Penllergare Valley Woods, Swansea - 5 March 2016

Penllergare Valley Woods is a hidden gem just 15 minutes away from Swansea City Centre. Situated off the A48 it is easily accessible and open 24/7 to the public. There is a car park with a coffee shop, but seeing as we were there before 8am we parked in the layby next to the Lezzet Cafe and entered the woods through that entrance.

Notice board with map and information about the woods.

We headed right towards the upper lake - the reason being there has been a kingfisher spotted on this lake over the last few weeks and we are desperate to spot one this year :).

The view of the lake from the bridge.

The upper lake (fish pond).

It was not even 8am and there were already lots of birds around: mallard on the pond, robins, blackbirds and great tits flying in and out of trees and bushes.

We walked slowly along the river, desperately trying to spot the kingfisher that has been sighted numerous times recently. After half an hour we gave up and decided it was time to explore the rest of the woods...maybe we would get to see him on the way back?

Male Blackbird.

Great Tit.

Female Mallard (there were males on the pond too). (pic by Dan Turner)

At the other end of the pond you can clearly hear running water and, after one last look back to see any flashes of blue and orange, we decided to check out the cascade.

It looked beautiful today and it wasn't long before a dipper made an appearance. I love watching dippers bobbing up and down and splashing in and out of the water. They are lovely little birds and every time we visit Penllergare we always see them. Another regular visitor showed up too: the grey wagtail, infact there were two of them flying around the waterfall.

The upper pond from the other side.

The cascades.

Dipper. (photo by Dan Turner)

Grey Wagtail (there were a pair). (Photo by Dan Turner)

We continued walking along the river and near the Llewelyn Bridge we saw a blackbird and song thrush having a dispute. When we crossed the bridge we were greeted by lots of birds: great tits, long tailed tits and a rook in a tree on the hillside.

The scenic river.

The Llewelyn stone bridge - a new bridge which was built in 2013.

Song thrush.

Long tailed tits (Pic by Dan Turner).

Great tit.

After seeing the rook in the trees in the upper part of the woods, we made our way up the incline. The views from here are fantastic and you appreciate how big Penllergare is. There were lots of daffodils flowering up here and a flock of great tits were in a nearby tree.

The path up to the higher section of the woods.

Great panoramic of the woods and ponds.

Daffodils.

Walking along the path we saw a Dunnock and as well as daffodils there were a few snowdrops flowering...spring is definitely on it's way.

Dunnock.

Snowdrops

From here we started making our way back down the valley, lots of birds like robins and wrens were in and out of the bushes and we noticed one of the paths was closed off. Unfortunately a small section of the woodland has been infected by a fungal disease and hopefully they will be able to keep it under control and fix it.

The path into the valley.

Robin.

The path off limits due to fungal disease.

We eventually reached the river again and we crossed one of the narrow bridges, we followed the path around and arrived at the big old oak tree. Who knows what lives in this tree that must be a good few years old.

The narrow bridge crosses over the river.

The old oak tree.

From here we continue on the path and eventually reach the other lake in the woods, this one is called the lower lake and we could see some mallard and coots. A few weeks prior we had seen cormorants and heron on the lake, check out the video below...

Lower lake

A coot.

Mallard flying about the lake.

After a nice break and waiting to see if any other birds arrived we decided to leave the lake and make our way back on the path. On the way we heard a carrion crow making a racket in a nearby tree and plenty of great tits flying around. We headed down the Cadle Mill side of the woods to see if there were any tadpoles in one of the ponds.

Carrion Crow

The path leading to Cadle Mill

Great Tit.

There was plenty of life down this side of the woods, Marsh Marigolds were flowering on the bogs and we spotted plenty of frogspawn and tadpoles in one of the ponds. We also saw newts, but we couldn't get a photo or tell which type they were.

Bogs full of life.

Marsh Marigold.

One of the ponds full of tadpoles...

...and frogspawn.

From here we made our way back on the path and up to the higher point of this part of the woods. Many times I have seen buzzards in this section, but unfortunately there were none today but we did see a greater spotted woodpecker.

On our way up the mountain.

Greater spotted woodpecker.

The views up here are amazing, you can see so much of Swansea. It's so peaceful its hard to think you are in a busy city. We had a little sit down watching the woodpecker fly from one tree to the other. From here we made our way back down, passing a few old trees where we have seen woodpeckers in the past and spotted a treecreeper looking for grubs in a mossy tree.

The view of Swansea.

Dan enjoying the view and watching the woodpecker fly in and out of the trees.

Making our way back down...

Treecreeper.

We took one of the earthy paths back down to the main section of the woods and when we got to the bottom we were confronted by huge redwood (sequoia?) trees. Along the river we looked out for dippers again, but they weren't around - what was around was a lovely little wren singing it's heart out.

On the way down to the main part of the woods.

Passing huge redwoods (nb Dan is 6ft 4, so you can see the size of them).

Walking back along the river

Wren.

We passed the cascades again and walked slowly along the upper lake, hoping the kingfisher would show itself and make our day even better. Unfortunately it wasn't to be today and our quest to see a kingfisher goes on...

The cascades.

The upper lake...still no sign of Mr Kingfisher!

Cute sticker on the dog poo bins and was photobombed by this doggy :)

Penllergare Valley Woods is indeed one was Swansea's hidden gems, I can travel over 50 miles looking for wildlife and see nothing - But every time I venture here (only 15 minutes away) I always see something new. It's my go to place when I need to be with nature. I have to give credit to the all the people who are restoring it, they are doing an awesome job making it a beautiful place to visit all year round.

Check them out on facebook and their website.

Red Kite Feeding Centre & Usk Reservoir - 3/3/2014

For years I have wanted to visit the Red Kite Feeding Station in Llanddeusant, situated within the Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It was the start of my week off so we thought, why not?

It's almost an hours drive from Swansea and arguably the most scenic route to take is through Pontardawe, then Brynamman and over the breathtaking Black Mountains. As we drove through the mountains we saw a few red kites hovering above us, we pulled over into a safe lay-by and tried to get a pic. Unfortunately they were too high to get a decent pic but we knew within minutes we would see a sight we would never forget.

We got to the Station around 1.30pm and parked in the car park next to a building called 'The Red Kite' which was a cafe and gift shop (unfortunately it wasn't open when we were there and I wonder if it is permanently closed or just for the winter?).

A sign pointing where to go...

The hides are situated 250m down the road on the right hand side, passing the Caravan Park on the left. As we made our way to the hides we could see red kites already hovering above us and, because it was a beautiful clear day, you could see their magnificent colours reflected in the sunlight. There were 3 hides - the middle one was an indoor one with seating, the left and right ones were outside ones without seats - and we opted for the left one, as we didn't mind standing and the view seemed better.

A number of red kites were already circling above.

The gate you enter to go to the hides.

Feeding time was 2pm (it's 3pm in BST) and we could already see at least 20 red kites hovering above and perching in faraway trees - they obviously knew what was coming up and couldn't wait for their treat. As we waited in the hide it began to fill up and just before 2pm both the left and inside hides were totally full. We were relieved to have gotten there early and obtained a good spot. As we were waiting the owner came in to collect our money, which was a very reasonable fee of £3 per adult, £2.50 OAP & £1.50 child.

The red kites wait patiently in the nearby trees.

Just after 2pm he appeared again on the field in front of us with a large bucket full of meat and started throwing the contents (20lbs in total!) on the ground. Within minutes the red kites were diving down, even when he was still throwing the meat. We couldn't believe it - it started with one or two kites, then a few more - before we knew it that were over 30 red kites swooping down and collecting their prize.

Feeding the red kites.

It was amazing to see their agility and viewing them so close was just fantastic - they are definitely one of Wales' best looking birds. Check out the video below to see them getting fed...

 

It was tricky getting photos of the ones swooping down but there was one cheeky kite that stayed grounded throughout the feed, giving us great photo opportunities...

So lucky he stayed grounded, you can really see the fantastic markings :)

Within 20 minutes most of the food  had disappeared and when the red kites appeared to have gone other birds came down to enjoy the leftovers: magpies, crows, even a chaffinch.

A carrion crow gets in on the action...

The owner came back into the hides to give us all leaflets and to tell us there were videos online and to check them out on Facebook. There were only about seven people left now and he said if we all stood at the back of the inside hide the red kites would come back thinking the 'humans' had gone. So that's what we all did, within minutes they were back, swooping down for any last remnants of the meat - I actually got some decent pics from the hide...

Red kites in flight

A red kite flies away with it's meaty treat

Mesmerized by the kites, I noticed a bird perched on a fence and realised it wasn't a red kite. I zoomed in on the camera and realised it was another bird of prey - I was pretty sure it was a buzzard but wasn't 100% sure. So that evening I sent the pic to the respected wildlife photographer Simon King on Twitter and in the morning he replied with this tweet:

@sandraevans Hi Sandra. 100% correct, buzzard (Buteo buteo) it is! Pale phase.
— Simon King (@TVsSimonKing) March 5, 2014

Here is the photo of the buzzard I tweeted to Simon King - such a beautiful bird.

Once the red kites started to fly away we knew it was time to go. We walked back up the road and as we looked up there were still many kites circling around. We got back to the Red Kite building and realised that across the road there was a stunning view of the Black Mountain. As we started taking photos of the landscape the red kites were once again above us and we couldn't resist taking some more pics.

The stunning view of the Black Mountain

The red kites were flying so low you could get some great pics!

After a fantastic experience that I would recommend to every bird lover we headed back to the car. I would definitely do this experience again and knowing that there is a camp site on it's doorstep its the perfect place to go camping in the summer. The only downside was that the cafe/gift shop was closed, it would have been nice to get a memento and maybe a cuppa. Perhaps next time they will be open. Apart from this the day was perfect, after all these birds are wild and there's no guarantee they will come down, so to see so many in one place was mind blowing!

For more information on the Red Kite Feeding Station check out their website here & their Facebook page here - Also for more general information on red kites read this on Wikipedia

5 facts on Red Kites:

1. In the 1930s there were only two breeding pairs of red kites, both in Wales
2. Road-kill plays an  important part of the diet (eg. pheasants, rabbits and squirrels)
3. Red kites usually breed for the first time at 2 or 3 years old and they usually pair for life
4. When the hatchlings are young the female can signal for them to play dead when a predator is near
5. They live in a wide range of habitats from woodlands and valleys to wetland edges and rough pastures

 Usk Reservoir & Mynydd Myddfai Walk

Once back in the car we decided to go to Usk Reservoir as it wasn't far away. Usk Reservoir is situated in the Brecon Beacons National park and took five years to build - it was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on 6 August 1955.

We parked in the car park near the dam, which had space for many cars. The time was getting on so we didn't walk all the way around the reservoir (which is a 5 miles circular route), but instead crossed the dam and took a forest path up to the Mynydd Myddfai trig point. The views were spectacular and you could even see Pen Y Fan and Carreg Cennen Castle - a really pleasant walk that was about 6 miles. Here are some pics from the walk...

This is the view from the car park - Usk Reservoir is massive!

The dam we crossed that seemed never ending!

The view from the other side of the reservoir

The start of the woodland walk.

A beautiful chaffinch greeted us with his song

The road was quite easy to navigate and the climb was gradual

My first frog spawn sighting of 2014!

As we climbed up to Mynydd Myddfai we had good views of Fan Brycheiniog, Fan Hir and Fan Foel...

 

...also views of a snowy Pen y Fan & Corn Du in the distance

On the way we found a lucky horseshoe, which we took home with us...still haven't won lottery yet though!

At last we reached the trig point...

...just as the sun was setting

Fantastic views from Mynydd Myddfai trig point

The sky resembled an artist's canvas

We headed back the way we came and just missed the sunset on the reservoir - it was still beautiful though.

Usk Reservoir is definitely worth a visit :)

For more information on the Usk Reservoir visit the Brecon Beacons National Park website here