Notable Recent Sightings

05/03 Firecrest 1, Lake Vyrnwy
05/03 Short-eared Owl 1, Lake Vyrnwy
14/01 Pink-footed Goose 1, Dolydd Hafren
03/01 Waxwing 20, Meifod; also 5 Welshpool by canal on 01/01. Last: 6 Bwlch-y-Garreg 17/03
23/12 Waxwing Newtown College, first arrivals 04/12, 47 on 23/12, 67 on 01/01, 30 on 04/02
09/12 Cattle Egret 1 roosting with 8 Great Egrets and some Little Egrets, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas
02/12 Waxwing 21 Guilsfield, 12 Montgomery, 1 Welshpool, and 1 on 01/12 Llanfyllin
16/11 Dotterel 3, just west of Dyfnant Forest on RSPB land
16/11 Great Grey Shrike 1, on edge of Dyfnant Forest on RSPB land, last reported 19/01
15/11 Waxwing 25 or 30, just west of Lake Vyrnwy along the Dinas Mawddwy road
08/11 Great Northern Diver A juvenile was found near Anchor, rescued and released
30/10 Black Redstart 1 in garden at Hendomen, near Montgomery
06/10 Hawfinch 5 in treetops at Powis Castle, by main car-park
04/10 Cattle Egret Dolydd Hafren, a flock of c.30
29/09 Red-flanked Bluetail Dyfnant Forest: a county first
23/09 Manx Shearwater 1st year bird grounded in Llanfyllin; released at coast
03/09 Cattle Egret 10 at Cors Dyfi, rising to 32 on 05/09
01/06 Turnstone 1 at Caersws with Little Ringed Plovers
03/05 Wood Sandpiper 1 at Dolydd Hafren
18/04 BLACK-WINGED KITE 1 video-ed at Glan Mule, near Kerry: a likely FIRST for UK
07/04 Black Redstart Female on Carno roof
07/04 Little Ringed Plover Llandinam Gravels
25/03 Osprey Female 5F 'Seren' arrived back at Llyn Clywedog
25/03 Pied Flycatcher An early migrant near Llanfechain
22/03 Hen Harrier Female in flight near Berriew
15/03 Sand Martin 5, Dolydd Hafren
15/03 Golden Plover c.50, Heldre Hill, Long Mountain, nr Welshpool
05/03 Whooper Swan 1, between Caerhowel (Montgomery) and The Gaer, with Mute Swans
05/03 Pink-footed Goose 1, Caersws, with Canada Goose flock
05/03 Jack Snipe 2, Caersws
05/03 Hawfinch 24, Powis Castle, feeding behind orchard
28/02 Pink-footed Goose c.25, flying north over Welshpool
26/02 Merlin 1 male, chasing Meadow Pipit, Long Mountain near Welshpool
26/02 Pintail 3, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas, 1 since 14 Feb
14/02 Hawfinch 1, Powis Castle car-park, very vocal
23/01 Jack Snipe 1, Moel-y-Garth near Guilsfield
17/01 Brambling 80, in beeches at Pen-y-Waen near Cefn Coch with Chaffinches
07/01 Hawfinch 2, bathing in puddle, Cwm Lane, Castle Caereinion
   
See Sightings Archive for older records

Monday, October 29, 2012

´Stuck´ in Bolivia

Hi blog readers. Just thought I´d let you know that I haven´t disappeared off the face of the earth, and that I´m actually still in Bolivia. I´ve been out here since the beginning of September, volunteering for a company called Inti Wara Yassi, who take in and rehabilitate sick, injured, and orphaned animals (and even unwanted pets), in the hope to release them back to the wild or where not possible, give them the most natural life possible!

I´m currently working with a Puma called Carlos (pic below). He was brought in to the park nearly 3 years ago as a very young cub, so has sadly hasn´t got the natural skills he would have learnt from his mother to hunt and fend for himself  in the wild.


This is where I come in. My role in the park at the moment in to take Carlos out every day and walk him in the jungle. Although this is a bit away from his natural life, it gives him the chance to run, hunt, climb trees, swim and surprisingly sleep a lot!!

As you can imagine this is quite a unique experience, so I have extended my stay until the middle of December.

Keep posting all your sighting as it gives me something to read when I get the chance to use the Internet (as you can imagine, it´s very limited in the middle of the jungle).

Happy birding.

8 comments:

  1. Good to hear from you Paul. Have to say I am very jealous, Catch up with you soon, Take Care.

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  2. Great to hear from you Paul, I was getting quite worried about your absence.Keep us informed when you arrive back.
    You don't get a lot of Puma's round here! A lovely photo, send some more.

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  3. Good to hear from you Paul. really liked the Puma photo. it seems that you are enjoying youself out there. well done. I think that possably you are finding your true vocation!. Look forward to seeing you when you arrive back in(Dec??)and photo's that you have taken. Take care

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  4. So rumours circulating at "Charlies" about your being hospitalised, your friend being savaged by a puma, and that, basically, they never expect to see you again, are greatly exaggerated!!! Paul, you do not tell us where you are, but if your region is below 2,500 metres, malaria tablets are essential - I saw medical students die because they thought they would not be affected,and did not take the locally advised medication.
    Have a great time - you are missing very large numbers of Redwings - they are everywhere, and I guess you will envy me that on adjacent telegraph poles I saw Great-Spot and Green Woodpeckers, just before watching a day-flying bat which was consistently harried by Jackdaws!

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  6. Hi Paul - wondered where you'd gone to though Wyn did say that last time he spoke to you you were in the departure lounge!!

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  7. Sounds mental mate, Hope you poopa scoop - nothing worse than steppin in a puma cr*p!!

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  8. Paul - blog security is an issue that needs fixed - hopefully a simple change to core code should at least stop right-click pinching of images and mean I can stop using that hideous watermark through the middle of my images. Happy to try and fix this but I'd need your admin login - if you want me to have a look at that more than happy for you to email me your admin login details to me at maltwiz@aol.com. Cheers and enjoy Bolivia - are you planning to come back or is that it now???

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