At Kenfig Kingfisher pole not only for Kingfisher

still Blackcap and Chiffchaff singing. Redstart male Raven 8 Green Woodpecker 1 Butterflies: Meadow Brown 10 Ringlet 20 Gatekeeper 12 Comma 1 Large White 4 Dragonflies: Four-spot chaser 1 Emperor 2 Broad-bodied Chaser 2 Emerald Damselfly 10 Azure Blue 8 Pics immature male Broad-bodied Chaser.

I led a trip comprising 8 Glamorgan Bird Cub members at this location near Penderyn, WSW of Llwyn-on Reservoir. It’s NNR status is mainly for plants but it can be a good location for birds. By the road above we saw several Wheatear and Skylarks. At the initial meet point back towards Llwyn-on we had nice views of displaying male Siskins. On the reserve first up were a number of Mistle Thrushes, a family group we thought, and then one of the party found a Spotted Flycatcher. A number of Redstarts, both adult and juv were seen as we walked the trail, Blackcaps were singing as were Chiffchaffs. Willow Warblers weren’t vocal but were seen collecting food. At the top of the reserve we had a number of adult & juv Stonechats. A lone Sedge Warbler was a bit of a surprise, and on meeting Club member Martin Bell down at the small bridge, he got us on to a single Garden Warbler. Altogether 39 species were logged, plus a few interesting invertebrates. The full trip list can be seen here.

Hi users. John Wilson here – admin. Sorry for non-bird post but can I ask if anyone is having trouble posting? It seems unlikely from what I’ve seen, but I’ve been doing some work on a new page [not yet visible] and I now find that even tho’ I’m logged in, when I load the site I do not see the top bar which has the various logos including ‘My sites’ and ‘Reader’ on the left, and the ‘+Write’ button, my Gravatar logo and the bell icon on the right. It’s happened before but I can’t get it to display at the mo despite a lot of online searching. It may be a problem with the theme I used but I would expect that to affect everyone.

I think my best Kingfisher Picture yet

Pwll y Waun lake and its environs is proving a very popular feeding spot for both Swallow and Swift, several of each daily feed on the insects abounding here. Not sure where their nesting but there are plenty of stables and other outbuildings close by for the Swallows and plenty of older houses for Swifts (The new clinic would be ideal for Swift boxes). Disappointingly , no sign of either House Martin or Sand Martin in the area.

1 Greenfinch (h), 1 Chaffinch, a few Goldfinch, 2 pairs Bullfinch and one or two more heard, few Linnets (h), 1 Bluetit (h). 2 Goldcrest(h), a few Wrens,Robins,Dunnock seen and heard, 1 Carrion Crow, 1 Jay(h), 2 pairs Coots nesting, 2 Moorhen, 1 Heron,1 Kingfisher, 20 plus House Martins, a few Swallows, family group of at least 5 noisy Treecreeper practicing their creeping up and flying downs, a few Woodpigeons, 1 Stock Dove, a few Mallard, a few Blackcap (h)1 Chiffchaff (h) 3 Song Thrushes singing and two or three more seen, 2 Blackbirds, 1 Herring Gull. Great walk by the way.

2 Song Thrushes together on the road, each with a snail in it’s beak.

I was sit down minding my own Business

At View point – Ham wall

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It Felt Great

4 Greenfinches heard, 3 Chaffinches heard, a few Goldfinches and Linnets seen and heard, 1 female Bullfinch seen and heard and later a pair thereof, a few Whitethroats seen and heard, 3 Blackcaps heard and 1 Yellowhammer heard – also, and I have been hearing this one regularly this Summer, a Reed Bunting heard not far from the “new” B4265 roundabout.

I know this is a birdwatching site but any lepidopterists out there who could help me with this species. It was feeding on lavender in my garden in Newton, Porthcawl this afternoon. It’s either a high brown fritillary or a dark green fritillary ( not sure of sex). Unfortunately I didn’t get a pic of its underwing.

• 8 chough this morning at Dunraven. On coastal grassland close to car park. At least one juvenile bird, being fed by an adult, though all flying well. Many linnet (30+) in gorse near car park. Earlier in year (early May), a suspicious-looking warbler dived into some gorse near car park, with a ‘skirr’ sound. Possibly whitethroat, though I think more likely dartford.

A small flock of c.6 Linnet was on the W paddock hedge Cosmeston this morning, and a pr of Swallow have nested in a building in the Medieval Village. E.paddock had quite a few Small Skipper but none would settle, and neither did a couple of Ringlets. Spurred by a recent tweet, I counted around 400-500 Pyramidal Orchids in E paddock.

Three hour drive up and another three hour down on the longest hotest day of the summer, worth it to see male & female and three chicks, Monitors and Eyes scope allow to view the birds well and imprint on my mind but Canon 5 and my sigma len’s lens not quite good enough.

Little Owl flew off from a telegraph post as we drove past 2100 Tuesday.

Fairwater Grove, Cardiff, four Swifts this morning. First ones I’ve seen in west Cardiff this year!

Some garden delights today – Family of Long Tailed Tits passing by, Blue Tit parents (who successfully reared some young a while ago) ” checking out” their nest box again??, 2 Robins together – one adult and one fledgling and, the non-avian highlight, a Hummingbird Hawkmoth visiting our flowers 2130 Sunday.

Today i have witnessed something i have never seen before.

A Mute Swan attacking and killing a Mallard duckling.Death was probably by drowning as the swan kept it underwater.Has anybody else witnessed this behaviour?

13 members had a successful trip to the Somerset Levels on Saturday 11th. In total we logged 53 species, and with patient observation, had good views of the main ‘target’ species of Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and Hobby. Several Bitterns gave rather good fly-by views although grabbing a decent image wasn’t easy as most were siilhouetted against the sky. The first Hobbys were very distant, but later from the Meare Heath hide at Shapwick Heath we had a couple of excellent fly-bys. Picturee below – Bittern, Great Crested Grebe & ‘humbug’, Great White Egret, imm Grey Heron and a rather tatty Buzzard.