And finally,one in Wales at last...........

I noted with interest the Hoopoe reported yesterday from Middleton,Gower but the awful weather in the afternoon and an evening out at a party mean't that a visit was impossible.
Hoopoe has been something of a "bogey" bird for me over the years and before today I hadn't seen one in Wales let alone Glamorgan,I've seen dozens in the Mediterranean and Canary Islands but my only UK sighting was a bird in Somerset several years ago.
I had no real plans for today and a text from Peter "Pedro" Morgan asking if I fancied going out was followed minutes later by a "grapevine" text informing me that the bird was still there this morning,mind made up !!
We met up at Sarn and the heavy rain encountered on the way down had me thinking that we'd be sat in Peter's car for an hour after arriving waiting for the rain to stop.
The rain eased as we neared our destination and after wasting 10 minutes looking in the wrong place came across Adam Tilt walking back to his car for his camera,he informed us that the bird was in the lane leading down to the "Nitten Field" but on arrival the bird took off and flew east towards the car park for Mewslade Bay.

We set off in search with Adam and his girlfriend and depite a brief sighting by Adam we returned to the car for a quick bite to eat with Adam and his girlfriend deciding to call it a day.
We ventured back down the lane and came across Alun John from Mumbles who had luckily come across the bird feeding on the grass verge near the gate to the "Nitten Field" and he had manged a few shots.
Barry and Sandra Stewart arrived and decided to have a search further down towards the valley and as they returned we saw the bird fly into the "Nitten Field" where myself,Peter and Alun manged a few distant record shots.

After a little more wandering about we decided to "park" ourselves near the gate to the "Nitten Field" and after a few more frustrating flight views the bird appeared in the field to the left of the lane about 30yds from the gate and we both managed to get some reasonable "record" shots at last.

The bird having allowed us to get some shots then once again decided to disappear and after agreeing that we were unlikely to get any closer opportunities decided to head for Ogmore-by-Sea for the Bonaparte's Gull which had decided to reappear this morning after a month's absence.
We had hoped the bird had gone into summer plumage but upon reading the sighting report en route that the bird was only showing some signs of change and with darkening skys and poor light we decided to head for home.
Not a bad day out,I had finally caught up with a local Hoopoe,a county and Welsh "tick" for me and after giving us the runaround for four hours the bird finally gave itself up for a few shots.

Catching up,the past few weeks........

Not blogged for a few weeks as there's not been an awful lot about to photograph so thought I'd catch up with a few "images" :-
Turnstone,Purple Sandpiper and Sand Martin at Ogmore-by-Sea on Sun 24.March.
Ring Ouzels (M+F) at Ogmore-by-Sea on Easter weekend.
Osprey and Common Buzzard at Cantref Reservoir on Easter Sunday.
Lesser Scaup at Parc Bryn Bach,Tredegar on Easter Sunday.
Greater Scaup (7 in total) at Llangors Lake on Easter Monday,a grey,cold day.
Skylark at Mynydd Illtyd,Brecon on Sun 7.April.
Osprey at Beacons Reservoir on Sun 7.April.
Golden Plovers at Mynydd ty Talwyn,Maesteg on Sun 7.April.

Lets hope the end of the cold weather sees a fresh influx of spring migrants.

"In between the rugby".........

Six Nations rugby weekends usually see myself and best mate Neil put in a few miles on a good walk and then put our feet up in front of the tele to watch Wales play.
However,my "dodgy" right ankle (I've turned it over on consecutive weekends,ouch !) interfered on Saturday so we drove from Neil's home in Blackpill down to Oxwich and put in a couple of hours in the "new" hide at the marsh.
It was fairly quiet and I was disappointed not to have the chance to photograph Snipe feeding on the island opposite the hide,otherwise there were a couple of pairs of Little Grebe looking fantastic in breeding plumage in the sun,several Gadwall,Mallard,Shoveler,Common Teal and plenty of Moorhen.
A few Water Rail squealed in the reeds but didn't show and a couple of Common Buzzard drifted overhead.
One of the pairs of Little Grebes came reasonably close to the hide and I managed to get a couple of shots that I was quite pleased with and also a few of Common Toads basking in the sun.

We headed back to Neil's at about 1.30pm and enjoyed a good win by Wales even if the game was somewhat dour and littered with penalties,bring on the English !!
I decided to test my ankle on Sunday afternoon by having a look for the Great Grey Shrike that had been seen late afternoons at Afan Argoed on both Friday and Saturday and after a 30min walk found myself at the clear fell given by the grid reference.
I scanned every tree and post for about half an hour in freezing conditions and finally the shrike appeared from nowhere at the top of one of the unfelled "posts",it was always a little too distant and I only managed a few "record" shots.

The freezing north easterly was really starting to bite and after about 40mins the bird disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and with it starting to snow I beat a hasty retreat downhill to the visitor centre or as fast as my "dodgy" ankle allowed anyway !!

Aust Warth : Return Visit

I fancied a morning out last Sunday and a return visit to Aust Warth to get some more and hopefully better shots of the day flying Barn Owl was too much of a temptation !
Having dipped on the owl on his one  previous visit fellow "togger" Richard Smith joined me and even did the honour of driving with us arriving at the warth at about 9.00am.
The Barn Owl had been hunting since about 7.00am and we got straight onto the bird as it quartered the rough ground alongside the road.
The only disappointing aspect was the grey overcast sky resulting in absolutely terrible light with us both having to shoot at higher than wanted ISOs to achieve a reasonable shutter speed.
We enjoyed a great hour and a half before the owl disappeared to roost and then went to look for the two Twite that had been around for a couple of weeks.
Other birders informed us that the birds were still around and we soon found them high in trees at the end of the warth as they dashed back and fore the reedbed.
They were quite flighty and we just couldn't get quite close enough to get some really good shots but did manage a few "record" photos,sorry mean't images.
We called it a day at 2.00pm and headed for home to settle down in front of the television where I was joined by close friend Neil who popped up to watch Swansea hammer Bradford with me in the League Cup Final,a great morning followed by an equally great afternoon.

"You just can't get enough of owls"............

I fancied a crack at the Barn Owl at Aust Warth on the Severn Estuary which has been showing well on and off for a few weeks during daylight hours so left early and got there at 7.20am.
The estuary was shrouded in mist early on which took a while to burn off and the Barn Owl eventually showed at 9.30am and continued to hunt for a couple of hours quartering the rough ground alongside the road.
It perched up several times but was always a little too distant to get a good shot.
Shortly after the Barn Owl showed I enjoyed the added bonus of a Short-eared Owl coming out to hunt and managed some shots of both species that I was quite pleased with.
I stayed for most of the day hoping that the birds would return later in the afternoon to hunt and really enjoyed the company of two fellow "toggers" from the Cotswolds and Stroud before calling it a day and leaving at about 4.00pm as the light started to fade.