Monday saw us bidding farewell to Emma’s parents but with no particular desire to leave the Peak District ourselves we headed North to Monsal Head. A world renowned beauty spot, and with good reason, its elevated position gives sweeping views across the River Wye at a point where the peculiarities 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…
The past few months have been an almost non-stop whirlwind of great walks and excellent birds with some fantastic scenery thrown in for good measure. Alas such freedom was never likely to last and commitments over the last fortnight and coming month are likely to mean that my outings and Read more…
We headed off to Gower last Saturday to walk one of the less well trodden routes that the peninsula has to offer. Concentrated on the quieter, though no less impressive, northern coast I first explored this area while surveying for the recent Bird Atlas and found it so rewarding that Read more…
Some would call it dedication, others sheer madness, but having stayed awake all night to watch the general election drama unfold I was out on Garreg Lwyd later that afternoon after just a few hours sleep. Conditions were far from ideal with strong winds, heavy rain and poor visibility making Read more…
Bank holiday Monday saw an improvement in the weather so we headed off into mid-Wales for our (almost) annual visit to RSPB Dinas. Ever since we discovered the reserve several years ago it has consistently delivered the full spectrum of woodland migrants whilst simultaneously providing a thoroughly enjoyable walk through Read more…
Thick fog greeted us on Sunday morning and with visibility restricted to such an extent that even the opposite side of our road was hard to make out, it was clear that we wouldn’t be going anywhere for quite some time. Fortunately conditions slowly improved and by midday it was Read more…
Sunday was another phone/work/house balancing act but with the sun blazing I couldn’t resist slipping down to Coed Bach Park for a couple of hours late morning. The hope was that Bluebells would be starting to put in an appearance and, though far from the full display which should appear Read more…
I really wasn’t expecting much from Saturday. When we woke low, grey clouds were barely clearing the hilltops, there was a light spattering of rain falling and to top it all off I had to stay within easy reach of home and a mobile signal due to work commitments (a 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…