Owen's Wildlife 2025 (1 Viewer)

[Owene]

No sign of a 2025 list section yet but I'd like to get started on this years write ups.

Hopefully will see some great stuff in 2025 but the trips are already planned out and while they should be great I know they wont bring me anywhere near as many birds as last year. Need to get back to the tropics in the medium term. Instead I should make some inroads on my Western Palearctic list with trips to Morocco, Lesvos and Iceland planned. As well as a few weekends for mammal and herp targets. I'm guessing somewhere just north of 300 birds for the year and hoping to photograph 250 bird species. I'm also looking forward to getting back into moth trapping once things warm up a little. We lost our only decent size shrubs in a recent storm so not sure yet just how low the moth numbers will be.

Jan 1st
Torrential rain all morning put me off starting with a bang and it was starting to get dark before it was dry enough to head out but a quick walk around Penarth with my wife brought a few common species and some very gloomy pics.

1 Herring Gull
2 carrion crow
3 feral pigeon
4 magpie
5 dunnock
6 lesser black backed gull
7 wood pigeon
8 blackbird
9 robin
10 starling
11 Pied Wagtail

Birds 11 photos 4

 

[Owene]

january 2nd

A very enjoyable trip around somerset with ex-bird forum moderator Rich.

Gorgeous crisp sunlight at Greylake didn't bring a Baikal Teal but did provide a few helpful year ticks in a showy water rail and small flock of Bearded Tits. Both species that took me a lot longer to get in the UK last year.

Some stop start driving around country lanes brought the various Somerset Egrets and some thrushes and Cheddar had lovely close Black Necked Grebes.

The news broke of a Least Sandpiper at Steart so we braved the nightmare that is driving around Bridgewater. When we got to the quantock hide we were told it had just tucked into a fairly distant channel. Not really enough space to get any decent views at all and as more and more people arrived and spread out around the screens a game of telephone started between the various groups of birders with the handful of distant dunlin and especially the little stint playing havoc. Low sunlight, distant birds and vegetation over bird head level meant it was only ever when you could see a smaller wader in direct comparison to a dunlin that you had much of a shot at anything and when i managed a shot of the longest showing distant bird it blew up to be a little stint.

A lot of good year ticks there but the lifer remained elusive.

12 rook
13 jackdaw
14 little egret
15 cattle egret
16 great egret
17 grey heron
18 pochard
19 mallard
20 greater scaup
21 teal
22 pintail
23 shoveler
24 shelduck
25 wigeon
26 tufted duck
27 coot
28 moorhen
29 kingfisher
30 greylag
31 mute swan
32 golden plover
33 dunlin
34 little stint
35 curlew
36 snipe
37 avocet
38 redshank
39 meadow pipit
40 great crested grebe
41 black necked grebe
42 blue tit
43 long tailed tit
44 bearded tit
45 great tit
46 coal tit
47 wren
48 great spotted woodpecker
49 song thrush
50 redwing
51 reed bunting
52 water rail
53 buzzard
54 marsh harrier
55 kestrel
56 chaffinch
57 bullfinch
58 gadwall
59 collared dove
60 lapwing
61 black headed gull
62 Great black backed gull
63 cormorant
64 chiffchaff

Birds 64 Photographed 12

 

[Owene]

January 3rd

Quick visit to Llanishen Reservoir this morning where unfortunately all the paths were closed because of ice. Both bodies of water were still scopable and there were a few other year listers there already with their own scopes on the long staying female Ring Necked Duck. Had to actually find the Black Throated Diver on the other reservoir for myself but it didn't take long and also got to see a pair of wintering Common Sandpipers and a few more common year ticks.

Then spent 3 hours in Bute Park at the back of Cardiff castle. Very enjoyable walk in the crisp sunshine and again plenty of birders around. Only one had been lucky enough to see my main two targets Firecrest and also a look at the untickable Alexandrine Parakeet that has paired up with a ring necked. She was very lucky as I found three groups of goldcrest with no firecrest and only Ring necked parakeets. Amazing how quickly parakeets have established themselves there. Almost unknown in cardiff a few years ago, Then two at one site three years ago and now probably approaching 20 regularly seen around the city.

Grey Squirrel brought me my first mammal of the year, I guess they have had a very similar reputation to the parakeets over the years so quite fitting.

1 grey squirrel
65 Little Grebe
66 Canada goose
67 Ring necked duck
68 grey wagtail
69 common sandpiper
70 Black throated diver
71 jay
72 mistle thrush
73 Goldcrest
74 Ring necked Parakeet.

Birds 74 mammals 1 photographed 19

 

[kb57]

Impressive start - you've banked a few decent additions there, with black-necked grebe, black-throated diver, scaup and water rail all species you could've ended up missing through the year.

 

[Owene]

Impressive start - you've banked a few decent additions there, with black-necked grebe, black-throated diver, scaup and water rail all species you could've ended up missing through the year.

thanks Yes there have been a few that would have felt like tricky gaps that I've got quite quickly. It's just been nice to get out while the weather has been fine, snowing now. It's only really been a day and a half of birding and i'm already lagging behind in our whatsapp group race but I've enjoyed my birding so far.

 

[Owene]

January 4th

Popped down to the bottom of the hill where a female black redstart was working along the beach. I watched it move about 30m down the beach, got one burst of photos and then it was gone further and out of sight. It didn't seem to make the news services but a few local birders did turn up as I was leaving, hopefully they connected too. A pair of raven on the deck was a pleasant surprise. They nest close by but short range encounters on the floor are quite rare and they're normally flybys.

A quick look on the marina for Goosander drew a blank but there was the regular wintering Common Sandpiper which allowed better photos than yesterdays scoped ones..

As far as coastal britain goes the Bristol channel is probably below average for rare birds but we do still get a a regular stream of variety even if its rarely a mega, its quite a fertile place to be at this time of year.

75 Black Redstart
76 Raven
Birds 76 mammals 1 photographed 24

 

[Owene]

January 5th

Not much birding but heading out for lunch gave me a brief window to scope a velvet scoter from the seafront. Another handy year tick that’s been hanging around for a few weeks now

77 velvet scoter

Birds 77 mammals 1 photographed 24

 

[Owene]

January 9th.

Very icy, paid a visit to WWT Llanelli but all the pools were solid ice and a lot of the hides had zero visibility. Did pick up a few common birds I'd not seen and the highlight was probably a pair of Greenshank

78 Goldfinch
79 Greenfinch
80 Black Tailed Godwit
81 Greenshank
82 Fieldfare (actually last week but forgot about them)

 

[Owene]

January 10th

Cold but sunny walk around my local patch, Cosmeston Lakes, brought a few woodland additions, Hawfinch being the best although obscured at the top of a tree a way back from the path.

Was set to return home for lunch when news broke of the Desert Wheatear at Pendine Sands. Probably at the limit of how far I could get within workable daylight but traffic was kind and when I got there the bird was still showing down to a few meters. Very active and not at all tolerant of other birds, saw off a rock pipit and stonechat, but not at all bothered about people. Some debate over it's health, as i say very active but plumage seemed a bit ragged in places. Of course it was a day when most of the birds I saw were puffed up so hard to tell. A lifer for me albeit one that was nailed on for my Morocco trip in 5 weeks time. Still I love a wheatear and nice to have it in wales. Nice to see some familiar faces in the very small crowd and even the stonechat and rock pipit were year ticks.

Not sure where I am with photos now as I haven't gone through them properly. Second shot at the Least Sandpiper tomorrow.

83 nuthatch
84 hawfinch
85 Siskin
86 Red kite
87 Stonechat
88 Rock Pipit
89 Common Scoter
90 Desert Wheatear

My bubo list is on 91 so I've forgotten something somewhere

 

[dwatsonbirder]

What a smart bird, if I wasn't heading north tomorrow I'd go for that! Decent start to the year @Owene 👍

 

[Owene]

What a smart bird, if I wasn't heading north tomorrow I'd go for that! Decent start to the year @Owene 👍

I was all set to go to Northumberland today and get a hotel for the night to try for a few of the birds up there Saturday but decided against it at the last minute because of the distance. Nice to get a consolation at home and a very nice one.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Male desert wheatear is very hard to beat, it would be a dream bird to find!

 

[Owene]

Male desert wheatear is very hard to beat, it would be a dream bird to find!

The finder was definitely very happy. County recorder finding a county first

 

[Scridifer]

Congrats on the Wheatear Owen, a very smart bird! Will be in Morocco myself the beginning of March, guess we will miss each other!

Chris

 

[Owene]

Congrats on the Wheatear Owen, a very smart bird! Will be in Morocco myself the beginning of March, guess we will miss each other!

Chris

I fly back on 1st of March so probably. Hope you have a good trip though, primarily birding?

 

[Scridifer]

I fly back on 1st of March so probably. Hope you have a good trip though, primarily birding?

We fly out the 3rd of March! Yes birding Southern Morocco with Naturetrek, looking forward to it, it will be my first guided trip. Is your birding/family or a combo? Whatever, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it!

Chris

 

[Owene]

We fly out the 3rd of March! Yes birding Southern Morocco with Naturetrek, looking forward to it, it will be my first guided trip. Is your birding/family or a combo? Whatever, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it!

Chris

Mine is the exact same tour just 10 days earlier 😀. Not had the name of the guides yet but probably similar. I’m sure you’ll have a blast

 

[Owene]

January 11th

Second shot at the Steart Least Sandpiper and much more succesful than the first. A very friendly crowd gathered quite early with both small hides full and a few of us behind the outdoor screen. Very nice to see Rob and Steph Murphy, fixtures of west country twitching and a few other familiar faces I ddn't have names for, very helpful and generous birders today.

Steph soon picked out the Least Sandpiper and reasonable scope views were enjoyed, obviously a very very small bird but also very fast and at a reasonable range although probably only half as far as we were futilely scouring in much worse light on its first day. A very welcome second lifer in two days and nice to get after dipping New Years week. Glad it hung around.

Stopped off at Chew Lake on the way home and managed the Red Breasted Merganser found yesterday from the cafe by the dam but not much else before heading home for the afternoon.

Very much a record shot at full zoom and then a bunch of cropping



Still not worked out what i've put on Bubo but not here but the bubo list looks right so i'll add one here.

92 Least Sandpiper
93 Red Breasted Merganser
Birds 93 Photos 43 Lifers 2

 

[Scridifer]

Mine is the exact same tour just 10 days earlier 😀. Not had the name of the guides yet but probably similar. I’m sure you’ll have a blast

Brilliant! Great minds think alike and all that (we won't go into the second part of that adage)! Have a great time!

Chris

 

[Owene]

Brilliant! Great minds think alike and all that (we won't go into the second part of that adage)! Have a great time!

Chris

It is a bit different on a reasonable size group tour, people take them for all sorts of reasons but they usually end up stratifying a bit by level of interest in birding and everyone getting people onto birds once youre at a site. You've guided yourself so you probably know how it goes. In the western paleartic most of the species are going to be familiar so its not really a case of a guide reeling off names to go with glimpses of birds but more like a bird club outing in uk