Well the weekend didn’t go entirely to plan with varied weather and the small matter of a rather important motor race and the return of Top Gear to our TV screens. As a result I didn’t get to visit the places that I had originally intended to. Instead I spent Saturday walking around the two Lliw reservoirs that are up in the hills just north of my house. The highlight of the trip has to be the two Red Kites that were seen soaring throughout the entire valley during the day. On several occasions one bird even spent several minutes hovering not far above my head against the blue sky giving excellent views of the birds colours. I tend to forget how big these birds actually are, but the arrival of a Buzzard on the scene really helped to show the size difference. The buzzard looked small!
Further up the valley a Merlin came past quartering the hillside completing the trio of raptors. Also in the valley on what seemed to be the only berry bearing tree in the valley, a flock or around twenty Redwings and Fieldfares were observed at some distance. This is my first sighting of these birds this year, and I believe my first ever sighting of a Fieldfare with its rather distinctive call. Unfortunately given the terrible lighting and strong winds I did not get very good view through the scope. There have been numerous sightings across the area though this week so hopefully it is only a matter of time before I get better views.
Elsewhere on the Burry Inlet this weekend, a Spoonbill has apparently made a welcome return, and the Brent Geese are still around in the area of Salthouse Point. If only the clocks hadn’t changed I might have been able to go and have a look after work. Oh well.
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