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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Update in Jan 2022: Another 28 species brings the area total to 118+27 = 145 spp, + 4 historical recrds Pochard A male on Star Crossing Pool on 9/11/20 Goldeneye Flock of 2 males and 5 females on Star Crossing Pool on 7/11/13 Grey partridge. PenyCloddiau in 2015 and between Nannerch & Afonwen...
  2. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 6th 2020. A year since my last post and, apart from being locked-down in Flintshire, notable how little has changed. The influx of Blackbirds, beginnings of Common Gull overflights and Goosanders (20 redheads today!) on the Star Crossing pool are happening again. One "new" species for the...
  3. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 21st 2019. No posts since spring, so a relatively uneventful summer, although the local Peregrines did breed successfully. Now things are starting to pick up. The Common Gulls are back with a roost of 470 in a field near Cilcain this morning and visible migration of Redwings in flocks of...
  4. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Late April-Late May It looks as if April 25th may have been my last date for Brambling in Pantymwyn but pairs of both Redpolls and Siskins continue to visit feeders throughout May. A male Pied Flycatcher had already returned to its stronghold in the Chwiler Valley by April 19th and another was...
  5. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Apr 14th. It looks as if the easterly winds are holding back the departure of the Bramblings, so if you have the chance, take a look at the 15-20 birds that are haunting the hedgerows on the paved path from Pantymwyn down to Devil's Gorge - just follow the buzzing and squeaking. I did my "Early...
  6. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Apr 10th. Brambling numbers were up to at least 21 this morning and the road down to Devil's Gorge was alive with their buzzing and squeaking. As I climbed back to the village, a Badger lumbered down the road towards me. I was downwind, so it continued towards me and passed by just a couple of...
  7. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    The last day in March brought my first Swallow in the Chwiler Valley and my first Blackcap in Pantymwyn, while Chiffchaffs are singing everywhere now. Although Brambling (at least 7), Redpoll and Siskin are still visiting Pantymwyn bird feeders today, the Star Crossing pool had lost its...
  8. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Still a good variety of birds in Pantymwyn, with winter visitors like Brambling, Siskin and Redpoll still present around bird feeders. A Kestrel this morning (chased off by two Jackdaws) was a pleasant surprise, though they are common enough across the valley around Cilcain. Although I've yet to...
  9. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    March 6th 2019: I've always had the impression that Brambling numbers in Pantymwyn built up during March and early April and this was supported by a count of 10 this morning along the Cilcain Road-Cefn Bychan ridge. They were all attracted to nearby garden feeders though we haven't had them in...
  10. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    I managed to escape the North Wales winter by spending it in VietNam (13 new birds bringing me up to 540 for that country!) but am now back on a very pleasantly warm St David's Day. Pantymwyn village has (at least) 4 Bramblings, 4 Siskins and 4 Redpolls at the moment, coming occasionally to...
  11. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Dec 5th Not a lot happening here in winter, so I'll leave off this post until closer to Spring - but please do your own posts here if you seen anything of interest. The Chwiler valley pools have been devoid of waterbirds for some time and the Redwing/Fieldfare flocks have mostly moved on...
  12. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Nov 5th. A walk up the north face of Moel Findeg near the Owain Glyndwr pub uncovered a very large flock of winter thrushes with 250+ Redwings and 10-30 each of Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush and Blackbirds (I suspect a few Song Thrushes may be among the Redwings, but they are hard to pick out in...
  13. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    I haven't yet been able to work out how to edit an old post - in order to add Hawfinch to the list. But Hawfinches once nested in the Alun valley (40 years ago) and have been recorded in Pantymwyn in winter more recently, but not by me.
  14. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 23rd 2018. A cold and windswept morning but a Peregrine soaring along the Alun valley made the village walk worthwhile. Plenty of woodpigeons here, so the Peregrines probably hunt regularly and it's just a matter of luck if you happen to see one on their 20-30 second visits. Common Gulls...
  15. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Star Crossing is where the road to Cilcain turns off the main Mold-Denbigh road
  16. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 19th 2018. Exasperated with the apparent absence of Redwings in Pantymwyn, I took off for the Cilcain moors and had no trouble locating flocks of 30+ Redwing and 30+ Fieldfare feeding on the rowan berries and on the ground. The surprise was at least 5 very vocal Brambling, mixed with...
  17. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 12th 2018. A adult male Sparrowhawk is now visiting the garden feeder every day, but without visible loss of Bullfinches so far. I checked my own records for Pantymwyn in the past 10 years and found only 5 Kestrel records compared with 71 for Sparrowhawk (for the whole UK, it was 258 Kestrel...
  18. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 7th 2018. There were many signs of the coming winter in Pantymwyn this morning. A sudden influx of male Blackbirds (14 with 3 Song Thushes; no Redwings yet) feeding on the haw berries, increasing numbers of Common Gulls flying over (14 in half-an-hour) and an abundance of Jays collecting...
  19. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 5th 2018. A late start to my morning walk around the village yesterday and by 10.30am it seemed that few birds were showing, but then I was lucky enough to look up and watch two migrant Red Kites glide overhead along the Cilcain Road. It's worth remembering that even Buzzards, now very...
  20. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Oct 2nd 2018. The pool at Star Crossing had a flock of 10 Goosander this morning, joining 7 Mallards, 2 Teal and the resident Lapwing family. Along the Cilcain Road in Pantymwyn, a young male Sparrowhawk was mobbed persistently by 2 Jackdaws and a Magpie, even risking a brief talon contact with...
  21. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Sep 18th 2018. This is a good time of year to visit Ysceifiog Lake, since enough leaves have fallen to make the lake visible from the footpath, but the footpath has not yet become its usual boggy winter self. Teal (46), Mallard (24), Tufted Duck (16), Gadwall (4) and Coot (32) were all present...
  22. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Sep 13th 2018. An adult Hobby glided slowly across the Cilcain Road in Pantymwyn at 10AM this morning, heading for the Alyn Valley. The sunny weather gave such good lighting that its reddish undertail could be seen at a distance.
  23. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Aug 22nd 2018. Not much to report in the Pantymwyn area, except that the Lapwing family is still there on the Star Crossing Pool, all 5 of them, and my first Common Gull of the coming winter season flew over it. Sparrowhawk sightings are back to "normal" levels after the summer secrecy...
  24. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    Aug 5th, 2018. A walk up the Cilcain moors this morning seemed to have little out of the ordinary - just a stream of migrating swallows to join the usual kestrels, buzzards and ravens.Then a Cuckoo appeared, mobbed by swallows, and landed on a bush. It was clearly a juvenile bird and I wondered...
  25. G

    Clwydian Hills AONB

    July 29th, 2018. A wet and windy Sunday in Pantymwyn but I ventured out around 3PM, not expecting to find much, but there are always surprises. Today the surprise was a juvenile Stonechat in a garden behind Cefn Bychan. They are common enough in the Clwydian hills but it may be the first I've...
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