Climbing Gopa Hill on Saturday morning you couldn’t help but notice the rapid advance of spring compared to even a couple of weeks ago. Daffodils, Snowdrops and even a few Crocuses are now all in flower, our garden Robin is once again tolerating the presence of another and best of Read more…
It’s hard to believe but yesterday was my last opportunity of 2014 to get out onto the patch in an attempt to push my current Patchwork Challenge score a little higher. Despite a less than attentive year I had still somehow managed to draw level with my previous comparative species Read more…
My local patch may not be able to offer any Golden Eagles (more’s the pity) but that’s not to say there hasn’t been plenty of interest since our return from Mull. We’ve had two Red Kites overhead, Long-tailed Tits and Goldfinches in the garden plus a rather extraordinary collection of Read more…
A quick glance at this years Patchwork Challenge comparative league table shows me sitting in a rather respectable fourth place amongst the Welsh contingent. Now that’s doubly impressive considering I’ve failed to submit my scores for the last two months and just goes to show what a stellar start to Read more…
Over two weeks have passed since my last patch update but there’s certainly been plenty going on. As you may have guessed from the title above I saw my first spring migrant of the year on Monday evening with very brief views of a Swallow disappearing into the valley from Read more…
We really were spoilt last week with night after night delivering stunning sunsets. Sadly this week has seen nothing of the sort with cloud and mist once more returning. Fortunately I actually remembered a long ago pledge to start taking more video before conditions worsened and it is that which Read more…
After my success photographing last nights sunset I was back out again this evening. Conditions were notably hazier, as they have been all day, but that didn’t stop the sun putting on a great show from my position atop Gopa Hill. There a wealth of isolated trees provide numerous framing Read more…
Despite a valiant effort this month I have so far failed to add to my Patchwork Challenge tally. Inclement weather has undoubtedly played its part with patch observations limited to the garden alone. One upside to this has been an increase in sightings for our sporadic flock of Long Tailed Read more…
In the two weeks since my first patch outing of 2014 I’ve only managed to add Lesser Black-backed Gull to my tally. It was a fly over bird while getting ready for work and up to that point was the only gull to have ventured our way. That’s surprising given Read more…
On Saturday afternoon I headed out onto patch and managed to complete my largest circuit for some time. Starting at Goppa Hill there was once again a complete lack of Whitethroats but singles of Buzzard and Red Kite, quickly followed by super close views of two Sparrowhawks, more than made Read more…