Mynydd y garn fawr - BBS square

This mornings visit to my Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) square on Mynydd y garn fawr which forms part of the Blorenge SSSI, produced nothing but skylark and meadow pipit. So like all good naturalists my attention drifted onto other items of interest. This oak eggar capterpillar was covered head to toe in water droplets. A severed skylark leg suggested the precence of an avian predator and an owl pellet, probably short eared owl, was teased apart to reveal the expected collection of bone fragments including a common shrew skull. Red grouse weren't recorded during the visit but a number of clusters of pellets were noted.

After completing my square I dropped down to the scene of the Mamora's warbler twitch, bird life here was a little more rewarding. Whinchat were in song and a male stonechat put in a brief appearance; a lesser whitethroat was located close to the road and a male merlin paused before continuing to harass meadow pipit.