It's raining (well drizzling) Chiffchaffs

Blundered onto a mini fall of Chiffs at Uskmouth this morning; 50-100 were knocking around within 150m of scrub and reedbed. Visible migration during the morning included a good passage of Swallow and Mipits plus smaller numbers of Skylark, House Martin, Grey Wag, Siskin and Redpoll. On the deck 1 Snipe, 1 Stonechat, 2 Sedge Warbler, 6 Reed Warbler, 10 Blackcap, 4 Goldcrest and 1 Clouded Yellow provided the interest. It might not be gob-smackingly good, but it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

A day in the field!

Almost a whole day birding in Gwent! Whatever next? Not a whole lot to show for it though, migrants at Uskmouth included: 20+ Blackcaps, 20+ Reed Warblers, 5 Sedgies, 1 Whitethroat, 6+ Tree Pipits, 5 Grey Wags, 5 House Martins, 1 Siskin and a constant trickle of Swallows and Mipits. Also had my first Clouded Yellow in the county this year and only my second ever Water Shrew (unfortunately, as with most of my shrew sightings, it was as dead as a dodo riding a dormouse in the derby). In the afternoon St. Brides produced 4 Wheatears, 1 Sand Martin, 3 Snipe and one nice pint.

A flutterby

Painted Lady in the front garden for most of the afternoon, alternating between the verbena and the buddleia.

Escape to Tbilisi

Another trip to the Caucasus,... nothing outrageous on the birding front just the usual raptor migration plus a supporting cast ranging from brevirostris Twite, via Bee-eater, to Booted Eagle and many other species not beginning with the letter 'b'. More easily photographed subjects included: flowers and snakes,...



... a 6th/7th century church at which Short-toed Eagle showed well and a 6th/11th century cathedral where flying saucers showed well (dipped on both Jesus and God, but then mythical beings are notoriously skulky, I've missed both the tooth fairy and Santa Claus in the past too),...



... and bugs (possibly Hesperia comma, Pyrrhocoris apterus and Rivetina baetica, drop me a 'comment' if you know better).

Just out of county

A four day weekend, just over the border in Powys, produced Kingfisher, Tawny Owl and White-letter Hairstreak. Pretty poor really, did bag a few photos of the locals though,...

The Gentle Good was a little flighty and evaded the camera (though was heard to sing in Welsh, English and Spanish! And the Dawel Disgyn EP rocks,... well 'folks'); Indigo Moss and Tunng showed very well.



The school disco was very red, then blue, then green, then back to red, etc., etc. I particularly enjoyed the gaps between the records being played. Next day came the late (due to technical difficulties) great Emmy the Great.



What is a 'vetiver'? This is a Vetiver,... and a muddy tent.



Pete Molinari, one man, one guitar and six strings. Seasick Steve, one man, three guitars and between nine and fifteen strings,... It's all good.



Herman Dune minus Andre, but really really good nonetheless; and Stephen Malkmus mit The Jicks, Kasabian slayers one and all.

More phone pics

Hold on,.. that's not a bird,... and neither is that! Er,... giant (and piggin' expensive) puppy strikes a blow for the get freight off the road campaign.

Relocation, relocation, relocation?

Same bird as the invisible individual at Usk Reservoir? Who knows? Note to self: next time remember camera, phone-scoping is fun but ultimately rather disappointing, you can see what it is though!

Not on a Roll(er)

Shot up to Usk Reservoir this evening, saw a very small number of Rollers, exactly zero to be precise, that is none, nada, bugger all, zilch, naff all. The reservoir, and surrounding area, was in a pure state of Roller shunyata.

On the other hand we saw a large number of Jays (which were very nice big colourful birds that, normally, I might not drive to Powys to see).

A second for Gwent

Found a brood of Gadwall at the weekend (second confirmed breeding record for Gwent methinks) on the same pool were a couple of Tufty broods and a Cetti's was belting out its song nearby. Unfortunately, if the likes of Rhodri 'Fat Controller' Morgan and the rest get their way, this site will be under the nice new shiny second M4 before long,... oh good, more forward thinking from the Westminster rejects.

Blind faith and its ability to inspire stupidity

Following the appearance of a Yellow-nosed Albatross on the other side of the Bristol Channel, my blind faith in the almighty power of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and all things that smell slightly of brine resulted in the usual pilgrimage to Goldcliff Point, whereupon I was rewarded for my adherance to the word of the Holy Trinity (Svensson, Grant and Mullarney) by the appearance of a Stormie and two Fulmars. Seawatching in Gwent - it's as bonkers as a grown man in a dress and a silly tall hat believing in a 2000 year old fairy tale (as if such people existed in 21st century Britain).

The other find of the day was this,on MSN UK News:

"The floods that have devastated swathes of the country are God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society, according to senior Church of England bishops. The Sunday Telegraph reports that one diocesan bishop has even claimed that laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation, have provoked God to act by sending the storms that have left thousands of people homeless."

If you know anyone religious, please pop round to their house, pat them on the head and tell them that it's OK and that the adults will take it from here.