It's funny, some of the places that you can find wildlife. You don't always have to be in the back-of-beyond to see some amazing species; as the sites we visited this weekend show.
The forecast for the weekend wasn't brilliant, but after my first full week in my new job, I was determined to get out and about to make the best of it. So, on Saturday morning, Lou & I headed down to South Wales for another look at one of the pairs of Dippers. Driving down through an industrial estate, you wouldn't expect to be coming across much in the way of wildlife, other than the ubiquitous seagulls & a feral pigeon or two. However, hidden behind is a secluded stretch of wooded riverbank, with lots of weirs and rocky islets - perfect territory for Dippers.
We spent a pleasant couple of hours watching a pair zipping back & forth, taking beakfuls of cadis-larvae up to the nest under overhanging tree-roots. The chicks could be heard very loudly when either parent went in, so I wouldn't be surprised if they fledge this week. The light conditions weren't great, as it was dark clouds & drizzley, with a few heavy showers, but it's always interesting experimenting with different shots in more muted colours. As well as the Dippers, there were several pairs of Grey Wagtails - and a pair of Chiff Chaffs showing well.
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| Grey Wagtail |
Last night, I heard that a Red-necked Grebe had turned up again at Farmoor Reservoir. I had great views of a bird in eclipse plumage in the autumn, but as this one was showing well and in breeding colours, I decided I had to go and take a look today - even if it was bucketing down! Thankfully, the day wasn't as bad as forecast & although it was very dull, we only had one shower. Farmoor is a bit of an odd site to me; you do get some really good birds turning up, but it's a huge, rather featureless concrete reservoir, so it's not quite as appealing as a more naturalistic setting. However, with a bit of patience, we did get some good views of the Red-necked Grebe, fishing & preening fairly close in to the bank. At one point it was only about 6 metres from me. It was vocalising quite a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised if it moves on over the next few days to it's breeding grounds. Having looked back at my photos from autumn, I strongly suspect it may be the same bird - although it's impossible to be certain!
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| Red-necked Grebe |
While waiting for the Grebe to come in closer, we had a very unexpected bonus siting. We noticed a large group of gulls come up from around one of the huts, mobbing a large bird - an Osprey! Obviously on it's way North, it looked like it was thinking about trying to fish, but the gulls were giving it such a hard time it eventually flew off down to the far end of the reservoir & out of sight. Walking back, we had close views of some of the resident Greylag Geese, Little Gulls and a possible Sinensis Cormorant perched on one of the buoys. However, I'm not 100% sure on the identification!
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| Osprey |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Sinensis Cormorant |
Driving home, we spotted a fair few Red Kites floating above the fields, and a male Muntjac Deer grazing close to the edge of a copse. Pretty good for a dank weekend!
After getting a tantalizing glimpse of my first pair of Dippers in Scotland last week, I've really been itching to have a better look at these amusing little birds - and to have a chance for at least a record shot or two!
So, today I joined my friend Phil Morgan on a Dipper quest in South Wales. We started off at the National Trust's Aberdulais Falls - a well known site for Dippers. There was certainly no difficulty in tracking down the birds; we had views of a pair on the falls pretty much instantly from our arrival. We also spotted what I think was another individual distantly further up the gorge.
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| Dipper displaying |
It's a great place to get close view of the Dippers - although not ideal for photography, as you are looking down on the birds from above. We also spotted a pair of Grey Wagtails, who seemed to be setting up home inside the wall.
There was quite a bit of work underway at Aberdulais today, and one of the workmen kindly pointed us in the direction of another local spot where he had seen Dippers in the past, so we headed off to check it out. While we didn't see any Dippers ourselves, it did look like there could well be a pair in the area, as there were lots of tell-tale poo-speckled rocks mid-stream. It's a very pleasant spot to visit, though - I enjoyed wandering through the woods, with lots of Grey Wagtails and a couple of Nuthatches to look at.
Our final destination for the day was at another site where Phil has had good luck in the past - and we struck gold, with a pair busily coming and going. I was really chuffed to be able to get right down level with the water to get some eye level shots at last. Today's overcast skies and dull conditions made for slow shutter speeds, but I'm still pleased with these after striking out in Scotland. Think I may have been bitten by the Dipper bug now though - will definitely have to go back on a brighter day in the next few weeks.
Thanks again Phil for a great day out!
