Way back at the beginning of July I heard that our neighbouring village had really upped the ante when it came to urban birding. Regular readers will probably recall that my own local patch often sees Dippers and Grey Wagtails but Kingfishers? Now that would be a first. After work Read more…
Over a month since my last Patchwork Challenge update is clearly not acceptable but rest assured the patch is still out there and, perhaps more importantly, I’ve continued to make regular visits. The truth is that very little has changed during the intervening weeks and is probably unlikely to do Read more…
Written 10/06/2015 It’s on evenings such as this that I realise quite how lucky I am. Almost as soon as we were back from work it was straight down to the river to see if there were any fledgling Dippers or Grey Wagtails about. No luck on that score but Read more…
It’s been a hectic few weeks in these parts with time at a premium since our trip to Skomer. Nevertheless I’ve managed to keep this blog updated on a far more regular basis than I’d originally hoped yet there are still quite a few occurrences/sightings/events, call them what you will, Read more…
Today is officially the first day of summer (that’s why it’s cold, windy and raining) and it also marks the next phase for my Patchwork Challenge. Last week I managed to find my final outstanding spring migrants (those I expect at least) with two calling Cuckoos on Tuesday and a Read more…
Another two weeks on patch and, despite only managing a couple of visits, my recent run of success has continued unabated. Before we get to that though a few updates including the fact that Emma saw no less than four Shelducks flying over the valley early one morning. Quite what Read more…
While out walking last week we noticed what at first glance appeared to be a rainbow forming just before dusk. However there was no rain anywhere near us and having studied the image above a little closer it has become apparent that there was more going on than first met Read more…
The big news from patch this week has been that, quite remarkably, I’ve just blasted my way through last year’s score despite it still being early May! One of my main goals for the Patchwork Challenge this time out was to make more regular visits and to gain a fuller Read more…
As promised in my last Patchwork Challenge update we were back out looking for the suspected Whitethroat on Tuesday evening. It didn’t take long to confirm that the snatch of song we’d heard did indeed belong to the bird in question as we picked up a much more sustained outburst Read more…
It’s been another excellent few days out on patch this week with Spring migrants continuing to build in number. An influx of Willow Warblers in particular from Tuesday onwards has meant that we now only need open a window to hear their distinctive calls with the bushes up on Gopa Read more…