"Gropper" in the bag.

I fancied a couple of hours out this evening after work and was going to pop down to Darren Woods to have a look for a Wood Warbler but after having a chat with Paul "Sid" Parsons decided instead to have a look around the fields behind Maesteg Cemetery.

"Sid" assured me that the fields were a reliable site for Grasshopper Warbler and I wasn't dissapointed with four different birds "reeling" and two seen,one of which posed quite nicely for the camera.

Nice one "Sid" !!

Woodchat Shrike:Llangennith,Gower

Although I'm well into double figures for Great Grey Shrikes in the UK my list of the "summer" shrikes is quite pitiful in comparison with only one Red Backed Shrike and two previous Woodchat Shrikes so I was keen to catch up with this bird and hopeful of getting a few "snaps".

I'd been keeping my fingers crossed all week that it would stay 'til the weekend and the bird duly obliged.

I phoned Peter "Pedro" Morgan from Bridgend who was equally keen and after meeting him at Sarn Junc 36 on the M4 we were soon heading west to the Gower.

We duly arrived at Hillend Caravan Park in Llangennith and after parking up were soon strolling across the dunes in search of the shrike.

We scanned some of the scrub but with no luck and I then spied the friendly face through my bins of Phil Hill with Mrs Hill coming towards us and Phil soon put us on to the bird which was a little further along the track,we'd been looking in the wrong place-no change there then !!

The bird was quite conspicuous with it's chestnut cap and black and white plummage and whilst it perched up prominently on the top of brambles and bushes it never allowed an approach closer than 25-30m before it took flight.

We snapped away with our cameras and I managed to get a few reasonable record shots.

We stayed for about 1 1/2 hrs always trying to get that little bit closer for that "crippler" of a shot but realising that the bird wasn't going to allow a closer approach and with evening closing in and the light getting poorer with more cloud cover we headed for home.

We couldn't really complain,a third "Woodie" for me (all in Glamorgan) and a UK "lifer" for Peter,quite a good afternoon all in all.

Spring has sprung

After a morning finishing off some DIY and doing a bit in the garden Teresa and myself popped down to Cardiff Bay in the afternoon for a couple of hours.

Whilst Teresa relaxing in the car doing a bit of "people watching" I strolled across the barrage as far as the sails hoping that I may catch up with the Bonaparte's Gull.

The light was very hazy (that's my excuse anyway) and I failed to connect with the gull but on the way back to the car I heard a Chiffchaff calling in the only tree on the barrage,a scruffy old willow sprouting out of the rocks by the end of the lock gates.

The bird was quite confiding and I managed a few nice record shots of what was probably a very new arrival.

'T' is for . . .

. . . Triple Teal Tick.

Geth and I had a T-riffic day out last Saturday when we managed to see the Blue-winged Teal at Sandy Water Park, and both Green-winged and Eurasian Teal at Peterstone.

'T' is also for . . .

• 'Tick' - the Blue and Green-winged were lifers for Gethin and were Welsh ticks for me.
• 'Twitchmeister'
• 'Tunnocks'
• 'Try again' . . .

Ever so slightly better than my first attempt (see below)!

Sandy Water Park,Llanelli

I'd been keeping an eye on sightings of the recently found Blue-winged Teal all week hoping that it would stay until the weekend so that I could get some good "images" of what would be a "lifer" for me.

After touching base with Dan on Friday evening we met up early this morning at Sarn Junc 36 on the M4 and myself,Dan and "The Twitchmeister" were soon heading west,the weather early on was quite cloudy but as we drove into Llanelli it started to brighten up.

We parked up in the small car park at the side of the lake and young Gethin was first to get on to the bird which was on the opposite side of the water in front of The Sandpiper pub.

It showed quite well and I was able to get some reasonable record shots,not quite up to Dan's standard but I was quite satisfied with the results.

There were lots of gulls around as well and a bright Kingfisher dashed across the lake a couple of times glinting in the sunlight,amongst the gulls was a juvenile Little Gull which was found about the same time as the BWT and seems to come and go between the lake and the nearby beach.

Although it never came in really close I was able to get to few record shots.

Soon it was time to leave but not before devouring a traditional Tunnocks wafer to celebrate another lifer for myself and Geth.