Feeder Frenzy

After the wind of Saturday it was nice to be in the slightly more sheltered location of Llanelli’s WWT reserve on Sunday. As I pulled into the car park I noticed that the feeders featured in one of my posts a couple of weeks ago had been restocked and added to. It was clear that the drop in temperature was starting to bring in a greater variety of birds so I pulled the car into position and got the camera ready. Almost immediately a small group of Long Tailed Tits appeared on the scene and I grabbed what photos I could in the twenty seconds or so before they moved onto their next feeding location. In my experience they are the birds least likely to stay in one place for any amount of time so I am very happy with the results below.

The Blue Tits were again out in force and seemed particularly fond of a wicker bell shaped feeder that was stuffed with fat and seeds. Trying to capture one of the birds with its head out of the shadow cast by the feeder was a bit of a challenge but I managed it in the end.

Other visitors included Dunnock, Robin, Wren, Bullfinch, Jay, Great Tit, Coal Tit and of course Chaffinches, although Greenfinches were notable by their absence. I hope that the local population hasn’t been hit by trichomonosis again. This male Chaffinch was one of the few that posed out in the sun for me, the rest choosing to feed on the grass which I really don’t like photographing against.

The most surprising arrival was a pair of Pied Wagtails which although not in the least bit rare are a species that I don’t see very often at the reserve.

Away from the feeders the colder temperatures and the onset of winter are starting to have an effect judging by the large increase in waterfowl since my last count. Wigeon numbers still seem a bit low at around 140 but Lapwings are now well over 200 with Shellducks at around 65. The large flock of Pintails that had been visible from the Heron Wing Hide seem to have departed but Tufted Duck, Pochard and Gadwall numbers have increased to take their place. I was particularly pleased to see one of the Kingfishers back on its post at the Michael Powell hide, something which I’m hoping will be a regular occurrence over the next couple of months. In terms of other winter arrivals the reserve is still very low on Redwing numbers with just five seen in the Millennium Wetlands, but that was more than made up for by the small flock of Redpoll I found feeding on old seed heads towards the end of the day. I still want an opportunity to photograph a Redwing though.