Lakeside

The imaginatively named newish development beside a lake in Brynmawr called 'Lakeside' was today's drop in venue. At this former Dunlop Semtex Pond were reasonably good numbers of common wildfowl such as coot, mallard, tufted duck and moorhen. A couple of wigeon and pochard were noteworthy along with a single chiffchaff.

At nearby Beaufort Ponds three little grebe and a mute swan were joined by a Police chopper.

You could hear a pin drop

With glossy ibis, bobolink and lapland bunting all within a chip and putt of Ryder Cupland the time felt right for an early visit to Llandegfedd Reservoir to pick up a nice passage rarity. Although the reservoir was pristine in the early morning sunlight with hardly a breeze to ripple the surface of the water there was equally hardly any bird activity apart from the usually culprits of cormorant and great crested grebe. Nevertheless there were early signs of wintering wildfowl with 9 wigeon and 11 teal. Other notables were a small group of about a dozen meadow pipit, a single lapwing, three mute swan and the arrival of c140 Canada goose from some point north at 10am.

A roadkill badger was a bloody grisly sight in the back lanes to the reservoir and marsh foxtail showed well towards the north end of Green Pool.

Back by popular demand, the mystery bird photo.

Nice to hear  there's a hunger for more mystery bird photos to help all you budding birders improve your ID skills. Much needed after the dabchick fiasco I'd say! The above thing, was on Cwmbran Boating Lake this May. Remember theres no prizes its just for fun.

Curly wurly

I've been seeing the caterpillar of the fox moth throughout most of this summer but was a bit surprised to find another two this afternoon at the Varteg. This one posed on a rather heavy lump of swirly ironstone. Birds, in particular meadow pipit were on the move, the odd skylark was still around and a flock of about 30 linnet was pleasing.

Diptera dinner

According to the book British Soliderflies (Stubbs &  Drake) theres still time to see the hornet robberfly in all its cowpat dwelling glory. So after a spot of morning bird ringing out of bounds at Llangorse Lake I called into one of this diptera's more recent hunting grounds at Castle Meadows, Abergavenny. Plenty of shoe hugging pats were on offer in varying stages of crustiness but no damn flies. Never mind did find some white spindles Clavaria fragilis as a consolation.

Conehead: Usually disparaging. An intellectual, especially one with little or no interest in mudane affairs.

This dictionary definition just about sums up my 13 year olds opinion of  naturalists. However to naturalists a conehead means either the short or long winged version, the latter of which has witnessed a remarkable expansion in distribution over recent years.

It was not too long ago that the first Welsh long winged conehead was discovered close to the Coryton roundabout near Cardiff since then its become the mainstay of rank grassland throughout south Wales. The individual above was photographed last weekend in Abergavenny near to a pond at the rear of the former Coopers Filters Works. Their power of dispersal were evident when confronted by one flying strongly at head height.

Magor mud and marsh

Early start to catch the rising tide at Magor Pill wasn't worth the effort - should have gone to Llangorse Lake for a spot of ringing instead! Of the birds that did grace the Opticron scope were around nine little Egret, fly past oystercatcher, turnstone, redshank and an assortment of ubiquitous gulls. The saltmarsh was far more interesting though with field grasshopper, short winged conehead and lesser marsh grasshopper. A herd of dumb, but half threatening cattle raced up to the field edge as I got back to the motor. Its thanks to a deep reen separating both interested parties that I wasn't trampled to death. I particularly noticed the one with the two black eyes, a legacy of a previous encounter no doubt. Oh I do over dramatise!

Onto GWTs nearby marshland hoping for something to counter the chilly wind and was instantly greeted by a Cettis Warbler. Elsewhere on the reserve were sedge warbler, several sub song chiffchaff, a couple of little grebe and a single little egret. A bird box containing dozens of common earwig filled another blank tetrad in my emerging orthoptera (and allied insect) altas for the vice county. But that was it, so home to cut the grass and visit the waste transfer station, such joy.

An all too brief visit.

Following an extended period in doors I managed to squeeze in a short visit to Ponthir Reservoir.

 I must say the grassy banks around reservoir are very nice, but it's a shame they're cut too regularly otherwise they would be even better with Welsh Water picking up some biodiversity brownie points. Nonetheless theres always plenty of inverts on offer including this speckled wood. On the water were 19 tufted duck, singles of little grebe, coot and kingfisher. On return to the car a redstart was a bonus find.

Close but no cigar. Mystery bird revealed.

Yes its a Little Grebe so no correct answers. Watch for more in this exciting series.

Mystery photo

Its just for fun but can anyone identify the bird in the picture? It was taken at Magor Marsh yesterday evening. Shouldn't be too difficult for seasoned birders.

Back in the swing of things.

Back to local patching after a couple weeks out of the country with a quick shower dodging visit to Llandegfedd Reservoir.

Now I was brought up on a diet of outdoor play, BBC cricket coverage and nest finding. The latter fashioned through pursuing the first blackbird or song thrush nest of the year in March or spending hours on the hillsides locating whinchats later in the Summer. These skills therefore stood me in good stead yesterday when to my surprise and after a good hour of watching from a distance I found my first clutch of Eurasian golfer (Ryder cupus celtic manori) eggs. Surprisingly, this late brood was fairly exposed on the margins of the reservoir and could easily have been predated by a badger, fox, lesser black backed gull or by an unscrupulous collector looking to profit from these unusually spherical and dimpled eggs. Realistically the finding of this clutch should not come as a surprise given the amount of suitable habitat that's been cropping up the length and breadth of Gwent over recent years. Any habitat with a combination of regularly mown grass, surrounded by some standing water and sandy hollows is capable of supporting the Eurasian golfer. Look out for the expected influx of this species and in particular the subspecies 'americana' in October.

Otherwise a party of five sanderling were pleasing along with an adult common tern and three goosander. Between the showers common blue and meadow brown butterflies were very active and the rice krispie liverwort Riccia cavernosa continues to show well.

Best holiday read ever - with improvised locational bookmark.

'To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall'.

Thomas Huxley.

Between having sand kicked in my face by burly continental naturists - as opposed to naturalists, some people get the two confused - I did manage to get in some relaxing holiday reading. And what a fab book it was. Last Child in the the Woods blows the penny whistle on the de-naturing of today's children and youth. Gone are the days when little nippers made their own unrestricted creative play in the nature environment and in are computers, electronic games, stranger danger, risk aversion and the criminalisation of play. As a result Richard Louv contests that modern society is conspiring to close off children from the outside world with all its health and spiritual benefits and is thereby promoting a Nature-deficit disorder within the young.

On reading this excellent book I had several eureka moments none more so than the chillingly honest section entitled ' The death of natural history'. Louv talks about the existing crisis in the study of natural history whereby the age profile of the membership of natural history societies is commonly in the Saga holiday bracket and for this he points the Pooh stick at the educational system that has ditched the study of this most  worthwhile of subjects. He goes on to point out that children do receive some environmental education often around subjects such as rain forests etc. but that this only fosters a misunderstanding that Nature is only found overseas and in special places rather than on peoples doorsteps. However, the loudest personal 'hear, hear' was reserved for the university system that is producing environmental graduates who have no taxonomic skills whatsoever.

I could go on singing the praises of this book but writing this is keeping me from getting outdoors to sample the splender of the natural world and from my daily roly poly session - its whats keeps me balanced. Suffice to say I wholeheartedly recommend this book and would encourage the raising of Nature - deficit disorder as an issue that needs addressing urgently and by all. Check out http://www.childrenandnature.org/.

Sun, sea and sanderlings

 

Normal service resumed soon!

Not all moths fly at night

Pyrausta purpuralis is an attractive and reasonably common grassland micro moth. Commonly encountered in species rich grassland during day light but also attracted to light this moth was noted from a south facing grassland slope at Ponthir Reservoir today. On the water was a female teal, four coot, 26 tufted duck, and two great crested grebe. 

When I grow up I want to provide cover for birders on a wind swept winters day.

This was the message shouted at me from margins of Garnlydan Reservoir this morning. This apparent disused structure lends itself well to a hide to help those birders who put in the effort making the long trek across the hillside to count winter gulls. All it needs is a bit of vision, committment and a small amount of funding - any takers?

The most interesting feature of reservoir however is the exposed tree stumps on the northern shoreline. Only visible during low water these stumps sit in peat at the waters edge hinting at their longevity. 

More from the untamed wilderness

A camera to laptop malfunction has caused much 'pulling of the forelock' in downtown valley bottom. But thanks to a suitable download from the Canon website normal service is resumed.

Blaenavon was once again yesterday evenings venue. Small parties of linnet were prominent and the pair of mallard on Coity Pond are on at least brood number two with ducklings scattering to the four winds when spooked by a middle aged man with a butterfly net - yes me! Carline thistle is now showing well on spoil that is less acidic but the number of moonwort is probably the best I've every known it, with a group of 30 plants behind Coity Tip and another three very large individuals near Big Pit car park.

Adder nice evening

Had a nice relaxing hour around the rugged landscape of Blaen Pig over looking Pwll du yesterday. Not too much to report other an a couple of adders tongue fern at the base of a re-vegetating coal tip. A good find given the recent Flora of Monmouthshire regards this fern as a lowland species.

The conker tree moth

Driving past a large mature blotchy looking conker tree this weekend in Cwmbran reminded me of a national survey for the non native horse chestnut moth (Cameraria ohridella). It seems these trees are under attack from a micro moth, first recorded in the UK in 2002, where its mines sometimes causes extensive discolouring of the leaf and early defoliation. This got me thinking of all the conker trees I knew as a kid, and as a grown up kid, so give Abersychan Park a quick visit just to check if the tree that produced the mega 'hundred and oner' in 1971 was, a) still there, and b) was it supporting the dreaded moth.

Sure enough I was able to confirm both positively. However it appears the moth has only recently found this tree as mines were infrequent and present in low numbers. If you know of any horse chestnuts where you live why check them out for the very distinctive leaf mines. For some excellent photos see the British Leaf Miners website.

Snap, crackle and pop

I love a summer drought, warm sunny days, a hose pipe ban to irritate those boring get a life middle aged men who spend Sunday mornings lovingly stroking and washing their cars but above all the big draw down zone at Llandegfedd Reservoir (LR). At this time of year that extensive muddy margin is ideal for passage waders, stone tuning and the occurrence of rice krispies. Yes, the liverwort and rice krispie lookalike Riccia cavernosa is now starting to show well on bare mud at LR. When mature this species forms an attractive rosette up to 3 cm in diameter. For more information on this and other mosses and liverworts  I recommend getting your hands on the recently published Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland a Field Guide co-edited by local lad Sam Bosanquet. The guide gets a five star rating from me!

Tufties at last

I've been watching and counting wildfowl at Dunlop Semtex Pond - these days known as Lakeside - for about 20 years and given the steady increase in summering tufted duck it was only a matter of time before a pair would settle to raise a family. This evenings visit confirmed that at long last they have bred successfully. At this point I feel I need to eat humble pie as when the regeneration of land adjacent to the pond got the go ahead a few years back I felt increased levels of disturbance from housing, a supermarket and car parking would affect numbers of birds using the site. In fact the pond has ever looked better, with increased marginal vegetation and the addition of a floating island waterbirds (and gulls) are doing well thank you. Today along with 25 tutfed duck there were two nesting great crested grebe and dozens of mallard and coot.

The nearby Beaufort Pond also supported a similar assemblage of birds but with the addition of a single little grebe.

A:D the gull

Further to my recent blog entry about A:D the colour ringed lesser black backed gull, I now know the origin of the bird. Peter Rock, who has been studying breeding gulls on Bristol rooftops for many years has been in contact with deatils. The bird was ringed by him as a young bird in Bristol on 20th June 2003. With both lesser black backed and herring gulls increasing as breeding birds in Gwent its worth keeping a an eye out for more colour ringed birds.

A gentlemans guide to attracting birds: 1. Pishing

Field craft is very important, and one of the handy tools in the kit bag of every experienced birder is 'pishing'. Pishing is the art of making silly mimicking bird like noises to encourage little brown jobs to reveal themselves on the edge of thickets etc. I was first introduced to this technique when mist netting with the late Percy Playford at Llandegfedd Reservoir ages ago. At about the same time I remember an influential article on the very same subject by J.T.R Sharrock of British Birds fame. More recently a book entitled 'The Art of Pishing' has been published (see Amazon) by an American pisher with an accompanying audio CD - such a body of academic work, I'm on cloud nine! So today, and first checking I was out of ear shot of the massed ranks of fishermen, I had another crack at this most genteel of country pastimes and guess what it worked. The photograph below was taken after encouraging a female reed bunting out into the open, but note quizzical look of said bird. However, in the wake of a resurgence in this absorbing hobby, killjoys are driving it underground. 'No Pishing' signage is now widespread, strickly regulated by permit only from the ruling authority. Pishers everywhere organise and fight this injustice!

All joking aside it was nice to see a couple more birders at Llandegfedd Reservoir this morning. The recent dry spell has provided just the right amount of margin for passage waders with birds now starting to move through. Today, redshank, little ringed plover and common sandpiper provided the long legged entertainment, along with 120 Canada goose and upwards of 80 great crested grebe. On the butterfly front were, small tortoiseshell, peacock, large white, marbled white, small copper, small skipper, meadow brown, common blue and a second generation comma.

Burnet bounty

Thousands of six-spot burnet were emerging from the grassland around Coity Tip this afternoon. Thistle heads were frequently home for a dozen or more moths. Coity Pond was quiet but for a distant reed bunting, grey heron and a single cormorant. Don't forget to look out for the related forester moth. My last personal record was from Blaenserchan about 10 years ago - they must still be around!

Source of the Afon Lwyd

Where Blaenau Gwent bleeds into Torfaen is the source of the Afon Lwyd. Amongst concrete, spoil, twisted metal and rich wildlife habitat is the trickle that runs southward to touch base with the River Usk. Today's early morning foray was more botanical than birding. Blue fleabane, several moonwort, and the usual plethora of orchids were notable, but the creeping willow (Salix repens) from railway clinker was the star attraction.

There were some butterflies as well, how about a dark green fritillary for starters? Then the first grayling of the summer struggling with the variable cloud cover. Also small skipper and small heath.

For sale, birthplace of one of the worlds most celebrated naturalists - but does anyone care?

Kensington House near Llanbadoc Church, Usk the birthplace of Alfred Russel Wallace a world renowned Victorian naturalist accredited with independently developing the theory of natural selection at the same time as Charles Darwin, is on the market and crying out to be snapped up for the nation. Given the global significance of Welshman Wallace and his extensive body of work from travels around the world you would expect those entrusted with the conservation of our built heritage to be fighting to save it for future generations, but not a bit of it! CADW has refused to list the building citing modifications as a reason for sitting on its hands- although there are examples of other modified buildings listed by the same body. So what about the National Trust? Well no luck here either as apparently it doesn't meet its acquisition policy. Seems to me that if Kensington House were a castle, a building with links to royalty or a relic from the industrial revolution then you're quids in but the birthplace of a man motivated by the study of the natural world then there's no chance. For more see http://www.wallacefund.info/

Finally an apt quote from Wallace:

'If this is not done, future ages will certainly look back upon us as a people so immersed in the pursuit of wealth as to be blind to higher considerations'.

Ring a ding ding

Picked up on this lesser black backed gull in midweek feeding on burger scraps in the car park of TK Maxx in Newport. At the time it wasn't close enough to make out the colour ring so made a return visit this evening armed with some stale Braces. It didn't disappoint and was soon bated within camera range, although I got some odd looks from Halfords staff on a fag break! Colour ring clearly depicting A:D so will endeavour to determine origin and report back in due course.

Sounds like two pebbles being knocked together

Stonechat, so cute, photogenic and an iconic species of upland heath I just couldn't resist uploading another image, this time of a female - look elsewhere on this blog for the male and an immature bird. Mynydd y garn fawr with its drained reservoir supporting cotton grass and spoil tips in the background illustrates the stonechats typical habitat. Note not a dirt bike in sight!

Room without a view

Just as well birds were scarce at Llandegfedd Reservoir yesterday as this was the view from Green Pool hide - a curtain of phragmites. Now before I open up old wounds with birders complaining about lack of facility management etc.I don't have a problem with this. Lets be honest how many birders actually regularly visit the reservoir these days anyway? Two, three, four, five? Why should reservoir staff invest time into maintenance when so few birders bother to visit. Its the Newport Wetlands effect again folks!

With that off my chest the weather was glorious yesterday evening,  a substantial draw down zone was perfect for ground beetle hunting, but watch those Canada goose droppings! The meadows around the Island were at their summery best with thousands of common spotted and southern marsh orchids, also large skipper, common blue and meadow brown butterflies showing well. Best of all the butterflies on offer was the first marbled white of the year.

Other flying things included black tailed skimmer, emperor and broad bodied chaser dragonflies with common blue, azure and blue tailed damselflies. Oh! nearly forgot the only birds of note were two singing sedge warbler.

Summer solstice singing skylark

Theres a place on the hillside overlooking Llanhelleth called Gwastad. A nearby fire damaged woodland was ideal for a spot of nightjar 'checking out'. Didn't manage any nightjar, but two cuckoo were nice, a flyover bat and as it was the longest day singing skylark could still be detected at 22.20.

Every little helps

This resourceful coot at Bryn Bach Park yesterday wasn't about to waste a carrier bag as next year with a 7p tax around the corner there may not be too many around. However, I'm absolutely sure all the revenue raised by the Welsh Assembly Government will be ploughed into nature conservation making sure this coot won't need to depend on pond detritus as nest material and we'll hit our next biodiversity target as well. I'm an old romantic aren't I?

Father's Day excursion

Visited Penhow Quarry late last year and promised myself another trip as soon as possible. Todays excursion was therefore long overdue. Although a fly over peregrine was the only noteworthy bird, dragonflies were the order of the day. Emperor, broad bodied chaser and black tailed skimmers were all well represented.

Didn't expect too much from Ponthir Reservoir, but a couple of mute swan were a new species to the water for me. Otherwise two pair of coot, a pair of great crested grebe with a rather swamped and waterlogged two egg nest, and what appears to be the start of a post breeding tufted duck gathering with seven birds present. Also black tailed skimmer.