A visit to the Dyfi Osprey Project.........

On the morning of Sat 14th May I attended a family funeral in Aberystwyth and so afterwards took the opportunity of making a mid-afternoon visit to see the Ospreys at their nest site in Machynlleth which was only a 25 minute drive north of Aberystwyth.
Leaving Teresa having forty winks in the car I made my way along the boardwalk to the hugely impressive observation tower.
This was my first visit having promised myself to do it for the last few years, the weather was warm and sunny if a little too sunny for photography with heat haze and the westerly aspect of the nest from the tower.
It is also too far away for meaningful photography and although I hoped that one of the birds would pass close by having caught a fish I had no such luck.
All images are therefore "record" shots of the three birds present, the breeding pair and another female........

The last photo shows the male bird bringing in a piece of tree branch to continue the process of nest maintenance.
It's a long drive on not the best of roads to get to the project site from home and given the "hit and miss" chance of getting good photos it's something I would have to seriously think about.
From a photography point of view one of the fish farms near Rutland Water is probably a better option although obviously much more costly.
Having said that the set up there is superb and the volunteer staff are so friendly and informative, it is a credit to the Montgomery Wildlife Trust.

Nightjar Visit : Llynfi Valley

On the evening of 12th May I made a visit to Cwm Kenfig above Llangynwyd in the hope of connecting with a Nightjar, I arrived just before dusk but there was no activity other than a Grasshopper Warbler "reeling" just off the track.
I had taken the camera and my smaller 70-200mm f2.8 lens and had packed away my gear and started to walk back along the track to the Jeep in near darkness when two male birds put in an appearance.
I quickly grabbed my camera from my backpack and rattled off several shots at an extremely high ISO and was amazed that the camera could even autofocus in such poor light.
The photos are merely "record" shots but you can just make out the white "mirrors" on the wing  tips........

American Golden Plover - not !!!

On 5th May news got out of an American Golden Plover found in the morning at Sker Point, Porthcawl which promptly decided to disappear for the rest of the day.
It did however re-appear the following morning and being a "lifer" for both of us I arranged to meet up after work with fellow "togger" Peter Morgan at KNNR car park and we briskly walked down through the adjacent golf course quickly finding the spot where the bird had been reappeared.
There were several birders present including Steve Hinton, Alun Hughes, Simon Murray, Darren Coombs and a couple that I didn't know, Adrian Meredith and Paul Marshman turned up a little later.
We settled in with Steve on the water's edge and both managed some photos that we were pleased with.......

Questions were being asked about the validity of the bird's ID and whilst some characteristics looked good the main one of dark or grey auxiliaries (armpit) didn't as they were pure white which can be seen in the second photo.
Whilst we were watching the bird news came through via Birdguides that the bird had been re-identified as a (European) Golden Plover, bugger !!, there goes another "lifer".
There were good numbers of waders along the shoreline including about 20 Whimbrel and on the way back we stopped at Sker House where one of the resident Little Owls showed distantly on the roof of one of the old outbuildings.

If the plover had been the genuine article I would have been really pleased with my photos but as it turned out they are not even the best images that I've taken of Golden Plover, oh well, such is life.

Grasshopper Warbler : Maesteg "Return Visit"

After an enjoyable hour out locally last Wednesday evening after work finding three 'Gropper' territories I decided to make a return visit yesterday morning in nice if a little breezy weather in an attempt to get some better images.
After three and a half hours sat on my little fishing stool in the long grass adjacent the territorial bramble patch of one bird I came away with some photos that I was quite pleased with...........

And a nice bright male Stonechat and a Dunnock that gatecrashed the party.......

Grasshopper Warbler : Maesteg

Had a couple of hours out this evening after work so went in search of a local "Gropper" and managed to find three different birds occupying territories, unfortunately for me one decided to finally show just after the sun had gone down and the light was starting to fade.
After spending the last few weeks in the garden catching up on stuff I'm hoping to get some better pics this coming Bank Holiday weekend, weather permitting of course.....