Elan Valley

Andy C and I decided to take a trip up the Elan Valley this week. The weather didn't look too bad and apart from a shower of approximately 30 mins it wasn't.

Surprisingly there weren't too many birds about (by Elan standards), but of those that were I managed to get a few shots.

This male Reed bunting was one of a few flitting around near the top of one of the dams. Not where you'd expect to find them normally.


There were a few sightings of Wheatear, but this was the only shot i got and its a record shot really as it was quite a distance away.


Of course, one of the star attractions to the Elan Valley are the Red Kite. This was sitting on a plucking spot. You can see the feathers or fluff of some of its prey around it's feet.


again the shot was taken from some distance.

There were other birds sighted but not photographed including, Swallow (my first of the year), Peregrine, Meadow Pipit, and Raven. Although the photo opportunities weren't as great as hoped the Elan valley never fails to inspire. It is a beautiful place.

Back nearer to home a trip around the lanes of south Herefordshire was undertaken. It never fails to amaze me what can be seen from the road side.
This long tailed tit was seen at Backney bridge.

It is a beautiful little bird. As is normal at this time of year this one was flitting around on it's own, obviously looking for a mate or a nesting site.

I also took a trip up to Anglesey in North Wales, I went fishing with my brother Alan. I didn't get the camera out as the fishing was surprisingly hectic, not something you can normally say for Llyn Alaw. I did however see my first Sand Martins of the year. A local chap told me they breed and nest nearby.

So, quite a busy spell since my last post. I hope the weather improves as it's not forecast to be too good for the next few days.

Nothing new

I haven't got anything to post at this time, I went to slimbridge to try and get the egret that had been seen, no joy. I took 200 plus shots whilst I was there, mainly of Rook and Jackdaw. I deleted all of them on my return home. Didn't like a one of them.

The forest is coming alive, there is green sprouting everywhere and it's looking lovely. I have heard Chiffchaff singing which I always like.

My mood has been up and down, I have been lifted by an offer on my house so my dream of buying a motor home and travelling the length and breadth of Britain is possibly a step nearer. However the fact that it will be a closure of probably the saddest period of my life has not past by without a few tears being shed. In the time that I have lived in the forest I have married and divorced a beautiful lady who thankfully is still a close friend. The marriage breakdown was my fault. I often hear people say "if I could put back time" well believe me if that was possible I'd be the first in the queue, whatever the cost.
I have lost my dad to Cancer, god rest his soul. It was my dad who instilled in me a love of Nature, Dad was a keen fisherman and was always trying to impress on us the need to look after what we saw, he disliked the fact that I collected birds eggs.
I have also seen a deterioration in my health which led to my leaving the Police after 18 plus yrs.

On the plus side, I have seen Boar for the first time in my life, many species of birds including Redstart, Brambling, Hawfinch, Pied and Spotted flycatcher. Adders in numbers I'd not seen. Deer in numbers I'd not seen. and I have met a few lovely people along the way.

I hope that before I do up and leave the remainder of my time here is filled with perfect pics of all of the above and anything else the forest can throw at me.

Hopefully more to post next time, thanks for bearing with me.

Sunshine Bright.

Hasn't it been a fabulous few days? We have had some cracking sunshine, which has helped to improve my mood. I went off to the Oxford/Berkshire border in search of Hare and Red Kite. I saw both but unfortunately not close enough to photograph. It allowed me to leave some of my problems behind so from that perspective I enjoyed it.

Back closer to home I have had some more of the same as my recent post.

Started with more Adder, if you sit still and watch these critters they are actually quite amazing. They really do find the Hotspots in which to lie in the morning and as the sun moves around they shift position to suit.

The feeders, at New fancy produced the usual Tits and Bramblings.

The Bramblings are reducing in numbers now that the temperature is increasing.

The Chaffinch and Goldfinch were also there.

As were the Siskin.

In another part of the forest were these Goosander, The top one is the female.

There were also a number of Mandarin Duck, this female was having a bit of a flap.

Whereas the male was just looking stunning.

Another trip to New fancy allowed me more views of this little lizzard, It's a common lizzard.


The weather is going to be more unpredictable this week so opportunities may be fewer.

Around and About

I haven't been in the best frame of mind lately, I worry that my constant pain is causing my depression to worsen. I don't want sympathy, I am merely trying to maintain the flow of the blog, I've mentioned it before, it affects how I view things and how enthusiastic I am about my photography.

I have been mooching about mostly on my own, I was keen to try and show a few new things this time. So with that in mind I set out to get some species that I haven't shown for a while, but that weren't too challenging.

The Great Grey Shrike has been reported at Boys Grave for many weeks, I had been meaning to go and last weekend I bit the bullet. It was a glorious morning so I forced myself up early and off I went. I had lots of views of it swooping into the undergrowth presumeably in search of prey, but it wasn't going to come too close. This is a record shot really.

Another annual target is the Hawfinch. I sat cramped in my hide for two hours and saw only four. Here is the male and a female.

The male is the second of the two.

A trip to New Fancy gave me the opportunity for Siskin and Goldfinch.

I bumped into Glenn Bailes at New Fancy, I first met Glenn at Slimbridge, but have bumped into him on a number of occasions since. He has a very good website you might want to check out, you will find it in the links page on my new website, which in turn can be found on the links here. I enjoyed spending time with him.

New Fancy also gave me a chance to see the adder, another annual target.

Closer to home I found this Mistle Thrush, it was helping itself to worms. I was amazed at it's strength and determination.

Finally I went to catch up with an old friend in the Wye valley. I've been watching a family of Little Owls, I say family, I have only seen the one this year but I know that last year there was at least one chick fledged. I hope that they are successful in breeding this year.

I get a great kick out of the many species in and around the Forest, There is always something to see.

Getting it right.

Or not as is often the case. Unlike my last post where I said that sometimes I don't like to go too far for my pics on this occasion I went miles.

Two targets were in mind. 1. Munt jac deer, and 2. Brown Hare.

Where? Glos/Oxford border and further into Oxford.

I saw dawn come over the hill, not very often that I'm up early enough to say that. I drove to the Glos border to find Hare that I know are there. I drove up and down a stretch of countryside that in the past has been very productive. I saw only one hare, and couldn't photo it because it was on alongside a dangerous stretch of the road. I drove further into Oxford to another productive spot for Muntjac. I saw three, this was the best photo I could get.

Not what you'd call a "money shot" I gave up after a short while and drove back nearer to Glos.

I was driving around lanes near Burford and saw a small herd of Fallow deer. It looked to be a lone buck and about 10 hinds.

Too far away. This is quite a heavy crop, what you can see though is that there appears to be only one hind with what you might call normal colouring the rest are dark in colour, I think these must be escapee's from a deer farm only a matter of a mile or so away. But they were certainly not fenced in here and were ready to run off if I got too close.


So back even further into Gloucestershire and again I was hoping for something out of the ordinary, Barn Owl. Unfortunately the one spot I know of produced nothing. I widened my search circle and found a Red legged Partridge in the gateway to a field. It didn't run off when I stopped my car quite close to it but unfortunately for me the only views I had of it were through the metal bars of the field gate.

Again, not the "money shot" I was after, I was distraught and truly believed that my day could get no worse.




A little patience though and my luck changed. The little fella moved away from the gate sufficiently enough for me to get a clear shot of it between the bars.

For better examples check my Web site from my links on this site.

Now, the highlight of the day for me was spotting a Bittern. Not a bird one see's every day. I won't tell you where I was but suffice to say that during the day I was driving around and I saw a Kestrel sitting in a bush on the edge of a lake. I stopped to view it and a movement to the left caught my eye. I could not believe what I saw, there in clear daylight was a Bittern. I went back to my car to set up the camera kit but by the time I got back to where I'd been all I could see was the Bittern settling into a small clump of grass and reed. I only managed this shot.

I know what you're thinking, no Bittern there Brian. There is, I've enlarged the middle bit of the image and hopefully you will be able to see the Beak and a small bit of the head sticking out at an angle from right to left in the middle of the pic. Again, no money shot but I was amazed to see it and I have secured permission from the land owner to visit again with my hide to sit and hopefully see it again.


So for all the failings of the day, it was still special and yet again made me glad to be alive. Isn't nature brilliant?