Walk and Tide Watch

 

Looking forward to taking part in two upcoming events at WWT Llanelli. 

The first is the next Walk with the Warden next Saturday, 16th September . This will be approximately from 11.30am to 1pm.

At the end of September is the annual evening high tide watch, a bookable event, so get in touch with the Centre soo to book your place.

WWT Kingfisher activity

 

Good to see plenty of Kingfisher activity at WWT Llanelli today. Both male and female juveniles (I think from the first brood) stayed around for some time, and have learnt to fish well.

These birds, along with the others in the broods, will disperse a bit further once autumn gets a grip, and we then head in to winter. Other birds on the WWT site, in the more saline areas, will be seen on and off.

A beautiful sunny day can be a nightmare for photographing Kingfishers, ensuring you don`t blow the whites (very common in photos). Harsh shadows when the bird is turning means even more for the delete bin, so what looks good to the eye can be more tricky to photograph properly. 

New cards in the making ......

 

Front side of the new card, currently awaiting delivery 😀

 

As the remnant`s of summer will soon begin to creep into autumn (where did the year go?) it`s time for me to make those plans that I probably won`t get around to again, but who knows. 

One project I haven`t done for ages is to visit `fall country` on the edge of the Brecon Beacons. A beautiful area, to be respected at all times due to it`s muddy and slippery environment, the falls at Pontneddfechan are just one of a series that can lead to the higher ground of the Beacons.

I think for the plan later this year it will be all tripods - both the carbon fibre Benro plus the small `bendy` Gorilla  - and possibly mic up with the Rode mic to work on some video too to edit into slow motion. 

This time around I think i`ll use my Gobe ND filters at different levels, which may or may not work, but should allow for greater slow shutter speed control.

Hmm, this has got me thinking into autumn mode now. Will add this to my never-ending to do list of projects.

Frasier

 

(picture in public domain)

Over the last week or so i`ve been trying to get some evening chill out time watching (for the zillionth time) one of my favourite programmes, Frasier. I have the full set on DVD, but came across the full series available from ALL4, so handy from the laptop.

Frasier is timeless, and one of those programmes that makes you feel better for having watched it. So where better to start again but from Series One. 😀    

Flashback to Forest Farm, 2019

 

Four years ago I was at Forest Farm. 

This is a lovely spot not too far from Cardiff, and benefits (when quiet) from a couple of good hides where there are good opportunities to see Kingfisher.

Like anywhere, Forest Farm can attract visitors that cause disturbance. I remember on this occasion I had to endure three loud birdwatcher/twitcher photographers who were so engrossed trying to out-do each other in conversations about their latest equipment that you couldn`t hear what was going on outside! In fact the noise probably helped keep the birds away at the time. 

The `performance` continued for about an hour, so I moved on to the second hide to see if it was quiet. Well it was a little quieter, not by much, as there were only two photographers in full conversation, giving me advice (!!!!) and in the process missing what was going on. 

(distant Kingfisher from the second hide)

When they finally realised there were two Kingfisher in the distance fishing together, they`d already missed a few minutes of action.  They then went on to miss more while they were showing each other their photos, with full running commentary. At this point two of the chaps from the first hide came in - everyone knew each other, etc etc, so it was time to move again.

I slipped back to the first hide which by this time was quiet, and fairly soon I was by myself. Within half an hour or so I had Kingfisher turn up, then joined a second, and they stayed around in front of me for best part of twenty minutes. 

So the afternoon ended well in the end, but it was just a shame that yet again there was so much unnecessary disturbance. 

Second Kingfisher brood

 

Good to have had a little time earlier in the week to be out and about (between the showers) and caught up with our 2nd brood of Kingfisher - three young males.

The Kingfishers fledged sometime between last Wednesday and Friday, and there`s always a chance that there might be another one, possibly a female) that hasn`t been seen yet. While I was there, a female bird from the 1st brood - that fledged on 20th May - put in a distant appearance, so currently there are a few birds around. They will soon be exploring new fishing areas, and by October would have dispersed onto a wider area of the reserve.

These two other young male birds spent time further up the channel partially hidden by the reeds, but should be much more active over the next couple of weeks.

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I hope to check out my more local Kingfisher family soon to see if they have been successful this year. On previous years, including last year, loose dogs have made both Kingfisher and Dipper adults abandon their nests during the breeding season, and the broods have failed. This happened to Dipper the previous year too.

The Trosserch  Woods / Allt side of the River Morlais has a number signs by the landowners asking for dogs to be kept on leads at all times, which only some comply with but most unfortunately don`t. I had to endure three loose dogs having a go at me last summer while all three `owners` didn`t care nor apologised. The village park, that allows dog owners to exercise their dogs, is only a few minutes away, so I do wonder why people choose to ignore

Back on the WWT Reserve the Kingfisher are safe from dogs, but unfortunately can get disturbed by people that go into restricted roped-off areas. This happened last weekend again when I was doing some monitoring, and , yes, it can and sometimes does affect whether birds will carrying on in their breeding territories.

Here`s hoping all of the five known new Kingfisher on the Reserve, plus those that have bred behind the main grounds, will do well and find areas of their own soon.  Good luck to them.