Waxwing hunt........

Having seen and photographed the Waxwings that turned up in Brecon at the start of 2017 I'd resisted the temptation to go for the ones more recently in Cardiff and Barry but yesterday decided to have a go for the birds that had been found this week at The Range in Swansea and off Harbour Way opposite the steelworks in Port Talbot.
I tried for the Port Talbot birds first on my way to Swansea but with no luck but on arrival at The Range found the birds in the trees on the boundary of the car park which other birders were watching.
Paul Tabor turned up at the same time as myself and it was good to bump into and chat with Peter and Simon Murray, Ray Davies, John Farrell, Wendel Thomas, Rob Jones and a few other birders that I didn't know.
The light was harsh but with a blue sky and I managed to get a few reasonable photographs.....

The birds were attracting quite a bit of attention from the shoppers in the busy car park but at about 3.00pm they all took flight and headed east which was my cue to leave with the intention of finding the Port Talbot birds on the way home.
Whilst driving slowly along Harbour Way I met Phil Routliff who had refound the birds in the morning and who was showing another birder them, he pointed me in the right direction and I caught up with Paul Tabor who had left Swansea before I did.
The birds were in some rowans at the bottom of an embankment but although the light was still good they were in the shade, and I managed a few shots, we could only see three but when they took off to fly to roost we were surprised that there had been ten lurking in the trees.......

Great Northern Diver : Aberavon

Couldn't resist another search  for the GND at Aberavon over the Christmas/New Year holiday, took some finding but once found it posed quite well for some photos.........

Barnacle Geese : Sker Point, Porthcawl

A few pics of some of the flock of the 14 Barnacle Geese that stopped off at Sker on 3rd January, first considered wild individuals since 1993, something of a rarity in Glamorgan......

"Posers"..........

A few 'portraits' of Chiffchaff (collybita) whilst looking for 'tristis' at Kenfig NNR and Bullfinches at Parc Slip NR taken over the recent Christmas holiday period......

"They're getting closer", Waxwings that is........

Folowing Tim's text I headed for Brecon phoning friend and fellow 'togger' Steve Wilce from Bwlch, Nr Brecon who was already at the location with his camera and big lens and a couple of other birders/toggers, Steve gave me the exact location and greeted me on my arrival.
The five birds were quite mobile and after about twenty minutes we picked one up in a distant Birch tree which was soon joined by the others.
We watched for a while and they flew to a berry laden Rowan in the rear garden of a bungalow which Steve had already gained permission to access, result !!
We made our way into the garden and managed a few shots before the birds took flight back to their favoured tall Birch......

We searched a couple of the streets and on our way back to our original location we spotted not five but nine birds which all headed back to the garden of the bungalow, they all settled in the Rowan and allowed us both in company with Keith Noble to get some more shots of these incredible birds........

I've probably got 1000s of images of Waxwings including some in the snow from past invasions but it's a bird that I can't resist and the mad dash was well worth the effort.