30th May..... Green Hairstreak & Bee Orchid.

Thursday morning had a trip over to College Lake where good numbers of the small blue butterflies were seen.

Other butterflies seen included, common blues.

Green hairstreak.

Brimstone and the day flying mother shipton moth.

In front of the octagon hide watched two very young lapwing chicks feeding on the mud and along with adult lapwings were little ringed plovers and redshank.                                                          Bee orchids were in flower.

As were white helleborines.

Also came across common spotted, twayblade and one pyramidal orchid. Only noticed two common terns amongst the breeding black-headed gulls and their well grown chicks.
Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

28th May..... Back to the Garden.

With the crows now taking all the fat balls I had to try to dissuade them and found a plastic flower pot did the trick.....so far.

We have three blue tits nesting in the garden but unlike Don's blue tits mine have not fledged yet and watching the adults in and out of their boxes them alternating between foraging in the trees for caterpillars and visiting the fat balls to feed their young.

The great tits here that nested in a box that starlings used to nest in (hence the large hole) had their

nest raided by a great spotted woodpecker on  Saturday. My wife heard the commotion and saw the woodpecker with several well grown young great tits on the lawn and she thought the woodpecker left empty handed while the young great tits vanished into the borders.

A moorhen now is coming in regularly, picking up spilt food from the feeders and taking it away to feed it's young and if the crow flies in the moorhen sees it off.

On returning home from South Wales where ash dieback is taking hold, noticed  ash trees close to home looking not well at all. Stewart.

Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

27th May.... Young Blue Tits.

The Blue Tits which fledged on the 24th seem to be doing well as their calls can be heard almost constantly in the garden, as they clamour to be fed by the adults, these two showed well as they appeared in the open briefly near the house, most of the time they remain hidden in the foliage out of sight of predators.
Don.

Welsh Trip, Week One.

Just back from a two week trip to South Wales and a change of scenery, visiting RSPB reserves, National Parks, many wild places from the Forest of Dean to Brecon and right on to Castlemartin. First called into RSPB Nagshead in the Forest of Dean noted for wild boar, pied flycatcher and redstarts in the large mature oak woodland. No wild boar seen but plenty of evidence of them rooting up large areas of bluebells.

Had good views of pied flycatchers & redstarts.

Moved on to Aberhyddnant Farm nr Crai, where we stayed for a week. A large organic farm with 

many varying habitats from improved grasslands to created wetlands, woodlands to high moorland, noted 42 different species of bird. Visited Usk reservoir on Sunday.

Monday drove into the Elan Valley. An amazing area. More pied & spotted flycatchers, garden and willow warblers in the RSPB Carngafallt. Wheatear, stonechat, grey wagtail and common sandpiper nearby.

Drove on for a while passing more dams, had a cuppa by a high moorland stream watching dippers busy feeding young still in their nest, more grey wagtails and reed bunting.

Adult trout and fry in the stream, perfect.The good weather continued on Tuesday as we visited another RSPB reserve, Dinas. 

As soon as we were out of the car marsh tits and siskins were amongst other birds feeding at close quarters on well stocked tables.

Nuthatches feeding young in a box close to the picnic table we used. Great spotted woodpeckers, bullfinches, chaffinches and more kept coming and going. Another reserve noted for pied flycatchers and many seen along with garden warblers which were very vocal.

Further on through the reserve found a pair of wood warblers busy courting in the tree tops, heard them first with their easily recognisable downward trill at the end of their little song. Amazing bluebell woods there, seems a little later than here in the Chilterns.

Wednesday, a bit of culture, went to Brecon Cathedral, impressive as most Cathedrals are and found the grounds atmospheric and cooling as the temperature was rising and walking around the farm later that day found the redstart were back and displaying well close to one of the many nest boxes the farmer had provided. Also noted spotted flycatchers nest building. Garden and willow warblers were constantly singing. Higher up on one of the small lakes Canada geese had goslings and a little grebe was seen.

Last whole day in this area we went down to Craig-Y-Nos country park, a walk along the river where dippers had fledged and allowed one to get quite close.

Came across movement  in a conifer close by and waiting for a while tree creepers reappeared bringing in food to their nesting place, again great to watch at close quarters. Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

Welsh Trip, Week Two.

Friday 17th moved to just west of Carmarthen into a 'farm cottage' but not a working farm, a cottage chosen for a base only, easier access to the coast.

Saturday drove west to a seabird city on the Elegug Stacks (only accessible at weekends, access is through an artillery range, tanks). An amazing sight, thousands of guillemots together on sheer rock faces on these sea stacks.

Other birds seen, razorbills, great and lesser blacked backed gulls, herring gulls, cormorant, fulmar, rock pipit and star bird for me choughs.

Heard first and saw it flying off and out of sight but soon relocated it and more. Had amazing close views of these members of the crow family busy feeding, probing for insects in the short grass maybe 15ft away.

After a sandwich lunch continued west through Castlemartin and found a busy sandmartin colony in sea cliffs on way to Angle.

Reached the end of that peninsula called in again at Elegug passing early purple orchids growing on the side of the road.

Sunday parked underneath the castle at Manorbier.









Walked along the coast path through mainly gorse and many linnets, whitethroats and stonechats.

 Monday drove to Bosherton Lakes/Lily Ponds where the lily flowers were just beginning  to open.

Another beautiful day and saw many small shoals of rudd or roach with a few small perch amongst them and a few fairly large pike close to the bank.

Walked the footpath through the Stackpole Estate again through gorse with more stonechats and whitethroats, passing the large dairy herd there. At times the footpath joins the coastal path where fulmars were seen just gliding close to the cliff face while their partners were sitting  along with more gulls and guillemots.

Jackdaws and rock pipits feeding along the cliff top path.

Across the Barafundle beach to Stackpole Quay and its beach café for lunch, welsh rarebit.... perfect.

Walked back using the coast path, back down to the lakes through sand dunes playing host to beautiful dwarf white wild roses, past a cormorant feeding on the lake,then back to the car.

Wildfowl and wetland centre at Llanelli on Tuesday where out in the wetlands large colonies of breeding black-headed gulls were with newly hatched chicks. Black tailed godwits, distant spoonbills, shelduck and garganey were seen. Couldn't find the lesser whitethroats I was told were about, but could hear them.

Wednesday we went to the National Botanic Garden of Wales full of an amazing collection of plants from all over the world, a tropical house with exotic butterflies and a wonderful bird of prey flying display, worth a visit if you like that sort of thing. To Laugharne Thursday, back early to pack ready for the drive back home, with a return to lawn mowing on Friday where I find that the crows have moved in and made themselves at home in our absence. Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

24th May..... Blue Tits Fledge.

Two broods of Blue Tits fledged from the garden early this morning. One pair were using the artificial House Martin box under the house roof eaves. The others using this nest box:

This is the last chick leaving the box at 6-35am.

This image was taken the previous day, interestingly the bird supports a ring on it's right leg, assuming the bird was one which had been ringed in the garden, that would make it at least five & half years of age, as the last Blue Tit to be ringed here was 19th November 2013. A family party of nine Long tailed Tits passed through the garden & first Speckled Wood of the year seen.
Don.

22nd May..... Broad-bodied Chaser.

Out in the garden very early this morning just after six o'clock, at 6-30 heard a distant Cuckoo, very rare here nowadays.

Around mid morning Cathy payed a visit, while checking out the pond she found this female Broad-bodied Chaser freshly emerged & drying out in the sun's rays.

Later on I found another still beside it's Larval casing. Small Copper & Orange Tip on the wing in the garden.
Don.