I know it's 'April Fool's' day and when I saw this bird in our field this morning I thought 'you have got be joking!' but sure enough there it was turning over sheep poo foraging for grubs. Luckily I had my camera accessible and batteries charged up and managed to get a few shots of it. I apologise for the quality of the image but it was about 100 metres away and I've blown it up a bit but the ID is unmistakable, a splendid male Ring Ouzel. I had a feeling there was some bird movement this morning as from dawn small flocks of starlings were whizzing eastwards past the house. There were also more blackbirds and thrushes about today so something was going on. I have seen some good birds from my home in 30 years of living here but this is my first Ring Ouzel. Sadly I believe that they have disappeared from the Glaslyn reserve area just 4 miles away from us. That is the last place I saw a Welsh Ouzel. I referred to 'Birds in Wales' (Lovegrove, Williams and Williams) and it states that spring arrivals might be passing through en route to breeding areas farther north in Britain and Norway but it would be nice to think that this individual was heading just up the valley to their old haunts at Glaslyn.
So make sure you take a closer look at those blackbirds you see this spring just in case it has a white chest!
Notable Recent Sightings
| 10/01 | White Stork | 1, photo'd near Llansantffraid, still present 15 Jan |
| 01/10 | Glossy Ibis | 1, photo'd by Osprey camera at Cors Dyfi |
| 17/09 | Grey Phalarope | 1 juv, Red Ridge Centre, Cefn Coch, photo'd |
| 29/05 | Pink-footed Goose | 1, over Welshpool, photo'd on 09/06 |
| 01/05 | Red-throated Diver | 1, Llyn Clywedog |
| 07/02 | Whooper Swan | 44, Lake Vyrnwy |
| 31/01 | Whooper Swan | 51, Haimwood, Llandrinio |
| 17/11 | Firecrest | 2, Castle Caereinion |
| 07/11 | Barnacle Goose | 1 among Canada Geese, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas |
| 07/11 | Hawfinch | a few, Lake Vyrnwy, also Bramblings |
| 01/11 | Short-eared Owl | 1, Cefn Coch Wind-farm |
| 01/11 | Great Grey Shrike | Gregynog |
| 28/10 | Great Grey Shrike | Lake Vyrnwy, also 1 on 30th at Eunant |
| 25/09 | Gannet | 1 juv grounded near Caersws |
| 07/09 | Nightjar | 1, photographed near Pontrobert |
| 17/07 | Quail | RSPB Lake Vyrnwy, also heard 20/06 and 08/07 |
| 24/04 | Long-eared Owl | 2, RSPB Lake Vyrnwy |
| 16/04 | Purple Heron | 1, Cors Dyfi |
| 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 |
See Sightings Archive for older records |
Monday, April 01, 2013
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Cracking shot!
ReplyDeleteThank you Keith. I took 417 images but this is one of the best!
DeleteCracking bird in lovely condition. Excellent record shot
ReplyDeleteJust 417?? What stopped you? Cracking bird though and a fantastic way to start the month - having photo'd them in the Elan Valley last year I'm a convert
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