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| Most of the 33 Little Egrets |
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| Pied Wagtail male |
Thursday, 10 September 2015
Thursday 10th September 2015
Not a lot going on today, but 33 Little Egrets in the Loughor river was pretty good.
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
Tuesday 8th September 2015
A two hour drive, then a three and a half hour flight and then another 2 hour drive didn't put me off leaving the house at 5:30am today to go ringing!!!!
I went to my own site at Sandy Water Park, to ring in a piece of mixed woodland/scrub/grassland.
For a first visit, not knowing the best sites for the nets it was a short productive session with only 10 birds caught.
Six male Blackcaps, and two male Goldcrests plus a Wren and a blackbird made up the small catch but valuable lessons learned.
There were also four Mistle Thrushes, four Siskins and a Great Spotted Woodpecker around.
I went to my own site at Sandy Water Park, to ring in a piece of mixed woodland/scrub/grassland.
For a first visit, not knowing the best sites for the nets it was a short productive session with only 10 birds caught.
Six male Blackcaps, and two male Goldcrests plus a Wren and a blackbird made up the small catch but valuable lessons learned.
There were also four Mistle Thrushes, four Siskins and a Great Spotted Woodpecker around.
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| Goldcrest |
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| Juvenile male Blackcap |
1st September - 7th September 2015
A family holiday in Halkadiki, Greece, little time for any birding but a few nice species seen:
Icterine Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Hoopoe, Marsh Harrier, Sardinian Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Pallid Swift, Cirl Bunting, these were the best of the bunch.
Insects included lots of unidentified butterflies, (from the sunbed) Praying mantis spp, Stick Insect spp., plus Southern Darter.
Icterine Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Hoopoe, Marsh Harrier, Sardinian Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Pallid Swift, Cirl Bunting, these were the best of the bunch.
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| Male Cirl Bunting |
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| Bee-eater colony nest site ( not in use ) |
Insects included lots of unidentified butterflies, (from the sunbed) Praying mantis spp, Stick Insect spp., plus Southern Darter.
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| Praying Mantis |
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| Southern Darter?? |
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| Stick insect?? |
Sunday, 30 August 2015
Saturday, 29 August 2015
Saturday 29th August 2015
Constant Effort Site session 12, Heather and I met at 05:30 am and had all the nets up by 06:10hrs.
It was a very quiet session with only 17 caught, including Treecreeper, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Robin, Wren!!, Blue Tit Dunnock, Blackbird and the star was a first for the site a Green Woodpecker.
There were plenty of dragonflies around including darters, and hawkers.
The six hour session ended at 12:00pm.
It was a very quiet session with only 17 caught, including Treecreeper, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Robin, Wren!!, Blue Tit Dunnock, Blackbird and the star was a first for the site a Green Woodpecker.
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| Robin |
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| Juvenile Cetti's Warbler |
There were plenty of dragonflies around including darters, and hawkers.
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| Migrant Hawker, Aeshna mixta |
The six hour session ended at 12:00pm.
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| Adult Chiffchaff, adults undergo a complete moult after breeding. with a full set of new feathers this bird is ready for that journey across the Mediterranean. |
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Thursday 27th Augusr 2015
This morning was quality over quantity at Sandy Water Park, with a Lesser Whitethroat, a Rook, and Three Mistle Thrushes.
The adult Little Grebe was busily fishing
The adult Little Grebe was busily fishing
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| Little Grebe |
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| Little Grebe |
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Tuesday 25th August 2014
WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE NOT TO BE MISSED.
Today we were "nephew sitting" and with an iffy forecast decided to visit New Quay in West Wales about an hour and a half away from home. The plan was to go on a dolphin watching boat trip of which there are many to choose from.
Arriving around 11:30am I went into the first booking office I saw, now that could have been a big mistake!, I booked with "SeaMor" for the 12:30pm trip, after booking and enjoying a "mocha" I noticed that we were booked on a "RIB" in other words an inflatable, opps keeping quiet we queued up at the harbour and it was a joy to see the faces on the other half and the nephew when they realised we were getting onto an inflatable...
Stupidly I didn't take a photograph of the RIB but there was no need to concern with life jackets issued and fitted we set off at a sedate pace along the coast, this area is a Special Area of Conservation with tight rules on the behaviour of the trip operators.
On board as well as the "driver" there was a marine biologist, a young Spanish lady who REALLY KNEW HER STUFF,
We were very fortunate that within minutes we had Bottlenose Dolphins within metres of the RIB, we eventually saw two females with a calf of about 18months of age, magic!!!
Further along the coast three Atlantic Grey Seals were hauled out, birds included Shag, Great Cormorant, Gannet and Manx Shearwater as well as a variety of gulls.
Brilliant 45mins, Brilliant experience and well worth the £25 for three of us. based on our experience today definitely use www.seamor.org
Today we were "nephew sitting" and with an iffy forecast decided to visit New Quay in West Wales about an hour and a half away from home. The plan was to go on a dolphin watching boat trip of which there are many to choose from.
Arriving around 11:30am I went into the first booking office I saw, now that could have been a big mistake!, I booked with "SeaMor" for the 12:30pm trip, after booking and enjoying a "mocha" I noticed that we were booked on a "RIB" in other words an inflatable, opps keeping quiet we queued up at the harbour and it was a joy to see the faces on the other half and the nephew when they realised we were getting onto an inflatable...
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| cow Atlantic Grey Seal |
Stupidly I didn't take a photograph of the RIB but there was no need to concern with life jackets issued and fitted we set off at a sedate pace along the coast, this area is a Special Area of Conservation with tight rules on the behaviour of the trip operators.
 |
| another cow Atlantic Grey Seal |
On board as well as the "driver" there was a marine biologist, a young Spanish lady who REALLY KNEW HER STUFF,
We were very fortunate that within minutes we had Bottlenose Dolphins within metres of the RIB, we eventually saw two females with a calf of about 18months of age, magic!!!
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| ok so you try photographing Bottlenose Dolphins with a bridge camera!!! |
Further along the coast three Atlantic Grey Seals were hauled out, birds included Shag, Great Cormorant, Gannet and Manx Shearwater as well as a variety of gulls.
Brilliant 45mins, Brilliant experience and well worth the £25 for three of us. based on our experience today definitely use www.seamor.org
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| Two Shags and a Great Cormorant |
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| Kittiwake nests, from this years breeding season |
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| Sea Cliffs to the east of New Quay. |
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