Notable Recent Sightings

16/04 Purple Heron 1, Cors Dyfi
05/03 Firecrest 1, Lake Vyrnwy
05/03 Short-eared Owl 1, Lake Vyrnwy
14/01 Pink-footed Goose 1, Dolydd Hafren
03/01 Waxwing 20, Meifod; also 5 Welshpool by canal on 01/01. Last: 6 Bwlch-y-Garreg 17/03
23/12 Waxwing Newtown College, first arrivals 04/12, 47 on 23/12, 67 on 01/01, 30 on 04/02
09/12 Cattle Egret 1 roosting with 8 Great Egrets and some Little Egrets, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas
02/12 Waxwing 21 Guilsfield, 12 Montgomery, 1 Welshpool, and 1 on 01/12 Llanfyllin
16/11 Dotterel 3, just west of Dyfnant Forest on RSPB land
16/11 Great Grey Shrike 1, on edge of Dyfnant Forest on RSPB land, last reported 19/01
15/11 Waxwing 25 or 30, just west of Lake Vyrnwy along the Dinas Mawddwy road
08/11 Great Northern Diver A juvenile was found near Anchor, rescued and released
30/10 Black Redstart 1 in garden at Hendomen, near Montgomery
06/10 Hawfinch 5 in treetops at Powis Castle, by main car-park
04/10 Cattle Egret Dolydd Hafren, a flock of c.30
29/09 Red-flanked Bluetail Dyfnant Forest: a county first
23/09 Manx Shearwater 1st year bird grounded in Llanfyllin; released at coast
03/09 Cattle Egret 10 at Cors Dyfi, rising to 32 on 05/09
01/06 Turnstone 1 at Caersws with Little Ringed Plovers
03/05 Wood Sandpiper 1 at Dolydd Hafren
18/04 BLACK-WINGED KITE 1 video-ed at Glan Mule, near Kerry: a likely FIRST for UK
07/04 Black Redstart Female on Carno roof
07/04 Little Ringed Plover Llandinam Gravels
25/03 Osprey Female 5F 'Seren' arrived back at Llyn Clywedog
25/03 Pied Flycatcher An early migrant near Llanfechain
22/03 Hen Harrier Female in flight near Berriew
15/03 Sand Martin 5, Dolydd Hafren
15/03 Golden Plover c.50, Heldre Hill, Long Mountain, nr Welshpool
05/03 Whooper Swan 1, between Caerhowel (Montgomery) and The Gaer, with Mute Swans
05/03 Pink-footed Goose 1, Caersws, with Canada Goose flock
05/03 Jack Snipe 2, Caersws
05/03 Hawfinch 24, Powis Castle, feeding behind orchard
28/02 Pink-footed Goose c.25, flying north over Welshpool
26/02 Merlin 1 male, chasing Meadow Pipit, Long Mountain near Welshpool
26/02 Pintail 3, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas, 1 since 14 Feb
14/02 Hawfinch 1, Powis Castle car-park, very vocal
23/01 Jack Snipe 1, Moel-y-Garth near Guilsfield
17/01 Brambling 80, in beeches at Pen-y-Waen near Cefn Coch with Chaffinches
07/01 Hawfinch 2, bathing in puddle, Cwm Lane, Castle Caereinion
   
See Sightings Archive for older records

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Wax(w)ing lyrical

The last 12 days we have been delighted to share the garden with  a female kestrel, and sometimes a male too, visiting the garden and surrounding trees. Yesterday we watched as she waited in our apple tree, before swooping down and catching a vole, or similar, and taking it to an ash stump to devour. Today, she has been around most of the day, preening, hunting and seeing off crows as they mobbed her.

This morning, she was joined by a group of 4 waxwings, which although smaller than the flocks at the beginning of the month, were no less special for that. We were surprised to see them in the milder weather, as  it seemed to be only on the coldest days that the larger groups took advantage of the guelder rose berries and crab apples on offer. This group certainly didn't seem particularly hungry, and spent much of the day preening, and making short forays to and fro in the garden and beyond.



Winter's not so bad, after all.                                                                                                                     


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3 comments:

  1. Kev Joynes18 January 2017 at 08:42

    That must be some garden!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eryl Selly18 January 2017 at 12:21

    Can I come and live in your house? Happy New Year by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sue s19 January 2017 at 08:24

    Kev - it's not a huge garden, and it is bordered by a busy main road, but we are lucky in having good habitat in the surrounding farmland, and the overgrown Guilsfield Arm of the canal alongside us. Also,for some reason there are still plenty of fruits and berries - only the rowan berries were taken early on.
    Eryl - Happy New Year to you all too - you're all welcome at our house any time! Hope to see you soon.

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