For most birders that first outing of the new year is always extra special. It doesn’t matter what one might see from Robins and House Sparrows through to Golden Eagles or Firecrests, all species carry with them an additional excitement factor of being “first for the year”. When else for Read more…
There’s no better way to kick start a new birding year than with a lifer. And what if that lifer could be a species which you’d never expected to see in Britain? Well, that would be just dandy! So it was that we found ourselves at a freezing Ynyslas on Read more…
It seems that we may be in for a spot of winter weather after all if the last week is anything to go by. Both Thursday and Friday saw good levels of snowfall across the Brecon Beacons and let me assure you that there’s nothing quite so frustrating as sitting Read more…
We took a trip north on Saturday to the wonderful RSPB reserve at Ynys-hir. It’s new found fame after featuring on the BBC’s Springwatch series was much in evidence with a tripling of staff in the shop (to three) and the highest visitor numbers that I have ever seen. I Read more…
What a wild, wet and windy couple of days this past weekend turned out to be. Both Saturday and Sunday were dark and grey with strong winds blowing the rain almost horizontal. On reflection it probably wasn’t the best time to take a two day jaunt through mid Wales, but Read more…
Sunday dawned drab and dreary so after a very nice cooked breakfast at the B&B we returned to Ynyslas hoping for another crack at those Scoters. Although the sea was a bit calmer the Common Scoter rafts were still too far away for me to be happy at distinguishing the Read more…
Most of our time on Saturday was spent at Ynys-Hir, the RSPB reserve on the banks of the River Dyfi. For those that don’t know it I highly recommend a visit. The range of habitats on offer is really rather exceptional with mature woodland blending into open grassland, mudflats, salt Read more…
This weekend I took a visit up to the RSPB reserve at Ynys-Hir for the first time in at least 18 months. The reserve is located about 10 miles inland from Aberystwyth and incorporates a range of habitats including mature woodland, estuary and peat bogs. I have never visited before Read more…