Dippers in May

 

While looking through 2020 photos which I might use in the annual bird report, I came across this portrait of a Dipper family on the River Carno near Pontdolgoch on 7 May this year. Ruth Jones Maclennan took it and has let me use it. Thanks Ruth. 

Very late swift in Newtown this morning, all the rest left about 4 weeks ago

Snipe

 One landed in garden at Llanmerewig this afternoon. Possibly attracted by small body of water.

LCyD 31 August

No change to the bird species showing at LCyD yesterday - what I assume is a Reed Warbler nest showing now, can't remember having seen one so clearly before (for info, in the slightly flattened reeds 20ft or so in front of the right window)

Late nesting Moorhen

Thanks to Claire Seddon for sending me this photo of a Moorhen with a new nest (four eggs is not a complete clutch) along the canal in Welshpool: long after most species have finished breeding for the year.

 

The Birds of Wales

 

I have recently received my copy of this magnificent volume, published by Liverpool University Press on behalf of the Welsh Ornithological Society. The content of its 584 pages is meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated. For me, living right on the English border, it makes a perfect companion to Leo Smith's equally wonderful The Birds of Shropshire.

 

A Bird in the Hand

 Paul Roughley sent me these photos, taken at home near Abermule where he caught and ringed it. He asked me to confirm the identification.

I noticed the long, tapering tail, dark-spotted back contrasting with unmarked underparts, long thin bill and dull pink legs. These are all features of a Grasshopper Warbler. It may have been a local breeder, or a migrant on passage from further north. They breed in Wales in small numbers, often in young conifer plantations. When they are not singing, they are skulking and secretive, often running mouse-like on the ground. Thanks Paul - I am sure you knew what it was as soon as you saw it!

Waders on the move

Further to Chris' post below, worth noting Venus Pool has had a few wader sp visiting these past few days, namely 9 x Blackwit, 2 juv Ruff and 2 juv Wood Sand, so they're clearly on the move and worth keeping eyes on LCyD now we have some mud

Lesser Whitethroat and Redstart near Montgomery

Thanks to Lionel Weaver who took these photos this morning through his window at home at Hendomen. To have these two in the same garden in the same morning is remarkable. Lionel adds, "this is the first time to have seen them in the garden in 22 years of being here."
 

Killing with Kindness? The argument against feeding birds

A recent research paper* raises the debate about feeding birds in our gardens. These buffets are brilliant for dominant species such as Blue and Great Tits, but have gradually pushed out weaker species - such as the Marsh Tits that stopped visiting our feeder about ten years ago. And then there's the question of disease such as Trichomonosis affecting Greenfinches. It's a thought-provoking issue! 

*https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320721003475?dgcid=coauthor

In other news:

OSPREY fishing in the Vyrnwy near Meifod, 20 Aug. 

A late SWIFT was over the Dyfi Osprey Project, 20 Aug. 

Thanks to Stuart Thomas and Will Ferguson for these records.