The last lap

Probably the sighting of the trip, two nights of 'moderate' (KP 3-4) aurora. This view was accompanied by intermittently calling Whooper Swans,... nice. [NB. This is a composite image, the aurora only needed half the shutter speed the island in Paatsjoki required.]

Probably bird of the trip,... what a little b-e-a-uty. [Apologies for the less than subliminal message.]

The road to Nellim. Driving on snow is sooooo fun, basically Super G in a VW Golf. Word to the wise though, don't be too polite and move over too far on meeting fast-moving, oncoming traffic in the dark; there is a steep drop at the edge of the road surface; the snow-filled ditches are surprisingly deep; the world looks funny at a 45° angle; and excavating your car from the snowdrift, trying to push it out, realising it's on the sump, awaiting a tow and paying the JCB tractor driver €50 to remedy the situation is probably only entertaining once per holiday,... but the driving is sooooo fun.

The slightly Willow Grouse heavy display at Ivalo airport, the birds I saw showed very well,... but not quite this well.

Whiter than white,... even whiter than Ptarmigan,... just.

Yellowthroat information for the weekend

Parking locations/arrangements for Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th Feb:

1 Rhiwderin Community Centre – along A468 past the Friendly Fox and take the 1st right immediately after the Rhiwderin Inn onto Pentre Tai Road. Go over the level crossing and the Community Centre is on the left. Please park carefully in the grounds. Entrance gates are a little narrow.

2 Bryn Hedydd – turn left off the A468 into Caerphilly Close (1st left after the Friendly Fox), then 1st right into Cwm Cwddy Drive and 1st left into Bryn Hedydd. This road leads to the local primary school, parking is available up to, but not within the school gates. Please park sensibly.

3 Caerphilly Close - continue as far down Caerphilly Close (left off the A468 as above) as possible. This is a dead end, parking at the far end is least likely to inconvenience the local residents. Please park sensibly and respect the local residents privacy.

NB. It’s been pointed out to the landowner that a number of (Lazy? Tight? Just plain dull?) birders have been using a gap in the hedge to access the site (near the bus stop along Cwm Cwddy Drive). This is not to be used under any circumstances. Treat yourselves,... use the stile.

See map below (click on it for the full size version).

Three toes better than four

Awoke to -20°C, Pine Grosbeaks and the air sparkling with ice crystals; ended the day with 90 minutes of constant Three-toed Woodpecker action, at times it hammered away down to three metres and at knee height. Probably the longest and best views of any individual woodpecker I've ever had. The birch bark was still flying at dusk,...

SB900 and the 'Better Beamer' to the rescue,... he didn't give a monkeys.

Northerly wintering Whoopers

Open water at -12.5°C = Whooper Swans wintering at 68°39′35″ N. Interesting huh.

PS. I should point out it dropped to -21°C a few hours after this photo was taken and two weeks ago it was -38°C (-44°C with wind chill) and the swans are still here. Double. Hard. B*stards.

Access and parking information for week ahead

Directions:
Leave the M4 at junction 28. Take the A4072 North (signposted Caerphilly/Risca). At the first roundabout take the 2nd exit (left/straight on) onto the A468 towards Caerphilly. After several hundred yards take the left at the mini-rounderbout. After approximately 1.5 km turn left onto Caerphilly Drive. Parking is described and shown in red on the map below. Please park sensibly with due deference to the local residents.

Note parking will NOT be available in the community centre during the week and do not park in either the 'Friendly Fox' or 'Rhiwderin Inn' pub car parks but feel free to stop in either for grub, etc.

If a volunteer is present on site please feel free to donate £1.00 to ensure continued access across all of the fields.

Whilst walking around the site, please respect locals privacy and be aware of horse-riders.

See map below (click on it for the full size version). Leave a comment or email gwentbirding(at)googlemail(dot)com if further info required.

Where to watch Yellowthroats in Rhiwderin

Not sure this is going to really be that helpful, but, for those twitching the bird this week when the number of birders on site might be rather low, the map below (click on it for the full-sized version) gives you a couple of pointers as to where to search. Personally, I'd start with the hashed central hedge and go from there. The bird can be very skulky, rarely gets more than a few feet off the deck and does move around a fair bit. On the plus side, at times, it will remain in an area for a while and calls a fair bit (a call that Mr. Dunne describes as 'tcheh', 'chhh' or 'tidge'). Good luck all.

"Kevin, where exactly did you leave the Yellowthroat?"

Done and done

Another, and last, shot from Thursday afternoon,...

Showed really well at times today. Still a little cracker.

PS. Dunno whether I misheard the original story but I am getting less confident about when this bird was first seen,... might have to start calling the finder 'Secret Squirrel' :))

Yellowthroat Sunday directions/parking/access arrangements

Directions:
Leave the M4 at junction 28. Take the A4072 North (signposted Caerphilly/Risca). At the first roundabout take the 2nd exit (left/straight on) onto the A468 towards Caerphilly. After several hundred yards take the left at the mini-rounderbout. After approximately 1.5 km bear either turn left onto Caerphilly Drive or continue for 250 m and turn right onto Pentre Tai Road. Parking areas for both options are described and shown in red on the map below. Please park sensibly with due deference to the local residents, parking in the community centre has been arranged from 07:00 (no charge). Do not park in either the 'Friendly Fox' or 'Rhiwderin Inn' pub car parks but feel free to stop in either for grub, etc.

There is a charge of £1.00 to ensure access across all of the fields in which the bird has been seen (there will be a bucket being rattled at the stile).

Follow on site directions for the bird. When walking around the site, please respect locals privacy and be aware there is a fair amount of horse-riding.

See map below (click on it for the full size version). Leave a comment or email gwentbirding(at)googlemail(dot)com if further info required.

YELLOWTHROAT GWENT!!!

Common Yellowthroat, Rhiwderin, Newport.

Directions:
Leave the M4 at junction 28. Take the A4072 North (signposted Caerphilly/Risca). At the first roundabout take the 2nd exit (left/straight on) onto the A468 towards Caerphilly. After several hundred yards take the left at the mini-rounderbout. After approximately 0.75 km bear left at the Ruperra Arms onto Pentre Porth Road then after circa 1.5 km turn right opposite the sign post for 'The Farmer's Daughter' restaurant.

Parking has been arranged from 07:00 (do not arrive before) in a field on the right at the top of the hill (approximately 0.5 km along the lane) immediately beyond the white bungalow and the derelict barn. Be aware that the approach to the parking field is a single track lane, drive carefully and considerately.

Please be careful driving into the field (some areas are muddy) and park sensibly/as advised. There is a charge of £3.00 for parking.

Follow on site directions for the bird. When walking around the site, please respect locals privacy and try not to piss anyone off, e.g. horse-riders, dog-walkers, etc. This is someone's local patch and they would like to be able to show their face on it in the future.

See map below (click on it for the full size version). Leave a comment or email gwentbirding(at)googlemail(dot)com if further info required.

Ooh, it's throat is quite yellow isn't it?

And a lovely black mask.

Same survey, different site

The final visit of the Great Gwentish Goosander Survey, or whatever it's called, took place this afternoon. A tactical substitution meant I side-stepped Ynys-y-Fro and headed to Llandegfedd. The change of venue instantly paid off in the form of a skittish Slavonian Grebe; found an hour or two earlier, it still appeared to be getting its bearings as it performed a large circuit of the reservoir before ending up back at the dam end. Whilst we clocked, what transpired to be, a disappointing number of Goosander the interest was maintained by other Llandegfedd megas including Iceland Gull (just one adult, although the gulls came in late so other birds may have been missed), Oystercatcher, Woodcock and a flyover Golden Plover.

You can see they are rare, I've taken awful photos of them,...

Mid reservoir Slav deciding on whether to roost with the larid.

One of three 'good' Llandegfedd waders noted this evening.

Penny Lane?

Today Pen-y-lan produced male Goshawk causing consternation amongst the corvids, a female Merlin doing the same to the smaller passerines, and an out of place Kingfisher. The latter briefly adorned roadside telegraph wires before skimming off due south, straight across the fields at the usual Alcedo altitude, all of four feet off the ground. As we were ringing we didn't cover much ground but still managed reasonable totals of the farmland species, minimum counts being: Stock Dove 30, Skylark 300, Chaffinch 150, Linnet 30, Yellowhammer 10, Reed Bunting 20.

Despite a huge input of time, effort and tears we only managed to catch a handful of Skylark,... emphasis on 'a' rather than 'handful',... i.e.,... one.

Too cold to rain,... almost

Have had a couple of days upstairs this week, not upstairs proper, but upstairs enough to be wandering around in a landscape of hoar frost, catty ice and all-round general frizzness. Very few birds of note: Woodcock, a couple of brave Stonechats and a handful of Snipe were about the sum of it.

It's not a tiny lorry, it's very far away

It was pretty quiet out there today, one or two Crossbills high overhead was about my lot.

If you click on the picture you will see a bridge,... and another bridge, and two pylons and a bit of land,... on both sides! And a teeny-tiny lorry.

Nippy out

A couple of chilly days out in the field. Nothing too exciting but still heaps of Yellowhammers in the South Gloucestershire hedgerows or, at least, heaps more than in the South Gwentshire hedgerows.

Don't see enough of these round here. Didn't see this one round here.