What have you seen
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We usually end our day there. Always call in on the way home, there is a place half way along the lower edge of the reservoir where the Osprey perches on the opposite bank to keep an eye on supper. You can walk down to the waters edge and shoot from low level if the bird strikes.
We cannot pitch up until 1.00 on Sunday, so no doubt our first call will be Sunday afternoon/evening if you are around then, it would be good to meet.
How did you find out about the special boat service to Skomer and is it run annually?
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Yes we are stay from Sunday to Sunday. The OH will be keen to take another trip over to Skomer, loves those Puffins.
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Blue - Just for info there is a CL not far from Dyfi that feeds red kites at 3pm daily.
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/certificated-locations/wales/powys/machynlleth/plas-forge/
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Thanks OP
Looks like a nice site. In the book for reference. Just loading the van for tomorrow, looks like weather is set fair. Let us know when you are heading for Clwydog.
have a good un
if you see a grey RangeRover and two strange people stood around with camera and binoculars, come and say hello
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BM and One - the kite feeding centre at Gigrin Farm near Rhayader is fantastic, we spent a marvellous couple of hours there watching the birds start to congregate and then all of a sudden at 3 pm when they feed them the sky is full of them. We saw a rare white kite when we were there. Can really recommend it - check which days they're open though.,
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Thanks Moulesy
We have been to Gigrin a few years ago, there were incredible numbers there at the time. No doubt we we will visit this trip also.
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Just back from a 3 week trip to Brittany.
Something I've never seen before, sand martins perched on wires, swallow style. There are large colonies of sand martins nesting in the coastal sand banks, and they all congregate on the nearby wires. Maybe I've been missing a trick, but it's something I've never seen before.
Great trip, but the 'van and car are absolutely filthy, better check if there's a hose pipe ban in force locally before I make a start.....🤔
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Pliers we have a few sand martins nesting on Gorleston cliffs, Numbers are increasing as they tend, on a good year, to have 3 clutches of eggs.
I believe this is a leucistic kite at Girgin. Tag number 51 which shows it is a Welsh tagged bird
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Having wasted many wonderful hours gazing at the Clwydog reserviour waiting for the Osprey to do some fishing, without a hint, I asked the angling warden what was happening.
He advised that the lake was so low and temp so high, that the fish were staying away from the surface. This meant the Osprey were unable to catch them, so they are fishing elsewhere.
The new camera has not dissapointed on the brown bird front, with a high success rate at the Red Kite feeding station on the A44. I will post a couple of pics when we get home.
Skomer looked a success OP nice shot of the Kite aswell.
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A couple of locals told me that the reservoir had released over a foot of water hence it being so low. Fortunately the grebes at the Osprey nest end had fledged. The Ospreys often fish at the estuary. Looking forward to seeing your pictures Blue.
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This little chap,visited us in the awning,this morning waiting patiently for breakfast?
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Having loads of little birds in the garden we loaded all the feeders 1 mixed seed 2 sunflower hearts and 2 fall balls and hoped they'd keep them going for a good while whilst we were away. On our return we found 1 sunflower and both fat ball containers empty, the mixed seed one - their least favourite 😉 down a bit but 1 sunflower feeder, a new RSPB slightly different in colour, silver not green, which was a free of charge replacement because the green one rusted within a few weeks of use! completely untouched.
Anyone got any ideas how to encourage them to use it? (It was in a different place, untouched, until we went away and we put it on he pole feeder with the others that they use regularly, when we went away). We'd assumed that once there was no alternative they'd use the new feeder - wrong!
Good to see them being used this morning now they've been topped up but not in such great numbers 😢.
Arbuthnott is still about, gave him a good feed last night, only he can get there 😉 all gone this morning. Hope he had a good drink from his refreshed water supply.
Edit I have attached photo. Pole on the lean since we left and feeders could use a clean which they'll get later today. Important to feed the inner bird 😉. Fat ball feeders live in the evergreen bush on the other side. Try to keep them safe from the sparrowhawk 😲
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We had a caged type feeders and the birds just refused to use it so we discontinued it. Birds here have now become choosy and will not go after the mixed seeds. 2 x sunflower heart feeders last just over a week. Three bird baths take care of liquid requirements.
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We've had caged feeders for years. Squirrel problem 😲 even with cat nextdoor and grand-dog here (less with grand-dog who barks a lot at them - but they are bold! She grabbed the tail of a young one, we got it away from her but known there after as half tail who still regularly visited 😤. Bold or what?).
Green feeders regularly emptied but silver one untouched. At £35 I'd be mighty annoyed if I'd chosen that one! Green ones were gifts, so much easier to clean than cheap ones and alledgely galvanised. I assumed, will I never learn?, that the RSPB, specialists in all things bird, would sell suitable feeders, tried and tested. We were once silly enough to buy a novelty one as a gift - neither use to man or bird 😂. Thought we'd learned our lesson 😉
I know exactly what you mean about picky/choosy birds. Hopefully that means plenty of 'natural' food at this time of the year. I notice the new fat balls bought from a different source and definitely different look and smell haven't been touched. Maybe in a day or 2???
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I was at a local garden centre yesterday. There was a notice up on one of the stands displaying ordinary plant pots, on closer inspection a coal tit had set up home in one of the pots and there was much activity going on and lots of noise from the little brood. The centre had sensibly put some large open wire mesh over everything to keep them safe.
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Sadly the Ospreys did not show during our trip to the Red Kite Touring site, due to fishing elsewhere. However the Red Kites at Bwlch Nant yr Arian gave us immense pleasure. I will post a couple of other birds in a second post
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The surprise of the trip was a Spotted Flycatcher feeding four chicks in the car park at the top of the Eden Valley, Sand Martins having some fun and a beautifully marked Buzzard circling above, while we waited patiently for the Osprey at Llyn Clwydog.
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Oops
The above should have read the Elan Valley, which was very low in water.
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Bluemalaga - Great photos. Always thought of Redkites (think that's what it was) as scavengers on land. Not seen them take from water as it appeared to do in your photo on previous page. Wonder what it took? Learn something new everyday - as they say.
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Thanks Jay
The bird took some scraps thrown into the water at a feeding station. One bird got it wrong and had to be fished out to be dried off.
There is a trout farm in Rutland where the Kites have learnt to take fish from the surface.
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Thanks for info.
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What contrary birds feed in our garden 😲.
We now have plenty of birds feeding on the seed feeders. They are now eating the mixed seeds and sunflowers from the silver feeder but leaving the green one 😭😤. They've started on the fat balls too 😆.
One of this year's baby blackbirds is eating mealworms and seeds beside me.
Lots of small blue butterflies and a couple of small I range ones. Too fast and too distant to identify from my chair. Not seen any on the budleiha since its flowered.
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Are they the small Holly Blues B2? They are the ones we see frequently around our garden as we have a long stretch of holly hedging (amongst others, we have lots of different hedging.)
I am keeping any eye on our Buddleias, but it's mostly Peacocks on there at the moment.
I see it's the butterfly count starting today.
see here
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On my way to Dalby Forest in Nth Yorkshire the other day I passed the Reighton roundabout on the Scarboro road, here is a sculpture on the actual roundabout. Great piece of work & a great idea to place it there. It always raises a smile👍🏻😊
PS-a screenshot from my Dashcam. . . .relax👍🏻
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