Monday 19th December 2016

Last chance....

View from Palia Vigla high above the village of Vatera,

a great raptor view point in autumn as birds head south

I am finalising plans for a spring trip to Lesbos, three people are already confirmed if anyone else is interested then get in touch, by 29th December, to secure a seat on the flight.

Greater Flamingo, and Little Egret  flock Kallonis Salt Pans

Saturday 17th December 2016

All in a good cause........

Visitors to the reserve over the past week will have seen quite a few large tractors around, as we have contractors on site clearing invasive Sea Buckthorn.







This morning an even bigger machine made an appearance, and whilst it looks very destructive the ultimate end result will make it all worth it.

Sea Buckthorn, a native of the east coat of the UK was extensively planted on sand dunes all over the UK in the belief that stable unmoving dunes were best. More recent thinking shows that sand dunes are by nature intended to be mobile and changing, especially in the areas close to the sea, the "fore-dunes".

Many invertebrates and reptiles need areas of bare sand for their continued survival, its been suggested that any dune system should have at least 5% bare and, on that basis there should be around 20acres of bare sand at Pembrey Burrows, even on this very rough estimate its easy to see that there is nowhere near enough bare sand, although the current work is not designed to create bare sand the removal of the invasive Sea Buckthorn will open areas to the action of the elements, especially the wind.

The work should be finished by the New Year.

On the wildlife front the best sighting this week has been over 300 Golden Plover flying in from the NW over the marsh.

Friday 9th December 2016

Fancy a nature holiday to the Greek island of Lesbos?

I am planning a trip to the Greek island of Lesbos in spring 2017, dates will be 25th April to 2nd May.

Flying from London Heathrow via Athens to the island airport at Mytilini, we will have six full days of wildlife adventure, staying at the 2* PELA HOTEL,  www.pelahotel.gr  in the village of Skala Kalloni on a half board basis.

A minimum of two and maximum of five guests with all transport and guiding costs included; this is a private event where I am merely offering interested individuals the opportunity to join me whilst I am on the island, I will do all the organising of the flights etc. This will be my 10th year of visiting the Lesbos, (Lesbos is the official title, or Lesvos is the more commonly used name)

Based on current exchange rates etc the  FULL costs are approximately £630 for a single traveller in a room, or approximately £580pp for a couple or those willing to share with another guest.

In a good spring expect a bird list around 160 species plus a few subspecies, there are usually good numbers of butterflies, dragonflies and of course orchids

If you are interested get in touch asap as bookings need to be made.

paulnwrg@outlook.com or call 07984788218

Tuesday 6th December 2016

Starlings...love 'em...........

This is one of the flocks from Monday's roost, there are  c4680 birds in this one flock...honest I've counted them..............

incoming.............

And here's a video

Sunday 4th December 2016

Stunning...........

The afternoon has been bright and quite brisk but it was worth getting chilled to the bone to see what may turn into quite a spectacle in the coming days or weeks, maybe mind no guarantees!

The Male Hen Harrier put on a bit of a show, it was nice to see some new faces out looking for the bird, including a lady photographer who had driven from Pembrokeshire.

Don't for the sake of your eyes make the video image larger!!!!
There were some great cloud formations this evening, my photo doesn't do them justice you needed to be there....

Looking south towards the Gower peninsula

The Starlings seemed a little tardy in arriving this evening with just a few small groups of 10's of individuals to begin with, but gradually the size of the groups built up to very large flocks of 100's of birds, the roost tonight was much bigger than Friday evening I estimate between 7000 to 9000, but only a half hearted attempt at a murmuration.

I've thawed out enough to look up the manual for the camera, the next video will have sound you have been warned...........

Saturday 3rd December 2016

Hungry Gannets...

I arrived at Pembrey LNR around 08:30hrs, a different day indeed with overcast skies and a steady easterly breeze blowing, after checking the cattle, all 37 present and correct, I wandered over to the beach.

With a choppy sea it looked fairly quiet in the estuary, then I turned to look out towards the west, WOW all I could see were a mass of Gannets.

I couldn't get a decent count from where I was standing so I jogged, well walked very fast, along the edge of the dunes to a better vantage point.

I could see good numbers of Gannets sat on the sea, with many still diving to feed, a accurate count of the first 180, still left many uncounted, there were in excess of 250 birds in the flock including a good percentage of 1st year birds. I attempted a couple of videos but they were a bit too far away, I was going to delete the video but decided that with some imagination you get a few seconds of Gannets:-)

Walking back to the van The ♂ Hen Harrier showed well, with a very swift flight into the headwind and lots of twists and turns as it looked for prey.

Another attempt at a video was a Grey Heron, the sound is switched off on my camera, no idea how to switch it back on!!

A good mammal record this morning came in the form of a Pygmy Shrew, with its smaller size, (90mm max), darker fur, and lack of chestnut tones distinguishing it from the Common Shrew.

Pygmy Shrew

Even on a grey morning plenty to see, just get out there no matter where you live.

Friday 2nd December 2016

December already............

Its hard to believe that it's already December and 2016 is drawing to a close.

The weather has generally, been, quite benign and the recent run of cold frosty days has made for pleasant times in the countryside.

I thought I would try a ringing session just before sunset as today looks like being the last of the "windless" days for a while. My aim was to capture Pied Wagtails, there has been a decent sized roost in the reed-beds.. but not tonight... just two were caught along with a Blue Tit, still three birds for 20 minutes work not bad.

Wagtail, Pied or White?

I noticed a small "murmuration" of Starlings in the distance and thought they may be on their way to the roost at Ashpits LNR, they were not so I scrambled to get the net down before the now growing flock descended into the reeds.

There's a Hen Harrier somewhere?

In the end there was a sizeable flock of c3500 birds in the reeds when suddenly they all flew towards the water treatment plant, followed closely by the male Hen Harrier.

It was getting very dark when the birds returned to the reeds, the sound of their wings,

then their chattering must be one of natures spectacles

The harrier decided better of his chances and carried on across the reserve finally going down to roost.

A flock of c400 Jackdaws built up over the reserve before heading off towards Pembrey Forest.

This is the first evening I have seen the Starling roost, they may just be "mobile" birds with no fixed abode, or they may use the reserve for a while, worth getting out about an hour before sunset to see.