09/06/2019 Pensychnant Conservation Centre, Conwy

Redstart: I recently received a lovely email from reader of my Blog, saying that one of my reports from Pensychnant inspired him to visit the place and he loved it. 

Well,  his email inspired me to visit the place again. Pensychnant is great, for a small donation you get to see pied flys, cuckoo and redstarts.

Having journeyed from Africa and Arabia to Wales each spring, redstarts seek out holes in broadleaved trees for nesting.

The pied flys were nesting in some boxes but were too busy foraging high up in the trees and often out of range for my lens.

However there were a pair of redstarts that were much more obliging.

This pair were actively attending a nest site and were busy bringing in food for their young.

 Barn Swallow: Another migrant from Africa, I got close to a couple of swallow who werenesting in the nearby out building.

So often overlooked, these marvellous birds are stunning, full of character and another amazing migrant.

30/05/2015 The New Forrest National Park, Dorset

Cuckoo: Once we had our fill of Pagham Harbour, after enjoying the Little and Sandwich Terns and getting some great views of Spot Fly in Norton Church yard Gary and I decided to go back over to Bournemouth where we were staying the night.



Back at the hotel and after a 'shockingly' bad cup of tea made by Gary - don't give up your day job mate! We thought we would make the most of the sunshine and long days and go explore The New Forrest.





Almost as soon as we arrived and after literally dodging the local ponies I caught sight of Dartford's and plenty of Skylark and Mipits. I thought this place was awesome, we managed to see two pairs of Redstart and heard at least four Cuckoo.


Most of the calling Cuckoo sounded very deep in the valley and I didn't think we would get lucky enough to actually see one.

How wrong was I?!

Redstart: As we headed back to the car Gary noticed a cuckoo right by us in a nearby tree. This bird was fascinating as it periodically dropped from it's perch and landed on the ground.

While on the ground it was foraging for worms and other inverts, a behaviour I have never seen before.

06/06/2013 Llyn Brenig

Redstart: (female) After reading Bucko's Birding Blog, which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good birding blog and wildlife pics, I decided to try my luck at the stunning  Llyn Brenig. 

The reservoir and visitor centre is set in 920 acres of stunning moorland and huge coniferous forest but I spent most of my time in the car park!

This was because there were a pair of Redstart nesting here and as soon as I left my car I spotted the breathtaking male, but only briefly before he flew off and I didn't see him again.

The female on the other hand was showing incredibly well not just for me, as I was snapping away with my camera, but for a lucky few sitting in their car eating ice creams as she flew among the trees right in front of the cars.....now that's my kind birding!

I also spotted a handful of Siskin and Redpoll fluttering around the treetops all from the car park.

Its a great place and with such stunning weather I had a great day, check out Michael Buckley 'Buckos' blog;

http://birdmanofelporto.blogspot.co.uk/

17/05/2013 Lake Vyrnwy RSPB

Siskin: Dawn treated me to a fantastic birthday trip to Carno where we stopped over in a tipi.

We stayed at Cledan Valley Tipis and it was brilliant the tipis are rustic and fun, I would recommend it to anyone who might be thinking of taking a trip to mid Wales as an alternative to a hotel.

Pied Flycatcher: We spent our last day at Lake Vyrnwy were we watched a huge flock of Siskin and a handful of Redpoll feeding on the feeders near the visitor centre.

We then took a walk along the yellow trail and spotted both female and male Pied Fly. I spotted a Dipper down the waterfall dam. And we could hear Wood Warbler singing but never saw one!

Redstart: Just as we were about to leave I spotted this stunning male Redstart in a private field next to the craft centre.

We also had a really nice lunch at the Lake View Tea Room and met some really nice folks from Warrington and Wigan, you can't go too far without bumping in to a nice northerner.

 Cledan Valley Tipis www.cledanvalleytipi.co.uk/

01/05/2013 Pensychnant Nature Reserve

Pied Flycatcher: Let me first apologise, I spoke to a local birder from Pensychnant Nature Conservation Centre who asked me not to tell anyone about this place!

I simply can not do that, this place is AWESOME and it would be a crime not to tell anyone about it.

 Besides this, by raising the profile of the place more money can be raised for the the nature conservation centre, and that's got to be a good thing!

As soon as I stepped out of the car the call of the Cuckoo was all around, the sun was beaming down, the skies were blue and the woods and the house looked stunning.

Just a few yards from the house a pair of Pied Flycatchers were happily living up to their namesake. I continued to come across Pied Fly throughout the woods (Home Wood) and around the car park while Buzzards were soaring overhead and Ravens were crowing from the tops of the tallest trees.

Redstart: This stonking male Redstart was among the gorse bushes at the far north of the reserve, there were at least two male and one female but there was possibly more.








I was really looking forward to catching sight of this stunning bird but after around an hour of trying to get a decent pic I now hate it, the bird doesn't like getting its picture taken and was one step ahead of me.


Cuckoo: In the same area this Cuckoo was calling and then flew off while getting mobbed by a gang of mipits.

I will be back and I will tell people to go and enjoy this little gem of a place and I would hope they would have as a good of a time as I did.






Oh and I still love Redstart how can I not, just look at them. Cheers to Paul Brewster for the heads up on this place.

http://www.pensychnant.co.uk/