MONTGOMERY BIRD BLOG

snipe CyD

2012-02-12T18:37:00.002Z

one snipe showing very well at waters edge to left of hide this pm, first time for ages. hundred plus lapwing looking fantastic on the ice and harassed by sparrow hawk

Dolydd Hafren

2012-02-12T18:18:00.005Z

Lots about again today but the Bittern was what everyone is going for and it turned up again just after 2 but took off for the river as the farmer was shooting at regular intervals no better pictures of the bittern or the Water Rail. 4 Water Rail today but for how long I'm not sure as the sparrow hawk is trying to catch them but so far has missed, couple of ok grab shots.

Garden Birds

2012-02-12T17:53:00.007Z

Garden stuff today kind of pales into insignificance compared to the bittern!!

Bittern and Water Rail at Dolydd Hafren

2012-02-11T16:09:00.006Z

At least 3 Water Rails at Dolyydd hafren today along with a Bittern, as the Bittern came into view a Stoat or as i now think a Weasel came out to play only managed a poor grab shot of the Stoat/Weasel did a little better with the Water Rail and Bittern Though. Any thoughts on the Stoat/Weasel would be good. All seen from the first hide.

Brent Goose @ Llanymynech

2012-02-10T17:02:00.001Z

Dark-bellied Brent Goose still the river Vyrnwy at SJ243202 just west of Llanymynech this morning with Canada Geese.

Black-tailed Godwit @ Dolydd Hafren

2012-02-10T17:01:00.001Z

1 seen briefly this morning from the second hide, before heading off upstream.

Brent Goose @ Llanymynech

2012-02-09T16:59:00.000Z

(via Marc Hughes) Dark-bellied Brent Goose still present on the river Vyrnwy at SJ243202 just west of Llanymynech today with Canada Geese.

Brent Goose @ Llanymynech

2012-02-08T19:01:00.003Z

(via Mark B) A Dark-bellied Brent Goose was on the river Vyrnwy at SJ243202 just west of Llanymynech today with c22 Canada Geese. Viewing is distant through trees off footpath.

This is only the 4th county record of Brent Goose, at the 1st since 19th January 1999!

Bramblings in Llanidloes

2012-02-08T17:44:00.003Z

Four now on the feeders and a reed bunting reported feeding on seeds under feeders in Old Hall, upper Severn valley.

Starling

2012-02-08T15:58:00.002Z

Brambling refuses to hang around for any length of time for the photograph - Starling have now found the food

Siskin etc Sarn

2012-02-07T16:09:00.002Z

Brambling of course disappeared once I'd taken the shot posted below - eyes peeled - but the Siskin and Goldfinch were entertaining! In excess of 20 Siskin have appeared over the last 24 hours so hopefully the Redpoll may be following close behind. Goldfinch are a bit miffed that 'their' supply of niger seed is having to be shared

Brambling - Sarn

2012-02-07T13:32:00.003Z

After the pleasure of seeing a single siskin in the garden yesterday (first of the winter, now joined by a dozen more) a brambling turned up half an hour ago - quick grab shot in case it flew off, which it has, so time to get the hide out and lurk! Maybe this cold weather, esp in Europe, has had a real impact on bird movement?

Big day out! (03/02/12)

2012-02-07T08:15:00.000Z

(via Steve Jones and Richard Knight) Hafren Forest - dipped on the shrike but had 6 Crossbill, 6 Reed Bunting, Stonechat.

Aberhafesp - (from Penstrowed church) - 12 Whooper Swan and c 150 Lapwing, 20 Fieldfare

Dolydd Hafren - 39 species including the 3 Bean Geese, Shelduck, Green sandpiper, Snipe, 60 Wigeon, 30 Teal, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Egret, Kestrel, Sprawk, 200 Linnet, 50 Greenfinch, 10 Bullfinch, 10 Brambling (in with the 300 finches), 30 Curlew.

Crows Nest farm - 10 yellowhammer and 4 Tree Sparrow

Edenhope - 3 short eareds - great to see one on the fence down to 10m!

Great day out up north!

Water Rail @ Welshpool

2012-02-06T23:30:00.000Z

At least 3 present at the Flash this morning, with one of the being trapped and ringed (for more info on the ringing see http://midwalesringers.blogspot.com). Other birds present included 1 woodcock, 3 snipe and 20 plus lesser redpolls.

Best news of the day .... a siskin

2012-02-06T14:00:00.001Z

on the feeders at home today - the first of the winter!

Dolydd Hafren & Montgomery

2012-02-06T13:50:00.004Z

A morning at Dolydd Hafren produced not much - no Ibis and no Bean geese although the Water Rail did show fleetingly (had to work hard for this picture in the early gloom - first clear view of this bird this year) and a Red Kite flypast generated a bit of interest

Just south of Montgomery spotted a flock of Golden Plover with Lapwing (60+ Goldies) - picture taken 200 yards on the Shropshire side of the border but the Goldies took off and flew towards Montgomery - couldn't find them again unfortunately
Buzzard posed on a hedge towards Caerhowel

Dolydd Hafren Afternoon

2012-02-05T19:45:00.003Z

Spurred on by the news that a glossy ibis had dropped into Dolydd I hotfooted it to the reserve - after 4 hours with no sight of the bird I gave up as the sun went down! Good numbers of active birds around though - one of the egrets spent a successful hour fishing in the inlet in front of the 2nd hide A charming thing to do on-camera - no that is neither a dirty lens nor sensor dirt!

Another of these weird hybrids - this looks like the same bird I photo'd at LCyD some weeks back
Brief and distant visit from the peregrine - wonder if this is what caused the goosander to do what they did in mid-air?

LCyD Morning

2012-02-05T19:40:00.005Z

Short visit to LCyD this morning - car park and path were lethal first thing - an area of clear water considerably expanded as the temperature rose. Nothing much about beyond the normal wigeon, teal, mallard, canadas etc but pleased to see this - it's been a while!

Glossy Ibis

2012-02-05T18:06:00.001Z

Just over the Mont border in Borth there's a rather elegant Glossy Ibis at the moment. It is darvic ringed White 8J9, probably a Spanish ringing project from Huelva on the southern coast. The bird is showing well and is in the field right next to the Community Hall.

Brambling @ Llanidloes

2012-02-05T14:54:00.002Z

These two beauties have been on the garden feeders for several days. Fortunately my son had a decent camera with him this weekend.

(photos by Owen Selly)

Dolydd Hafren Morning

2012-02-04T14:35:00.005Z

Pleasantly mild (comparatively anyway) at Dolydd Hafren this morning - went down to see the Bean Geese but they obviously weren't interested in seeing me!

Couple of Shelduck, pair of goosander, large flock of wigeon briefly scared by a peregrine, single little egret but little else on the open fields. Finch flock very active and noisy and bullfinch clearly visible though keeping their distance this morning - hare put in a close appearance and posed on the edge of the river, clearly been in one battle too many!

Bean Geese @ Dolydd Hafren

2012-02-03T20:50:00.002Z

(via Iolo Williams) 3 Bean Geese still present with the Greylags today, also a large mixed flock of Greenfinches and Linnets - 350+.

Great Grey Shrike @ Hafren Forest

2012-02-03T20:47:00.002Z

The Shrike was in the clearfel area around Cwmbiga Cottages this morning, but was very mobile and very flighty! Several Crossbills present and a large flock of Siskins also.

Mealy Redpoll @ Welshpool

2012-02-03T20:45:00.001Z

At least 1 still at the Flash, loosely associating with the Lesser Redpolls. Other birds of interest included 4+ Water Rails and a Woodcock.

Whooper Swan @ Aberhafesp

2012-02-03T20:44:00.001Z

Only 5 adults seen in their usual field today, also 19 Lapwings.

Goshawk @ Pant-y-ffrid

2012-02-03T20:41:00.004Z

1 seen soaring over the hills with several Buzzards, another Gos was seen a little further down the road towards Manafon again with a handful of Buzzards. Also in Manafon there were 20 Lapwings feeding in the sheep fields and another 2 at Tregynon.

Kestrel @ Llyn Hir

2012-02-03T20:41:00.001Z

2 seen hunting today.

Now 3 shorties

2012-02-03T17:31:00.004Z

3 shorties showing well at the site just over the border - birds turned up early at around 1545 in bright sunlight - kestrel continues to harry them at one stage causing one of the owls to drop the vole it had worked so hard to catch ... from a height of 400 feet or so. One very long distance crop of this spat attached

Sorry - shorties again

2012-02-02T20:19:00.005Z

Birds turned up at 3:40 this afternoon as cloudy and much darker than yesterday so tough trying to get a decent pic - one attached. Also one - oops I missed the shot - pic (just) showing the 2 birds (middle pic from yesterday).

Seem to favour this large tract of land and we saw at least 2 kills with the pair trialling the aerial food pass

More Shorties in Ceri Forest

2012-02-02T08:45:00.002Z

On way up to the ridgeway with the dogs at half 7 this morning (a balmy -6) a pair of short-eared owls were sitting on the fence by the road this time on the Monts side of the border - obviously can't say for certain these are different birds to those I've been watching at the other end of the forest but there's a good chance! Paul - will send you precise location details for your records

Ceri Forest Shorties

2012-02-01T20:24:00.003Z

Birds didn't show in the freezing mist yesterday but turned up just after 4pm today - it was a bit nippy up there. Managed to get myself in the wrong position (DOH!) so these shots not great - there's always tomorrow!

Dolydd Hafren

2012-02-01T18:16:00.000Z

With one of the better days that we have had for some time, Brian P. and myself, paid a visit to dolydd Hafren this morning, mainly i must admit to see if we could get a sighting of the Bean Geese that have been there recently. And were rewarded with a sighting of one bean goose in flight, although other birders there said that they had seen 3 geese. One other sighting just before we left was just as pleasing and that was of a Kingfisher, Spotted by Brian sitting in a willow on the large bend of the severn at the second hide.My first sighting of a kinfisher for almost 18 months. Large numbers of Finch's also present and Bullfnch's were easy to spot as they perched in the trees with full sun shining on them. Curlew,Herd first before sighting, were also there in good numbers. In the two hours that we spent there the following species were seen :-

Redwing, Meadow Pipit, Blue Tit, Canada Geese, Cormorant, Blackbird, Curlew, Buzzard, Teal, Mallard, Red Kite, Pheasant, Wood Pigeon, Sparrow Hawk, Oyster Catcher, Raven, Carion Crow, Rook, Goosanders, Linnet, Siskin, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Brambling, Peregine, Heron, LBB Gull, Jackdaw, Dunlin, Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Kestral, Great Tit and Long-Tailed Tit.

35 species noted in our two hour spell. And in the middle of our time there we spent five mintes watching two female Hare's taking advantage of the warm sunshine as well. What a cracking morning!.

Merlin @ Dolydd Hafren

2012-01-31T21:44:00.002Z

Male seen from the 2nd hide this afternoon carrying prey, other birds of note included 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Little Egret, 2 Water Rails, 15+ Goosanders, 25+ Curlew, 1 Green Sandpiper and 11 Dunlin (very unusual at this time of year)!!

Whooper Swan @ Lake Vyrnwy

2012-01-31T21:42:00.001Z

(via birdguides.com) two adults and 4 immatures at the northwest end at SH968238 today for their 2nd day.

Brambling @ Tregynon

2012-01-31T21:38:00.001Z

2 females visiting the garden today, along with 60+ Siskins, 20+ Chaffinches, 10+ Greenfinches and 5+ Goldfinches!

Shelduck @LCyD

2012-01-31T21:30:00.000Z

(via Len Lewis) 1 at the reserve today.

Short-eared Owl - Ceri Forest

2012-01-30T17:02:00.005Z

Apologies for posting another out of county shot but this is a bit closer than the Solway!

Went back up the Ridgeway this afternoon to see if anything had changed while I'd been away and found a pair of shorties - all that time spent in the Elan Valley and they are this close to home! Pics below (do you think I'd been spotted?) taken just after 3pm this afternoon and first saw the birds 10 minutes earlier - bad news for the Monty Blog is that this picture was taken just on the Shropshire side of the border but it's handy for all of you so thought would post anyway.

Location - go up over Edenhope Hill to the 5-way junction at Two Crosses and take the road to Ceri Forest (this is also the road to the Shrops WT reserve at Lower Shortditch Turbary). On the left of this road for over half a mile is an extensive area of clearfell and the birds were hunting over this

Final update from the Solway

2012-01-29T18:35:00.002Z

Another bunch of shots from around the (IMHO) best estuary in Britain.......

Update from our Solway Firth office

2012-01-29T16:52:00.003Z

Had the pleasure of a couple of days on the Solway in somewhat variable weather but birding more than made up for it - no idea how many curlew we came across as we gave up estimating once we'd passed the 3000 barrier. Real star of the show was the Great Egret near Bowness - a very long distance shot so a bit scratchy - it's been in that area since early November.When I took this in Silloth Docks I thought it was a Common Scoter but now I'm second-guessing myself - your views welcome and indeed invited
This beautiful Turnstone rewarded a bit of a wait- one of a series taken along the dock wall.
And just on the other side of the dock one or two redshank (and the odd turnstone) having a snooze
And this was about a third of the flock of oystercatcher - can only imaging the din when they all take off!
Geese and swan pics to follow

It's Bean a Mealy Great day......

2012-01-28T20:10:00.005Z

Sorry for the lame pun, but what a days birding with Marc Hughs and all in Monts too!

The main highlights were 3 Bean Geese with a flock of Greylags at Dolydd Hafren (I believe a county 1st!)

(photo by Iolo Williams)

At least 2 Mealy Redpolls with a small flock af Lessers at the Flash in Welshpool.

(not the best of photos, but I've uploaded a Lesser taken today for a comparison)

And the long staying Great Grey Shrike at Hafren Forest!

Other notable birds today included:

Powys Castle
1 Marsh Tit and 2 Peregrines

Dolydd Hafren
4 Green Sandpipers, 1 Little Egret, 1 Woodcock, 1+ Brambling, 1 Peregrine (via Iolo) and 1 Great Black-backed Gull.

Ceri Ridgeway (Sarn end)
40+ Tree Sparrow and 40+ Yellowhammers

Aberhafesp
23 Whooper Swans (all adults)

Hafren Forest
3+ Crossbills

Glaslyn
3+ Red Grouse and 4 Goldeneyes (1 drake)

Caerhowel
1 Little Owl

and Dylife
1 Gooshawk (male), 2 Sparrowhawks (1st year male and adult female) and 25000+ Starlings (inc 1 albino bird!)

COED-Y-DINAS , Afternoon

2012-01-26T16:07:00.002Z

2 Female and 1 Male Goosander, 25+ Teal, 1 Greylag, 15+ Wigeon otherwise nothing of note

Short video

2012-01-24T14:32:00.003Z

Just thought i would share this short video i h ave done, hope you take a few minutes to watch it.
http://youtu.be/1y5ZyoZbcWQ

Dyfi ospreys sighted in Africa

2012-01-24T13:34:00.001Z

Two of the Dyfi osprey fledglings from last year have been spotted and photographed in Africa last week. The two boys, Einion in Senegal and Dulas in the Gambia. Incredible! Full story here

Einion in Senegal

COED-Y-DINAS morning

2012-01-22T13:34:00.002Z

Only bird of note was a single Shelduck. Managed to get a fair image of a Wren, and the Canada Goose hybrid was interesting showing off its lovely ochre legs.
About 50 plus Wigeon, 5 Heron, 1 Buzzard, 1 Dunnock, 8 Cormorant, 5 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck, flock of approx 200 Lapwing, 5 Black-Headed Gull

Yellowhammer

2012-01-21T16:36:00.002Z

No additional pics worth posting as I waited through the gales and downpours on the Ridgeway - in total in a stretch of not more than 200 yards round the various troughs, trees and hedges saw well in excess of 100 individuals in mixed flocks with chaffinch, redpoll and tree sparrow. Seem to be very localised around the entrance to the Crow's Nest farm. Further birds up on Edgestone Hill in Shropshire with a couple of hundred fieldfare resolutely refusing to a) sit still or b) come into reasonable range of the camera

Crossbills @ Dyfnant Forest

2012-01-21T11:26:00.002Z

13 feeding in larch trees by the Pen-y-Foel car park late this morning, at least one other Crossbill was seen and a few others heard.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

2012-01-20T20:44:00.000Z

in the Abermule Dingle area.

visiting the feeder along with Blue/Great and Coal Tits.

bir

2012-01-20T18:18:00.001Z

Lots of Yellowhammer

2012-01-20T17:51:00.003Z

Excited by yesterday's dusk sighting of yellowhammer along the Ridgeway, I headed back up there this afternoon in the gale once the worst of the rain had cleared - as Brian says, very gloomy! Did however manage to find a large mixed flock with 30 or so yellowhammer in it picking up scraps from the sheep feed troughs. Have to admit that these troughs are in Shropshire by about 15 yards but as the border runs down the narrow road, and as they flew to the troughs from the hedge on the Monty side (little yellow Border Reivers perhaps?), I feel justified in claiming these these are 'our' birds!! You may also note that on the ground just to the left of the group of Yellow Reivers is a Tree Sparrow - first I've photographed in a long time!

COED-Y-DINAS , Afternoon

2012-01-20T17:02:00.003Z

A very dark afternoon, but nice to see Iolo, Chris and Kevin in the hide.

Huge numbers of Lapwing flying about in different flocks, must be nearly 800 in one of these.
Long-tailed Tits, Reed Bunting, Goldcrest, and a single Common Snipe observed at last minute under a tree on far right hand side of lake. Medium numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Cormorants and a single Heron. The Tufted Duck numbers are up.

Red Bank Welshpool

2012-01-20T11:06:00.005Z

Kevin informed me that I had a Tree Sparrow on my garden hedge, Thursday. I have not seen one for months, even at Dolydd Hafren, Venus Pool etc

Little Owl.

2012-01-19T21:24:00.000Z

Spotted sitting on top of the roadside hedge whilst driving home to Llandyssil this evening. Not sure how many are around here but I've been seeing a Little Owl roughly in the same area for many years.

Short-eared Owl @ Llyn Hir

2012-01-19T20:05:00.003Z

1 seen last night, also 2 Golden Plovers and 7 Woodcock. A Tawny Owl was also seen at New Mills on the way home.

Golden Plovers, Garreg Hir

2012-01-19T18:12:00.002Z

(only) 4 Golden Plover on Garreg Hir this afternoon, which I unfortunately scared off hence the birdless landscape... Nothing to report on the wind swept Llyn Mawr at all today, although 1 male and 2 female Goldeneye present on Monday (16th).

Ceri Goosander - and a surprise

2012-01-19T17:14:00.003Z

7 goosander in Ceri Sawmills pond today - 4M/3F so getting a bit frisky and possesive! Displayed beautifully though the light was a bit harsh for the male - highlights easily blown given the contrast between the head and body (never satisfied are we???)Only 3 Golden Plover seen on the top today - on way back down at dusk came across these yellowhammer (same place as saw the tree sparrows Paul) and this hedge is on the Monty side of the road, though clarity not great as shot through another hedge!!

Lapwing @ Welshpool

2012-01-18T20:26:00.000Z

A flock 500+ Lapwings were seen flying over work today. Another 47 were reported at LCyD by Iolo!

Who needs starling??

2012-01-18T17:19:00.004Z

Mentioned this before but we have a daily wheeling jackdaw display just as the light goes - took this 10 min ago at ISo 3200, f2.8, 1/125 so a bit marginal - this is smaller than the usual number of birds. Not sure where they roost up but suspect in the conifers over the other side of the road

Peregrine carrying Woodcock

2012-01-18T08:36:00.000Z

I was out walking in the Breidden Hills yesterday with photographer Rod Trevaskus, when a female Peregrine came over carrying prey. Rod took a few shots, and it was only when he sent them to me I realized the prey was a Woodcock, whose long bill is visible as a pale diagonal line below the raptor's middle talon.

Ceri Ridgeway Golden Plover

2012-01-17T16:21:00.009Z

Up on the Ridgeway today - not on camera (aaargh) male goshawk and female merlin, large group of finches inc redpoll, greenfinch, siskin and at least a dozen tree sparrow (first I've seen for 7 years). Found a large flock of plovers (equal numbers of lapwing and goldens) of around 400 birds (the pics below only show a small portion of the flock and were taken just over the border but they were flitting about paying scant regard to the border controls so worthy of a post here!). No close pics so that's a target for the next week or two!

Barn Owl @ Llyn Hir

2012-01-16T20:13:00.001Z

1 seen hunting this evening, other birds present included 1 Tawny Owl (heard only), 9 Golden Plovers and a couple of Snipe (1 of which was drumming!!).

Around Ceri

2012-01-16T16:56:00.005Z

A local day today - been keeping my eye on the Ceri Sawmills pool for a while now - 4 goosander in there today (1M/3F) with a dabchick and the normal moorhen/mallard. This gorgeous little thing showed beautifully but don't you just hate it when twigs get in the way and mess with the AF?Been out and about up high ground for the past few days and have seen so many buzzard have lost count - 12 on the ground in one field this morning on the way up the Ridgeway and the colour variation is all too clear to see. For this pic, see the bird and drive a hundred yards past, scurry back along the road, keeping low, the last 20 yards on hands and knees, crawl up a hoar frost encrusted bank, slither over the top, lie on gorse, stick the lens through a fence and squeeze off 3 shots before it took off - it was laughing at me I'm sure, the things we do for our 'art'!

COED-Y-DINAS morning

2012-01-16T15:30:00.003Z

Gorden Bennett! It was cold in the hide this morning with the north wind blowing straight into the window opening. The only birds of note were a small flock of about 10 Meadow Pipit's on the left hand bank. A pair of Bullfinches were around, as were a pair of Dunnock. A Wren just would not stay still long enough to photograph.
Plenty of Teal, Wigeon and Tufted Ducks, but no Scaup I'm afraid Mark!

Dolydd Hafren afternoon

2012-01-15T17:14:00.003Z

Even quieter at DH - single egret and shelduck, couple of cormorant and normal teal and wigeon but pools frozen so long distance. Water rail squealing in the reeds immed in front of first hide but didn't show - one day! Curlew flock active with display sorties up and down the river - finch flock there in good number and next time I'll take the wee hide and tripod and sit for a while and get better than these rubbish handheld shots!

LCyD morning

2012-01-15T17:04:00.005Z

All very quiet at LCyD this morning although this time I could see further than 40 yards! No sign of either the kingfisher or the scaup - a few pics of what was around, greylag first thing before sun up hence a flash picture which makes it look a bit flat and I hate these static posed pictures!! Peregrine had a bit of fun wheeling round, calling and scaring everything before perching on the dead tree down the left hand side to watch the mayhem (apols couldn't resist another tuftie!)

Great Grey Shrike

2012-01-15T16:21:00.002Z

Still there but found further upstream on the slopes above the forest track beyond Cwmbiga farm. Harrying small flock of siskin and coal tits. Also flock of over a dozen crossbills and a GH narrowly missing a woodcock!

LCyD - cold morning but a kingfisher flypast

2012-01-14T19:54:00.007Z

Went down LCyD for the sunrise, nice orange colour through the mist - lovely! Only problem is the mist didn't clear (was only after 3 hours could see the vague outline of the oak on the island so image clarity was compromised somewhat) and it was a tad chilly! So birding wasn't great as anything with half a brain was still snuggled in - as you can see from this which made me chuckle! Don't suppose I can claim this as a scaup?????

However notable highlight moment and a pleasing tick for the year some 5 months before 2011 was a couple of flypasts from a kingfisher at around 0845. Was sitting at the LH window and saw what looked like a KF flash past in front of the reeds to the RH side of the lake. Stood up to see where it had gone and it flew back from the right before disappearing over the hedge to Charlie's field - didn't reappear but great to see one of those again after so long!

Llyn Coed y dinas

2012-01-13T18:34:00.003Z

Very cold in hide today, and no new species seen on the lake. A pair of Goosander did show up late afternnon and looked lovely in the low sun.

On the feeders were many Bluetits, Great-tits, Chaffinch, with a pair of Reedbuntings on the ground.

A very agile Goldcrest was seen, as were a pair of Bullfinches and a Dunnock.

A visit to Ceri Ridge produced very little apart from a single female Crossbill, with others flying over.

Great Grey Shrike

2012-01-13T18:17:00.004Z

Just had it confirmed by Peter Bayliss who owns and runs the eco-friendly accommodation at Cwmbiga just down the road that he saw the shrike today in the clearfell above Afon Biga. Good to know it's still around having lucked out after 6 hours last Friday!

BURGESS CROFT

2012-01-12T15:21:00.000Z

Over the last week the following species have been seen on the feeders or in the garden each day, those being:- Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Collard Dove, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Redpoll, Blackbird, And House Sparrow, Dunnocks have been seen on 5 days, Siskin on 3, Great Tits On 2 with a single sighting of a coal tit this morning, a Blackcap (male) appeared briefly on monday.
Finch's make up the largest numbers of birds seen, with the goldfinch leading the way, Which in comparison to this time last year is completely reversed. Chaffinch's Greenfinch then Goldfinch was the order. Also this year compared to last Redpoll have increased in number most days 6 to 10 seen, but yesterday was a good day for them had a nice little flock in the garden and counted 27, though when they were lifted the count was probably a little higher.
Tits, Athough seeming to have bred well this last year are quite conspicuous by there absence on the feeders . Blue Tits are averaging at 4 birds sighted each time. With as iv'e noted above only 2 visits by Great Tits and 1 by a Coal Tit and no Long Tailed Tits. I just hope somebody else has temped them to there feeders, seeming as so far this winter its been so mild compared to last year.
Been stuck indoors for the last week, Cold/Flu call it what you want, so i'm looking forward to getting out and about again , But once again thanks to the blog I've managed to keep informed as to sightings and activity in the region. Cheers Bloggers.

Llyn Coed Y Dinas

2012-01-10T23:20:00.001Z

A pair of goosander courting and mating on the lake today.

COED-Y-DINAS , Afternoon

2012-01-10T18:24:00.002Z

A rather nasty damp afternoon, however the Scaup showed up but was partly hidden by the reeds in front of the hide! It would appear to be in a slightly stronger state of molt, but this could have been the poor lighting.

Woodcock @ Llyn Hir

2012-01-09T22:04:00.000Z

5 seen this evening while out walking the dogs!

COED-Y-DINAS , Afternoon

2012-01-09T16:15:00.002Z

Not a bad afternoon at Coed-y-dinas, even saw the sun!

The Scaup is still around but right at back near right hand float.Eight Grey Heron, single male Goosander, male Shoveler, about 50 Wigeon, plenty of Teal, Tufted, Lapwing including one flock of about 60.

A single female Bullfinch at top of Willows, and two or three nice Reed Bunting near feeders, and one Dunnock.

Pwll Penarth

2012-01-08T22:07:00.000Z

Hi everyone. My first post.
Spent about an hour at Pwll Penarth,mainly in the 1st hide. I usually go with just the camera but took the binos with me today. Spotted only Dabchick and Teal on the main pool. One of the smaller pools had about 40 mallard plus 1 Tufted amongst them.

Nigel.

2012-01-08T17:23:00.005Z

Managed to grab an hour up the Ceri Ridgeway this afternoon in iffy light after all the boring domestic stuff (mind I did wash/clean the car for the first time in 4 months so not all bad - jeez!!). Not seen many of the trad winter birds so far this year so good to find this treeful - next to them at least 3k starling on the ground squabbling over the various piles of dung! A few crossbill seen but light awful!

Iceland Gull @ Welshpool

2012-01-08T15:20:00.000Z

A 1st winter Iceland Gull flew south down the Severn valley around 13:00 today with around 400-500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. I have no doubt this was a different bird to the one that Sue saw earlier in the week as it was the same size (if not a tiny bit smaller) as the Lesser Black-backs.

It's worth going through any gulls that you see at the moment as there has been an influx of 'White-winged' gulls in to britain over the last few weeks!

Amazingly this is only the 2nd county record!!

LCyD Oddball

2012-01-07T16:40:00.004Z

Nothing to add on LCyD to Brian's post below other than this weird morph on the big island - interestingly this does show me a degree of back-focussing which I thought I'd fixed but which had been nagging away at more these last weeks. Would explain why my shots of the little egret, raven and hare from Dolydd this morning weren't that clever! 'Scaup' I think put in a brief show in front of the island before heading back into hiding

COED-Y-DINAS morning

2012-01-07T13:37:00.003Z

No sign of the Scaup, however there were 5 Goosander, three males and two females, in splendid condition with one pair mating. The Shoveler pair were still around looking really nice in the sun.
I counted over 90 Lapwing in two different groups, one on the main island and one small group in the air. A Buzzard made an appearance over the lake persued by a single crow.

Teal in reasonable numbers were right at the back of the lake, a few Tufted were seen together with dozens of Mallard, of which one or two were mating.

On the path to the hide were a few Bullfinch.

The water level has dropped by at least 300mm so no more paddling to get to the hide, and enough room for a few Lapwing on the small island at front of hide.

Large crop of Scaup

2012-01-06T18:31:00.002Z

Hope this helps Paul, you can see the silver strips on back and the areas molting

Rear view of Scaup

2012-01-06T18:23:00.002Z

As requested by Paul a rear view of the Scaup showing the off white undertail coverts

COED-Y-DINAS morning

2012-01-06T13:28:00.002Z

A few more images of the 'Scaup'. Looking at several books it certainly has many characteristics of a Scaup as against a Tufted, but will let the experts decide.

There was also a nice male Shoveler on the lake.

First Winter Male Scaup at L. CyD.

2012-01-06T12:31:00.004Z

Very poor light this morning, but a couple of record shots of the bird which has been present for a few days. It appears to be moulting its juvenile back and flank feathers to reveal the whiter plumage of a male.

Red Kites at Forden

2012-01-05T18:05:00.002Z

Observed three Red Kites circling around Chirbury Road junction on north east side, there appeared to be a sheeps carcass not far away on the hill. May be worth a quick look tomorrow am in case more arrive, if your in that area.

2 Raven this morning top Redbank and a Sparrowhawk this afternoon.

Coed-y-dinas reserve has a flooded area at lower gate, so take wellies! The photo enclosed shows the flooded area just to right of Oak on large island. I did not get the Scaup!

could it be a glaucous gull?

2012-01-05T11:44:00.002Z

About 20 lesser black-backed gulls feeding in wet field on Wern this morning - and amongst them one gull which appeared to be totally white from a distance. When they suddenly took off, and circled for several minutes, it was easy to follow this gull, which was larger than the others and almost appeared to glisten in what little sun there was. Having checked the books, I'm wondering whether it could have been a glaucous gull - anyone any thoughts? We'll keep our eyes open for more sightings, as the water will no doubt lie on the fields for a few days yet!

Scaup @ LCyD

2012-01-04T19:17:00.002Z

A 1st winter drake Scaup was present on the lake this afternoon.

Could do with Mark or Brian down there with there big lenses to get some decent pics just to prove that it's a pure Scaup (a lot of aythya hibrids about these days!!).

Whooper Swan @ Aberhafesp

2012-01-04T19:14:00.002Z

I relocated the Swans a few fields south (towards Caersws) of where they usually are. There were at least 9 Whooper Swans mixed in with several Mute Swans, but there could have easily been more (viewing was very difficult!!).

Ltitle Egret @ Dolydd Hafren

2012-01-04T09:53:00.004Z

4 present today, also 5 Green Sandpipers, 85 Lapwing, 30 Curlew, 1 Water Rail, 2 Little Grebes, several Teal, 1 (adult male) Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel and a finch flock of over 300 birds, mostly Greenfinch and Linnet but at least 2+ Bramblings with them.

Marsh Tit @ Lymore Pools

2012-01-04T09:10:00.000Z

At least 4 in the surrounding woodlands this morning, other birds of note included 2 Stock Doves, 2 Lesser Redpolls, 10s of Siskins (feeding in larch trees) and a handful of Long-tailed Tits and Bullfinches. On the pools there were very few birds only a smattering of each Mallard, Teal, Coot, Moorhen and Mute Swan.

Nearby at Hem farm there was a Kestrel hunting.

GGS - Hafren

2012-01-03T19:38:00.004Z

One more pic from the set yesterday - posted to hopefully address a question Trevor raises in a comment below - non-photographers can probably happily ignore the rest of this!

Taken around the same time as the first pic in the initial post below with the major difference that this time I used the flash to counteract the slightly harsh backlighting (so less to do in Photoshop). It can give problems with blown highlights if you don't manage the output and compensation so for me at the mo a bit hit and miss - also the bird equivalent of 'red-eye' is 'steel-eye' and I had to do a bit of fixing in Photoshop - tho looking at it again I've not done a great job!

Just something I'd been mulling over when decorating the new house - having had a bunch of time to think I was trying to work out how I could get properly exposed and detailed shots of the birds out of the hide at LCyD which for the majority of the day is pretty much into the sun. Doing some further digging on the web I found others, in particular in the States, had similar concerns. It's all a bit of a faff at times as you end up carrying a bunch more gear with various flash add-ons, external battery packs and the like so the pack gets a bit weighty but I think there's something in it.

Interested in any comments - in particular views on whether or not this pic works better for you than the first one in the post last night!

tech stuff is 1D3, Canon 500mm f4 + 1.4TC, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/500, spot metering, AV with -1EC, Canon 580 Mk2 flash with stofen diffuser, 1/4 power - think that's it!

Redpoll @ Welshpool

2012-01-03T18:15:00.001Z

10-15 feeding in silver birch trees by the disabled car park at Coed-y-Dinas this afternoon.

New years day birding.

2012-01-03T18:09:00.002Z

Managed to pop out for a few hours on new years day to get the new years bird list off to a start. Despite not seeing a lot, I did manage a couple of good species including Golden Plover, Lapwing, Woodcock, Sparrowhawk (a fine adult male in the garden several times), Siskin (at least 50 now feeding in the garden), and this stunning little Jack Snipe which was trapped and ringed early in the morning.

Kerry

2012-01-03T10:14:00.000Z

With a temporary break in the weather, I took a trip up to the snowfield of The Kerry Ridgeway on the 2nd. Not much snow to be honest, or many birds. However the 2 pairs of Crossbills I found were both on exposed Alders, with the males in full song, despite being battered by the wind. While trying to get the shot at top of post, with a background of conifers in poor light, I flushed a Jack Snipe from amongst the conifer brash. The female Kestrel was trying to stay on the fence post as she faced into the gale.

Great Grey Shrike - Hafren

2012-01-02T20:05:00.004Z

The hours of waiting in the gales, cold, sleet and hail with only caffeine to sustain me paid off - a stunning bird though the specks of blood under the eyes, and the evil look in the 2nd image, do remind you why they are known as the 'butcher bird'! Bird in location reported earlier, in the area of clearfell above where the Afon Biga joins the Clywedog reservoir. As normal click on pics for a larger view (apols had to reload this)

Sparrowhawk

2012-01-02T19:39:00.000Z

Juvenile that is visiting the garden regularly.

Shoveler @ Coed-y-Dinas

2012-01-02T19:32:00.001Z

(via Paul Leafe) Pair seen flying over Charlies with a small group of Mallards this afternoon.

COED-Y-DINAS morning

2012-01-02T15:17:00.002Z

A very quiet but sunny morning, the onle birds of note were a single Shelduck and three Buzzards.The Teal were still present but far back near the main road, plenty of Wigeon, Tufted, Mallards, Cormorants and a single Heron. Usual tits around, plus Blackbirds but nothing else.

A new year and a new county recorder

2012-01-01T23:49:00.000Z

Firstly, I would just like to take the opportunity to thank Brayton for our county bird recorder for the past twenty something year. I'm sure at times I can't have been easy (as I will no doubt be finding out!), but with out his dedication there would probably be no 'archive' of bird sightings for Montgomeryshire for the last 3 decades!

For those if you who aren't aware, as of today (01/01/12) I will be your new county bird recorder! Admitidly I am a little unorganised at the moment, but hope to get acquainted with all you (the ones that don't know me that is) monty birders soon as I can. I will be setting up some new contact details, but for the time being please send any sighting to what ever contact details you have for me (or to Brayton if that is still easier) and I will make sure they get put on to the data base.

Happy birding
Paul

Lesser Redpoll and Woodcock - Meifod

2012-01-01T15:06:00.004Z

We spotted a charming group of about 30-40 lesser redpoll feeding in birch trees on top of Dyffryn hill near Meifod on a walk this afternoon. Also one woodcock in the bracken.

Pwll Penarth

2011-12-31T16:47:00.006Z

Went back for the water rail today - in more hours than I care to mention (very briefly) saw and heard 2 birds from the second hide but impossible to photograph. On way out stopped in the first hide and immediately saw another but could only manage this very poor record shot in the fading light - bird flew between the island in front of the hide and the reeds on the far bank a couple of times. Wonder where I'll be tomorrow?Very quiet initially but 3 dabchick turned up, though refused to come close - large numbers of long tailed tits about as well

Pwll Penarth Goosander

2011-12-30T16:53:00.008Z

Short visit to Pwll Penarth this pm - will this gloom never end?? Fairly quiet but a dozen or so teal, couple of dabchicks and this rather nice looking fella in the rain (as normal, click to expand). Didn't bother with the mallard and snipe noticeable by their absence.Got into second hide and a water rail (my first of the year - about time!) swam across the water immediately in front - yep camera still in the bag! Maybe good job though because the willows largely obscure the water anyway - note to self, take your loppers next time!