Winter birdwatch at Kenfig Nature Reserve

Date:  4 February 2017

Location:  Kenfig Nature Reserve, Bridgend

We woke up to blue skies and knew the weather wouldn't stay like this for long. So we decided to venture to Kenfig Nature Reserve to see what we could find.  Recently there had been a bittern spotted so we were hoping we would finally see this elusive bird. 

It has been awhile since we visited and when we arrived we noticed that there were a few changes to the visitor centre, the fantastic mural which had been painted by www.andyorourke.com was finished and the reserve and new signage and maps.

Dan and myself in one of our favorite local nature reserves

The brilliant mural on the visitor centre

One of the new signs and map

From the visitor centre we made our way down to Kenfig Pool and spotted Tufted Ducks, Black Headed Gulls, Cormorants and Great Crested Grebe*. After the pool we made our way to the nearby hide...

Kenfig Pool

Tufted Duck

Black Headed Gulls

When we got to the hide we were immediately treated to a beautiful Grey Heron perched on a post and he stayed there the entire time we were there. We also spotted a Great Crested Grebe catching fish, Cormorants, Gadwells* and Mallards. A Wood Pigeon perched on a nearby tree for a closeup pic!

Grey Heron on post

Mallard

Great Crested Grebe catching a fish

Gadwells (male & female)

Cormorant drying off his feathers

Curious Wood Pigeon

 From here we decided to head to Sker Beach and see what coastal birds we could find...

Kenfig Pool reed bed

A sign to the beach

Sker house in the distance and a misty Rest Bay beyond that

It was extremely windy down by the beach and the weather was changing. When the sun disappeared behind a cloud it was freezing! Besides being cold, we managed to see some great birds: Herring Gulls, Raven, Curlew* and Oystercatchers.

Herring Gulls

Raven

Oystercatchers and Curlews

Has we walked along the beach, we were treated to several more species of birds (some new ones for my #My200BirdYear) - They were: Grey Plover, Redshank, Turnstone and a beautiful bird called the Golden Plover.

Grey Plover

Redshanks

Turnstone

Golden Plover

Time was getting on so we decided to head back to the car, on the way we stopped to say hello to the black cows that sometimes roam the reserve and spotted a Stonechat. As I was taking a photo of the Stonechat a big flock of birds flew out of a nearby bush obviously spooked by something. Then I heard Dan saying " Sand, Sand, Sand..." I turned around and there was a Sparrowhawk sat just 6 feet away from us on a fence post. I was just about to take a pic when it flew off...luckily Dan managed to get an awesome pic of this beautiful bird. Wow what a treat!

The Black Cows of Kenfig

Stonechat (male)

Female Sparrowhawk (Photo by Dan Turner)

We were ecstatic we saw such a stunning bird and we were very satisfied with out finds for the day. We didn't see much more until we got back to the car park where there was a flock of Reed Buntings. A very succesful day and my bird list had expanded by 10 birds! (#My200BirdYear is now 58!).

Reed Bunting

Stack Rocks & Green Bridge, Pembrokeshire – 25 March 2016

After our little break at Bluestone National Park Resort, the sun was still shining so we decided to visit Stack Rocks & The Green Bridge on the South West coast of Pembrokeshire.

To get to the rocks you need to pass through a military range in Castlemartin, which is closed at certain times. It was Good Friday, so we assumed it would be open, but you do need to ring a number to see if it’s accessible on weekdays. (Check out www.visitpembrokeshire.com for more information).

There is a car park fairly near the viewpoints with direction signs/information boards to help you on your way. Our first stop was Stack Rocks, two isolated pillars of limestone which rise steeply from the sea. They are important nesting sites for guillemots and kittiwakes, but neither have returned from their migration yet. They should return in a few weeks time and we intend to go back to enjoy the spectacle.

Information signs

Stack rocks

On the cliffs we could see Fulmars nesting and a single shag. This is the first time I have seen a shag up close and couldn't get over how beautiful it's shiny black coat and stunning green eyes were.

Fulmar nesting in the cliffs

Shag sitting on the cliffs

Our next stop was the Green Bridge - it is renowned as one of Wales' most iconic images from the coast – a huge, 80ft limestone arch with the sea underneath. Sadly, sometime in the future the top of the arch will eventually collapse into the sea and the Bridge will become a stack (like the stack rocks nearby).

There is a viewing platform here, so you can get good pics. From here we walked back along the cliff's path and saw a number of smaller birds including skylarks and rock pipits.

The Green Bridge

Rock pipit

From here we walked back to stack rocks and admired the beauty of the area. There was a cormorant and black backed gulls sitting on rocks out at sea,whilst a raven was flying above being chased by several jackdaws.

Such a beautiful coastline

Cormorant & a pair of black backed gulls

Raven & Jackdaws (you can see the size difference of the crows)

We continued walking along the path and saw a big nest on the opposite cliff, we got talking to a local man and he told us that it was a raven's nest. We sat there for awhile waiting to see if the raven returned, but the bird was far too clever - I think it sensed us sitting there, waiting for it. So we carried on and walked down to a spot the gentleman had recommended. It was beautiful, see the below photo...

A wonderful view of the cliffs

On the way back we saw a pair of stonechat and we decided to pass the raven's nest again to see if it had returned. The raven still wasn't there, but two nosy jackdaws were snooping around. It wasn't long before they were shoo'd off by the beautiful raven and we finally could get a photo.

The path is part of the Wales Coastal Path and you can walk from here to St Govans Chapel, a small thirteenth century stone chapel that was built within the cliffs of St Govan's Head. I definitely want to do a blog on that in the future, so watch this space for that one...

Male & female stonechat on some brambles

A pair of nosy jackdaws check out the raven's nest...

...not for long though, the raven returns to protect the nest.

A sign to show where to go for the Coastal Path

It is a great part of Pembrokeshire to explore and it would be interesting to see the Green Bridge at different times of day (Sunrise, etc). I can't wait to return and will do before this year is out :)

You can find out more about it here.

Pen y Fan in the snow - 24/1/2015

I have climbed Pen y Fan a number of times over the years but never in the winter months. A friend of ours had been up the week before and showed us some amazing pics of the mountain covered in snow - it looked beautiful. Seeing that we hadn't really ventured out in 2015 we though Pen y Fan was the perfect hike to kick off 2015!

The drive from home takes us into the Brecon Beacons National Park and over the Black Mountain, where the sun was beginning to rise - we couldn't resist stopping a few times to get some pics of the fantastic landscape and a kestrel hovering at the side of the road. The Black Mountain pass (A4069) has a number of places you can pull in to park and take in the scenery. It's always hard to drive though without stopping to take photos.

A kestrel hovering near the car. Unfortunately I could only get a silhouette
because the sun was rising behind it

The beautiful warm colours of the sunrise as it hits the mountains

As you drive through this part of the Brecon Beacons you are guaranteed to see Welsh mountain ponies. We managed to stop and take a pic of them grazing in the sunrise. They have been free to roam the uplands of the Brecon Beacons since Roman times and through harsh climate and poor grazing they have developed into one of the strongest and intelligent breeds on the planet. They are now classed as a rare breed and many farms are helping to ensure their survival.

Wild ponies grazing at sunrise

One of the lay-bys you can park in - It was rather icy that morning!

The sun rises in the Brecon Beacons

For us, the drive only takes around 45 minutes and we parked in the National Trust's Pont-ar-Daf car park just off the A470. The first thing you notice when you arrive at the car park is the large amount of felled trees - what was once a conifer plantation is now an empty piece of land with only a handful of trees left. This is due to it being mostly occupied by larch trees which are one of the species that has been hit by the deadly fungus disease Phytophthora Ramorum - the Forestry Commission ordered them to be felled and now they are planting new trees in the area to create a brighter, more open and wildlife-friendly woods.

The felled trees in the woodland by Pont-ar-Daf car park

This was the first time we have climbed Pen y Fan from this starting point, our previous hikes have always been from the Neuadd Reservoir. There was already a few cars parked there and it wasn't yet 9am, but apparently weekends are very busy on this path, hence the nickname 'The Pen y Fan Motorway'.

You begin the trek by walking through a kissing gate and then over a wooden bridge, with the Blaen Taf Fawr running underneath. An extremely pretty start to the walk and we were already getting glimpses of the remaining snow that was on the higher peaks. There are well laid paths from the start which are looked after by the National Trust, who continue to fix and prevent erosion to them.

The kissing gate and information plaques at the start of the trek

The footbridge crosses over the Blaen Taf Fawr - this flows all the way to Cardiff

The paths are well laid and clear to see

We had literally walked only a few metres before we got a glimpse of another kestrel, once again it was hovering over the ground looking for prey - what a delight to see another one of these beautiful birds on the same morning. Near where we saw the kestrel there is a National Trust plaque on the ground which reads "The Brecon Beacons were given to the National Trust by the Eagle Star insurance company in 1965" - Many commons are owned by companies and since 1965 the National Trust have acquired other parts of the Beacons in order to protect it and keep it wild.

A kestrel is silhouetted by the snow encrusted ground

The National Trust plaque 

Up until now everything was going reasonably well...until we reached the ice! It seemed that the whole path just transformed into an ice rink and even though we had hiking boots on we soon realised that we should have worn crampons. So the decision was either turn back or persevere...we noticed a few people walking just off the path, so that's what we decided to do and we continued our climb up the mountain.

Hey, when did the path turn into an ice rink?

Walking made easier on the snow covered banks

The snow was getting deeper the higher we climbed. As a result the icy path was less treacherous but we still had to go off onto the snowy banks every now and again. It was fantastic walking in the snow and it was hard to believe that this amount of snow existed so relatively close to home. We came across an untouched section of snow and the child it me just had to attempt a snow angel (or maybe I just needed an excuse to lay down lol)...it was a pathetic attempt as the snow was a lot harder than I anticipated! :)

The snow got a lot thicker the higher we climbed and you can just see the
top of Corn Du in this photo

A useless attempt at a snow angel!

Not only was the snow getting deeper, but the hill fog was appearing thick and fast and Corn Du was disappearing in front of us. We knew at this point that the views up there wouldn't be great - but today we were here for the snow!

The snowy path with Corn Du getting closer with every step

We finally made it to Bwlch Duwynt (which means 'windy pass' in Welsh) - and boy was it windy (check out the video below).

To the left of us was the slope of Corn Du, which looked treacherous covered in ice. We saw so many people slipping and falling down that we decided to head straight over to Pen y Fan. We saw a number of ravens at this point and even they were struggling to keep their balance in the windy conditions.

A very icy Corn Du

Corn Du with Pen y Fan behind and Cribyn in the distance

A raven battles against the elements on Bwlch Duwynt

The walk over to Pen y Fan was somewhat hazardous. It started snowing again and the snow was so thick in parts you couldn't really see the path. As you approach the saddle between Corn Du and Pen y Fan the views of the Neuadd Valley are beautiful.

The snowy path on the ridge to Pen y Fan 

The view of the snow covered Neuadd Valley

Brecon Beacons ninjas pose for a selfie!

The final climb up to Pen y Fan was very tricky with lots of ice on the ground and limited visibility owing to the hill fog. Eventually we made it to the top where we got the obligatory photo at the summit. The cairn on the summit is a Bronze Age burial chamber. In 1997 it was excavated and a bronze brooch and spearhead was found inside the chamber. On a good day the views are amazing, you can see the summit of Cadair Idris and even the Bristol Channel at Porthcawl. However the view on the day was somewhat limited!

The final climb up to Pen y Fan was extremely slippery and visibility was getting worse

The frozen summit of the highest mountain in Southern Britain

The obligatory photo opportunity (thanks to the kind chap who took it)

This was a good time to have a sit down and enjoy something to eat. The view was non-existent but it was so comforting to have a nice warm tea and a frozen Mars Bar. A quick glance to the summit and the queue for a photograph was building - it's testament to the lure of Pen y Fan that it is so popular even in such adverse conditions.

It was so cold on the summit that even my Mars bar was frozen! (other confectionery available)

Even though it was freezing up there the queue to the summit was as busy as ever!

We stayed on the summit for about fifteen minutes before deciding it was time to descend. The path down from Pen y Fan seemed to have frozen over even more and the hill fog was thickening by the minute. It was difficult in places to see where the ridge ended and the clouds began but, holding onto each other, we made our way down and could just about see which path to take when we got to the saddle in between Corn Du and Pen y Fan.

The treacherous snowy ridge

The saddle between Corn Du and Pen y Fan: at least we could see what path to take

We had lots of fun on the way down and even had a competition to see who would fall down the most - the final count was Dan twice and myself three times. We also built a snowman, made friends with numerous dogs and watched a man paragliding off the side of the mountain. There was a relaxed and party atmosphere on the path, many people were laughing and joking due to them slipping and sliding all over the place!

The beautiful descent from Bwlch Duwynt

Our own Brecon Beacons snowman (eyes & smile added in Photoshop lol)

Lots of dogs on the hike and this one looks right at home

A paraglider taking full advantage of the windy Beacons

When we got to the bottom we were surprised by the amount of people making their way up and the car park was choc-a-block. This route is without doubt the busiest one we have ever walked and I feel it is probably the easiest way up Pen y Fan.

I was so pleased that we decided to venture up Pen y Fan in the snow - it was a wonderful experience and the scenery was so beautiful. No doubt we will return to this neck of the woods soon whilst the snow remains.

A quick glance back up the path and they are still loads of people attempting the hike.

Back to the car and the whole car park was full

The return journey over the Black Mountain pass was once again not without stops as I just had to get a photo of a beautiful white pony.

Wild pony on the Black Mountain