Butterfly Count at Crymlyn Bog

Date:  22 July 2020

Location:  Crymlyn Bog
Weather:  Sunny and warm :)

Today we decided to do a butterfly count as from 17th July - 9th August it's the Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count

We decided to go to one of our favourite nature reserves Crymlyn Bog as we know it is always quiet and great to get away from people. This is what we saw...

Butterflies

Brimstone Butterfly

Gatekeeper Butterfly

Large Blue Butterfly

Speckled Wood

The butterfly count sheet

The results for our butterfly count was:

5 Speckled Wood

1 Brimstone

4 Common Blue

2 Meadow Brown

4 Gatekeeper

2 Large White

2 Ringlet

Damselflies & Dragonflies

Azure Damselflies

Common Darter Dragonfly

Lizards

Juvenile common lizards

Juvenile Common Lizard

Adult Common Lizard

Adult Common Lizard basking in the sun

This Adult Lizard as lost it's tail :(

Birds

Robin

Chiffchaff (Pic by Dan Turner)

Buzzard (Pic by Dan Turner)

Other critters spotted...

7 spotted ladybird

Common White Wave (Pic by Dan Turner)

We were very happy with our finds today, we have never seen so many lizards (I think we counted well over 30) and we noticed that signs were up to with guidance of social distancing and one way system around the boardwalk. 

My Garden

The butterfly magic didn't stop when we arrived home - in the garden was a Holly Blue, Large White and a red admiral (which I couldn't get a pic).

Holly Blue butterfly in the garden

Large White butterfly in the garden

There is still time to do the Big Butterfly Count, all you need to do is download the butterfly ID chart from the following address, sit in a sunny spot for 15 minutes  then record which species you see. Next add your counts on the website or you can download an app. It's important to give them this info as they can access the health of the environment by counting the amount of butterflies and moths we see. 

https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/ 

Ringed Ouzel in the Brecon Beacons

Date:  16 June 2017

Location:  Craig Cerrig Gleisiad, Brecon Beacons

An interesting day today. We ventured up to the Brecon Beacons National Park to a wonderful Nature Reserve called Craig Cerrig Gleisiad.

We knew Ring Ouzel have been sighted there, it even says on the information board at the entrance of the reserve, but we've never ever seen one here...until today. 

The start of the walk with a information sign...

...Ring Ouzels!

We made our way to the reserve and were dwarfed by the overpowering steep crags. This fascinating landscape is the result of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago and over time the ice carved the 150m cliffs we see today. 

Despite the reserve's tough, mountainous setting it has an array of wildlife. Over 500 plants can be found here and 80 different birds including; Peregrine Falcons, Kestrels, Red Gouse and of course the Ring Ouzels. In addition to the plants and birds, you will find many species of fungi, insects, amphibian and reptile species. 

The step crags of Craig Cerrig Gleisiad

Green Tiger Beetle

Red Tailed Bumblebee (I think)

We explored deeper into the reserve and noticed a large bird perched on a cliff in the distance, we couldn't really work out what it was, so we checked the pic on the camera's screen and noticed another bird on the right of the pic...we couldn't believe it, a Ring Ouzel! We saw with our own eyes the Ring Ouzel was join by another one and attacked the bird on the left until they eventually chased it off. 

Here is the pic, you can see the large bird on the left (which is in fact a buzzard) and to the right you can see a small black bird (the Ringed Ouzel) with the distinctive white collar

After all the excitement and no other sighting of  the Ouzels we decided to call it a day. Walking back to the car we spotted a fox and watched as  Pen Y Fan disappeared behind hill fog. 

Pen Y Fan behind the clouds

Red Fox

Want to see Craig Cerrig Gleisiad in the snow?

Then check out my previous blog from a few years ago...

Kingfisher at Forest Farm, Cardiff

Date:  15 June 2017

Location:  Forest Farm, Cardiff

Without doubt, one of my favourite bird is the kingfisher. I haven't seen many in my life and it was only last year I saw my first one. A spectacular, colourful little bird that is so charming to see and I get so excited when I get a glimpse of one.

Recently on Facebook I noticed there had been a few spotted in a lovely little place called 'Forest Farm' in Whitechurch, Cardiff. A great place and a haven to wildlife with some really good bird hides. We got comfortable in one of the hides and waited; whilst waiting we meet a lot of lovely people all eager to to get a glimpse of this beautiful bird.

A few other birds made an appearance, including a grey heron, green woodpecker and moorhens:

Grey Heron

Adult moorhen

Juvenile Moorhen

It must have been well over an hour before we got our reward, my partner Dan spotted it in the back of the pond. It was quite hard to see at first, with the orange breast blending into the reeds. But as soon as he started flying, with that striking blue, there was no way you could miss him.

The beautiful kingfisher at Forest Farm

Unfortunately, he was only around for about a minute and never returned when we were there. We didn't mind, we saw him and that was enough to make us smile!

I will definitely make Forest Farm one of my 'go to' birding places, it's great! Here are some of the other treats we saw:

Closeup of a Magpie from one of the hides

Great Tit

Not far from the education building we discovered this little patch of wild flowers; isn't beautiful? I would much rather see flowers like this than a well mowed lawn :)

Red tailed bumble bee collecting pollen from a cornflower.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2017 - Day 2

On Saturday I took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch in Dan's garden. Seeing the RSPB added an extra day this year I decided to do another bird count today at my mum's house.

The weather wasn't great - cloudy, cold and showery. This didn't stop the birds coming though. This is what I saw...

Plenty of Starlings

How can you not like this bird with it's stunning colours?

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2017- Day 1

This weekend Dan and I took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. We equipped ourselves with cups of tea, cameras and a notepad, and watched events from our vantage point in the conservatory.

We started our one hour birdwatch at 10.30am. This is what we saw...

One of the bird treats was this cute heart I found...unfortunately it was overlooked and lately ungratefully knocked on the floor uneaten!

Our vantage point for one hour, equipped with pen, paper and more importantly cups of tea ;)

One of our first visitors - Jackdaw

Waxwings at The Range, Swansea

I had a tip off that there were about 30 waxwings near The Range, Winch Wen, Swansea. I have never seen one before so off we set this morning to see if we could get lucky.

It's been a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. When we arrived at The Range carpark we could see a group of people with binoculars instead of shopping bags, we followed them to some nearby trees and there they were...about 15 beautiful waxwing sitting in one tree. I noticed there were some more in a nearby berry bush.

What a find and what a stunning bird, I hope the rest of 2017 will be this easy to spot rare birds, but I very much doubt it. This is now #42 bird for #My200BirdYear - you can see how I am doing here.

Here are some of the pics...

Waxwing on berry tree

Waxwing scoffing the berries