Upton Warren

Thought I would try Upton Warren this weekend, I
haven't been there for a while. I paid a visit first though
to Morton Bagot for the Shrike but no joy.

Upton Warren proved a little difficult, well at the
start anyway. It did get progressively better as time
went on with the first Avocet of the season dropping
in at the Flashes. It wasn't long before it was disturbed
by the Warden (snipe count had to be done meaning going
around the inside of the reserve and flushing them (a quick
count Jack Snipe 3 Common Snipe 10 not bad at all).

Obviously this disturbed things for a little while and

I made for the feeding station to see what was going

on there.

I spent the next couple of hours snapping away at what

ever come to the feeders, mostly Tit's although the Reed

Bunting's made a few brief visit's, making it worthwhile.

Next was the Moor's pool. The Avocet had moved

to here from the Flashes after it had been disturbed.

I spent a little time in each of the hides but ended up

spending most of my time at the feeding station (as you do)

and the only decent bird around there really was a female

Sparrowhawk that was creating havoc every now and then.

I got talking to a guy called Mike who very kindly let me

know that while we were snapping away a Trio of Golden

Plover had dropped in on the Flashes, with little happening

at the feeders I made the descision to spend my last hour at

the Flashes and try for a few shot's of the Golden Plover.

Disaster...By the time I had reached the hide the one remaining

Plover had legged it, well almost. I managed a brief look at it's tail

end as it flew over into the orchard behind the pool, marvelous just

about summed my day up. I thought sod it. I'm here now, so I

settled down and grabbed a few shots of the remaining Lapwings.

I'm glad I did because by the time I had got a few shot's

the majority of the birds that flew to the Orchard previously

(with the GP) had been spooked, and they were heading

back my way.

The Golden plover was right in front as well...Lovely, and

that was that, as they say.

A few shots in the evening light was my reward

(mainly distant but still nice)

More From Gigrin Farm!

I thought I'd put a few more pictures up from my recent trips to Gigrin Farm!

I seemed to have been a bit unlucky with the weather though, so more trips planned soon.

Gigrin Farm

Gigrin has been on the cards for a while and with the Black Kite being reported virtually everyday it seemed like the perfect opportunity. A quick check on the weather and it was planned.

Sunday morning came and I set off about six o'clock (like usual) the plan was to take a walk around Elan Valley first before moving onto Gigrin at one o'clock once it opened. By the time I had reached Leominster it was evident that they'd recieved of couple of inches of the white stuff make the roads beyond Leominster very trecherous, taking it steady I slowly moved towards Elan Valley.

I spent a few hours walking around not really venturing very far due to the Snow, I walked along the river where I spotted a pair of Goosander but that was about it. The main thing that kept me going was the feeders outside the Visitor center, they were regularly visited by Great Tit's, Blue Tit's, Coal Tit and the occasional Nuthatch and to my surprise a Willow Tit.

I took a walk near the reservior to see if I could spot anything on there, thought there might be an odd Duck or something...not a bean! about as empty as the card in my camera.

I did manage a few glimpse's of overhead Kite's and Buzzards, all to distant really though for any decent shots, pity really. I really fancied a few decent Buzzard shots. One bird I seem to struggle with yet probably see more than anything else..crazy!

I made my way over to Gigrin around twelve o'clock, I did try and drive up the driveway but failed misrablely due to the Snow. I ended up parking about a half a mile away on some estate.

I spent the first hour or so walking the Farm Trail which to my surprise was pretty good. I found that at about twelve o'clock the birds just seem to give up and just come in and wait for the dinner to be served, there were Buzzards all around the Trail and plenty of Kite's too.

Feeding time soon came around and I settled down to to filling 12GB of flash cards, here's just a few of the shot''s I manged to get...Oh and the Black Kite put in an appearence.