the bird up against the very dark forestry to bring out it's light grey plumage.

Unfortunately the light was getting progressively worse so we abandoned the shoot and said our farewells. On the drive back from the area I stopped at a junction and suddenly a larch cone bounced off the road in front of me. This can only mean one thing, Crossbills!
I parked up and sure enough there were about five birds above me eating larch seeds. I took a few shots in what was now dreadful light.





Very soon the birds disappeared in search of more food. However, it was nice to come across what are becomimg quite difficult birds to see in this area. It just goes to show that you have to get out because you never know - 'You've got to be in it to win it'!

Well here we are again, and to quote Ebeneezer Scrooge - another year older and not a penny richer. However, unlike Ebeneezer I like Xmas and tonight is my favourite night of all. All our Xmas shopping is finished and we are going out for a light lunch with the family today and after that it's back home to chill out and enjoy the evening with some nice food and a few 'adult' beveridges. I will be digging out my copy of A Christmas Carol, with George C Scott in the title role, the best version ever - superb acting.
We have had another addition to the family - our little neice Eloise, born in July and she is absolutely scrumptious, so placid and always smiling, a real joy.
The weather here in the Brecon Beacons continues to be very mild and flowering bulbs are already showing through in the garden. Blackbirds are really enjoying the apples we are putting out and so are a Grey Squirrel and Carion Crow. There are ongoing squabbles between the Squirrel and some Jays over buried nuts, they watch each other finding nuts buried in the garden and then try and steal them which results in big arguments.
Llangors Lake is overflowing into the surrounding fields after the rains, which is not good for any prospective wintering Barn Owls, lets hope they survive. The garden birds continue to visit our feeders with a flock of Long Tailed Tits appearing lately and now visiting a couple of times a day.
This website continues to be popular and this morning was up to 440 on the Fat Birders, (top 1000 sites).
I hope to see some nice wildlife through the winter and let's hope it's a kind winter to us all.
All that's left on this festive occasion is to wish everyone who visits this site a Happy Xmas and a Peaceful and Bird Filled New Year.
Steve.

What an abysmal spell of weather we have been enduring over the last few days. Fierce winds and thrashing rain all last night again have resulted in the little seasonal stream in my garden running at a good flow this morning. A number of years ago the bed of this little stream got blocked in similar weather conditions, fortunately it happened mid-morning and I witnessed a stream running down the garden towards our house. I just about managed to unblock the stream bed before we were flooded out, but took a fine soaking in the process!! In an effort to combat this frightening scenario happening again I constructed a covered concrete catchment chamber at the entrance to our garden to direct this little stream into land drainage pipes, that I also laid, to efficiently carry the water through the garden, thereby eliminating any chance of future flooding. If this episode had happened in the night things would have been far more serious. After piping, the stream re-emerges in my garden lower down and flows openly for about ten yards once it has passed the house. This catchment chamber initially has concrete walls set at an angle to catch all the stream water, then they straighten up and two six inch diameter pipes are set into the concrete, two sets of mesh filters catch any debris, these need light cleaning about every three years. There is also an ash tree in our garden and I have to religiously clear the leaves dropped from this tree which can cover the house’s drain covers, it’s critical to do this regularly when you live near trees because you can be so easily be flooded out in weather like this. I have invested in a petrol driven leave blower/sucker and it is absolutely brilliant and highly recommended because raking and sweeping leaves can be a depressing and monotonous task, but thankfully it appears that the leaves are now all stripped from the trees. All these potential hazards have to be considered when you live right out in the country.
We are now heavily into our winter feeding programme for the garden birds, with peanuts, sunflower and niger seeds disappearing at a rapid rate in this hostile weather. The birds have taken a real battering this week and yesterday a Juvenile Sparrowhawk, that we see most days, was perched on a small garden fence up against a hazel hedge, trying in vain to get some shelter. We have watched it doing this on a few occasions lately and yesterday I had my little Sigma lens waiting to see if I could steal a few quick shots. When it appeared on the little fence I gingerly opened the front door of the house and poked the lens through the gap, I had my Canon 7Dii on silent shooting mode, it’s not silent but it is much quieter than normal. I managed to take a few shots and it appeared the bird wasn’t that bothered, I put this down to the inclement weather, because normally they are really wary and will fly off at the slightest sound.



After a couple of minutes I thought I’d push the envelope and try and open a side door which was much nearer the bird. I opened the door about a foot and the bird looked straight at me and I thought that was the end of it, but no it looked away disinterestedly and stayed put, so I pointed the lens and took a few more shots as it just stayed perched there.

Notice how the barring on the breast and belly are very coarse, as opposed to the adult female Sparrowhawk's barring having quite tight horizontal lines.



The barring on the breast is also broken up into chevrons on a Juvemile bird.




Look at the length of those middle toes and talons, specially evolved to snatch small prey from bushes and even bird feeder cages!



I think it was just too wet and cold to be bothered about me but after a minute or so it did finally fly off. However, I had managed to get really close to what is usually a very nervous bird.

It was a much better day yesterday than on Tuesday when I saw the Bewick’s Swan, (previous blog) - that day was horribly cold, grey and generally very unpleasant. However, because the light was much better after an early morning fog had dissipated and the wind had dropped I decided to have another go at the Great White Egrets down at Llangors Lake, there are six birds there this autumn – quite a good count for the lake. These birds are expanding in numbers the same way as the Little Egrets did, it’s quite amazing to think that until relatively recently these birds would have initiated a ‘Twitch’. They are still reportable but are now quite widespread throughout the mid and south of the UK. Large numbers can be found on the Somerset levels and some areas of the UK are now, from an ornithological point of view, exhibiting quite a distinctive Mediterranean – like picture, with Little, Great and Cattle Egrets, Glossy Ibis and Little Bittern, etc. The northerly movement of these birds, hitherto found only in warmer climes, exemplifies how things are changing. I know this is only small and relatively insignificant in the bigger global warming picture but nevertheless these little examples are hard evidence of what is evolving around us. It was a shame that the Bewick’s Swan didn’t stay any longer but these Egrets should over – winter at the lake giving hopefully more photographic opportunities.
I was in the bird hide at the lake mid-morning and it was really quiet, just a couple of Water Rails scooting across a pathway between the reed beds and a brief visit by a fly – through Kingfisher. At some distance I could see a Great White Egret flying low over the lake coming in the direction of the hide. I was getting ready for the birds fly past, they generally don’t come too close to the hide because these are shy birds. This bird was, however, flying with an unusual purpose towards me and it kept getting closer until it came within shooting range of my lens, (Sigma 150-600 Contemporary), I took some shots at 600mm,



but the bird kept coming nearer, so I was forced to zoom – out. This is not usually the scenario that I experience with these birds but I still couldn’t frame the bird so I was forced to zoom out even more!



If I had brought my 600 f4 prime lens I would not have been unable to take a shot as most of the birds wings would have been clipped out of the frame.





Finally it slowed right up and landed, wings opened right out,



in a little disused channel that was used to launch small boats in years gone by. Annoyingly I could only take a shot through some Willows that were obscuring my view, (I am pleased to hear that these Willows will be cut down soon), because there’s no point in having a nice bird hide that is obstructed by foliage. The Egret didn’t stay long in the channel because it was now aware of my presence and it flew up and over the reed beds and disappeared – usual behaviour. I had, however, by virtue of a zoom lens got some real close – ups of a very shy bird.
At the risk of repeating myself, my little Sigma lens does it again!

A spell of very cold weather always accelerates the already southerly movement of northern birds to the UK and there have been, typically, large flocks of Bramblings reported around the country. Every winter there are movements of wintering Swans to the UK, Whooper and Bewick’s. However, both these aren’t usually seen in any numbers in this area. They tend to settle in the east of England and also the Severn estuary. I have seen the odd Whooper at Llangors Lake over the years.

See the Wedge - like shape of the head and the yellow marking on the bill is more extensive, extending past the bird's nostrils.
Calls are usually made in twos and threes.



I have never seen a Bewick’s around here, there have been birds seen, but very infrequently. That changed for me as I went for a walk this week on a bitterly cold day at Llangors Lake. There was an extremely cold and unpleasant wind blowing and the day was overcast with a grey flat light but I was hoping to see one of the Great White Egrets that are currently at the lake. As I parked my car in the little car-park at Llangasty on the shores of the lake I immediately heard a distinctive ‘Bugling’ call that really cut through the air, I knew it was something different and as I looked up a large Swan flew over me and disappeared behind the churchyard. I thought ‘Whooper’ which was great, but I remembered that Whooper’s characteristically call repeatedly in threes and fours, it’s what they do! This bird was calling singly and only once did it call twice, so I thought I’d take a look. I quickly went through a gate at the side of the churchyard so I could get a better view and I managed a few quick shots of the bird on the flooded meadow where it had landed.

A much shorter head than the Whooper and less yellow and more black on the bill.
Calls are usually made singly.



I looked through my binoculars and I could now see that it was indeed a Bewick’s Swan. It was quite restless, however, and it took off again and flew over to a group of Swans at the other side of the lake and I thought that was it. I walked over to the bird hide and I spent a fruitless hour there, but as I was about to leave I heard the call again and flying low over the water there it was coming towards me, as it passed the bird hide I took another shot,



but then it wheeled up into the air and flew back over to the opposite side of the lake. A brief encounter and sadly it wasn’t seen again by anybody else, just the luck of the draw!
Luckily I had decided to bring my little Sigma 150-600 lens with me for my walk because I thought that for what bird life was potentially on offer, bringing and also carrying my Canon 600 f4 was not worth the effort - The Sigma continues to be very useful.

When Susan and I were walking through a local deciduous woodland last week we saw about a hundred finches flying in a flock and in it were a good number of Bramblings. It’s always nice to see these wintering finches, they come mainly from Fennoscandia arriving in the UK in late October/November. They actively seek out beech mast to sustain them throughout our winter and can often be seen flying and feeding with Chaffinches, and because of their similar habits to these birds, they are easily overlooked.



However, they are easily distinguished therefrom, they utter a persistent ‘Squeak’ which with a little practice is easily recognised. Their plumage when observed is totally different from the Chaffinch, Bramblings have a conspicuous white rump patch visible when they take off from the ground, males also have a burnt orange colouring on their breasts. Chaffinches don't have these markings.



Male Bramblings will also have dark mottled heads and dark spots on the flanks and a striking yellow bill.



The females are less conspicuous but still have the distinct white rump patch.



I had previously watched them for a few days to see where they were feeding and I was fortunate to be able to drive my car along the forest track right up to them. I placed an old tree stump on the ground and spread a bit of sunflower seed around to supplement the natural beech mast and then strung some camo netting over the window of my car and just waited.
It wasn’t too long before I heard that tell-tale squeak and first the Chaffinches and then the Bramblings came down to feed.



When I casually looked in the car’s mirror I could see a woman walking down the forest track – no big deal, but as she approached my car, with camo netting draped around the windows and a 600mm lens sticking out of the passenger window, instead of walking straight past she walked around the front of the car and stood right in front of the passenger window, two yards from my lens and completely blocking my view. I was hard to believe what she was doing, she couldn’t have done a better job of spooking the birds if she had tried! I politely asked her if she wouldn’t mind moving and she jumped and said ‘Oh you shocked me’ and then she said sorry and walked away down the track. It was hard for me to comprehend how unobservant she was and I was about to say that if she couldn’t see me there then she should take extra care the next time she crossed a road, but I thought better of it. These people go for a walk in the countryside, and that’s fair enough, but I seriously doubt if they see anything if that is their level of consciousness.
Anyway about ten minutes later the birds returned and I was able to take more shots of about twenty Bramblings that were intermittently feeding around the tree stump in front of me.



The wind then really started to blow and the leaves were whipping around the feeding area disturbing the birds so I packed up and put the little tree stump to one side in case a friend of mine wanted to use it. I left contented but still amused by the woman’s behaviour.