Annual visit to a Welsh Oakwood. 3rd May 2019

Every spring Mrs Caley and I head to the Sessile Oak Woods in mid Wales near Llandovery to catch up with some of the special birds that spend the summer there. Last year we had a fantastic day out at the RSPB's reserve at Gwenfrwdd-Dinas enjoying great views of all of the Oak woodland specialists as well as twitching a rare Green Heron in Pembrokeshire as a diversion on the way (written up here Rainbow birds). That trip would take some beating or even some living up to but it's always a journey we look forward to undertaking despite it being over 3 hours driving from our home.

The day was made more complicated too by news coming through as we drove past Abergavenny that a Red-rumped Swallow had been seen at Grimsbury Reservoir at Banbury, a bird I'd only seen once before! We were too far away to turn around and anyway the bird may have gone before we got back so we continued on our way. But the fact that Banbury was hosting a fine bird and we couldn't get to see it unless it stayed just conspired to put me on edge all day! I remember when in Scotland once that as we'd been driving towards Handa for a day out on the island that a Bee-eater had been seen in Tarbert where the small ferry leaves from. While waiting for the boat we'd looked for the Bee-eater with no success so had boarded and travelled to Handa as planned. As soon as we'd set foot on the island news came through that the Bee-eater was still there which then made, what should have been a pleasant day viewing the seabirds of Handa, one fraught with anxiety instead since I wanted to see the Bee-eater. But all ended well when just moments after stepping off the boat after returning to the mainland I spotted the Bee-eater hawking for insects over a gorse covered slope. Hopefully the Red-rumped Swallow would stay long enough for us to catch up with it the following day.

Bee-eater, Nottinghamshire July 2017

We weren't blessed with last years fine and sunny weather and as we parked the car it looked more like rain showers with the sky that sombre grey colour that makes you wonder what will come next. We had driven through quite a bit of drizzle on the way but figured that at least we'd be under the cover of the trees if it did rain and if it did then, well we were in Wales after all. The major problem from my point of view with gloomy weather is that conditions for photography are difficult particularly when under the trees where it can be quite dark. Nevertheless we were both eagerly anticipating seeing those special birds once again and set off along the boardwalk.

A Garden Warbler sang heartily from almost the same tree that we'd seen one last year but was tricky to locate in the foliage. It was very noticeable just how much more leafy the trees were this year compared to last year when there was a late spring owing to the effects of the "Beast from the East" which set everything back several weeks. The extra leaf cover led us to think that maybe we should have visited the week before but then we remembered that Storm Hannah had battered this part of the world then. Anyhow I did mange to pinpoint the singing Garden Warbler and took my first shots of the day.

Garden warbler

One of the best things about Gwenfrwdd-Dinas is that you only have to walk a short distance and you are into Pied Flycatcher territory and sure enough I soon saw a male flying between the trees. The Flycatchers make full use of boxes provided to nest in, these woods contain over 250 nest boxes and almost as many pairs of Pied Flycatchers!

Pied Flycatcher (male)

The Pied Flycatchers next box was adjacent to a tree that also had other nesting birds. Surprisingly pairs of Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Nuthatches were both using tree holes no more than 3 feet apart in the same tree, so close that they were likely sharing the same cavity in the tree trunk! I thought, knowing how omnivorous that Great Spots can be, that the neighbouring families may be in for a torrid time a few weeks later but for now they all seemed to be getting on amicably enough.

Nuthatch

Great Spotted Woodpecker (male)

We watched the male Flycatcher (#202 on the year list) for a while and noticed the more demure female drop down from the upper branches to settle on a twig next to the entrance hole of her chosen next box. She was holding a few strands of nesting material in her bill ready to add to her chosen home. After waiting a few moments to make sure all was well, she entered the nest box, exiting just a minute or so later when she once again perched on the same twig and made sure the coast was clear before continuing on her search for further additions to her home decor.

Pied Flycatcher (female)

A beautiful SongThrush hopped up onto a log during one of the few brief interludes of sunshine and casually surveyed its surroundings. Song Thrushes share these woods with their bigger cousins the Mistle Thrush.

Song Thrush

I noticed a brightly coloured smaller bird whirr past. Fortunately it stopped on a small bough revealing itself to be a gaudily attired male Common Redstart, one of many that we'd see in the woods. Birders often suggest that the UK's native avifauna is dull when compared to that of other countries, but in my opinion the male Common Redstart takes some beating by any other richly plumaged birds. They are very dapper little chaps!

Common Redstart (male)

After spending some time watching the Flycatchers, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers going about their various nest building businesses and seeing other birds such as Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs we moved on deeper into the woods intending to reach the river at the southern end of the reserve where because of the steep bank you can get eye to eye with Wood Warblers. But as we reached the end of the boardwalk we could already hear at least 2 Wood Warblers (#203), their trilling song audible at some distance. These beautiful little birds, decked out in beautiful yellows and olive greens can be tricky to locate in the similarly coloured leaves but after a bit of effort I managed to find the nearest of the birds. A bit of neck craning was required to get good views.

Wood Warbler

News came through that the Red-rumped Swallow had departed Banbury so I no longer had to worry about that although I still rued my luck in choosing to be in Wales on the same day it turned up. Oh well, there'd be another one to see somewhere one day. The woodland floor was covered in a carpet of Bluebells, something we hadn't seen last year since they too would have been affected by the late spring. I tried to capture the essence of the flowers in the woodland setting but with only a 400mm lens to use I could only take close ups of course. It took a while but I remembered that my phone has a camera too so I took a few wider angle views with that. Not professional standard by any means but, as they say, you get the picture.

 A few of the natives immersed themselves in the glory but also helped themselves to a healthy snack!

A sudden movement on the path just ahead alerted us to a tiny Wood Mouse which on detecting us scuttled away into the longer grass at the path edge. We stood still and the Mouse reappeared and settled almost at our feet where it fed on small seeds. It remained there totally unnerved by our continued presence until we left it be and carried on our way towards the river.

Wood Mouse

In the event we out of luck at the river ravine since there were no Wood Warblers there this time. We did gain consolation in another showy male Common Redstart that was claiming territory close to the bench where we rested to take our lunch. A male Pied Flycatcher was also in this area and frequently flew into a nest box just down the slope.

We walked back and saw our first Tree Pipit of the year (#204) but it was high in the canopy and soon disappeared into the foliage. Many Wood Warblers could be heard singing high up on the slopes and we encountered more Pied Flycatchers and Common Redstarts. On reaching the boardwalk again the same Wood Warbler as before was still singing away and this time offered up better views.

Mrs Caley spotted a Dipper fly past down at the river, I missed it since I was too occupied with trying to photograph the Wood Warbler. Buzzards and Ravens both soared above the crag on the opposite hillside and Cuckoos called away high up on the moor. Leaving the Wood Warbler behind we came upon a male Pied Flycatcher which had luckily landed on a branch right beside the boardwalk.

We were back at the carpark, our fill of the Welsh woods over for another year but before leaving we finished off our picnic next to the bird table and had close up views of the areas more common species. Great Tits, Chaffinches and best of all Nuthatches all came for a picnic of their own feasting on seeds left by earlier visiting birders and photographers.

Chaffinch (male)

Great Tit

Nuthatch

We broke off on the long journey home for a coffee stop at Raglan. The phone related that the Red-rumped Swallow had reappeared at Banbury! The cars SatNav informed that it would take 2 hours to get there, we'd make it around 19:00. We were on our way!

As we traversed across the Cotswold the clouds ahead of us got denser and darker and much to my annoyance the rain started falling around Stow-on-the-Wold and was really heavy by the time we had reached Chipping Norton. Thankfully it had abated by the time we'd parked up at Grimsbury Reservoir. We walked as quickly as Mrs Caley could and joined the half dozen or so of our fellow Oxfordshire birders who were assembled at the north western corner but none were staring at the reservoir. My friend Kyle told us that the bird was "out there somewhere" but did manage to give us its approximate whereabouts. I found the Red-rumped Swallow flying quickly along the surface of the water easily enough but tracking it in the failing light wasn't easy. Fortunately the fast flying hirundine kept within a fairly restricted area so I was able to keep tabs on it but the big challenge now was to get Mrs Caley onto it. I set up the scope pointing at a lifebelt on the opposite shore and told her to watch that point. I then gave a running commentary of the Swallows movements and luckily the Red-rumped flew past that point so Mrs Caley had the bird too. Conditions were poor but I managed, by aiming randomly towards the lifebelt, to capture a couple of record shots. The Red-rumped Swallow was only the second that I've seen after a bird at Daventry Reservoir over 15 years ago. Hopefully it would remain overnight and still be present in the morning when the weather forecast was much improved. 

Red-rumped Swallow, record shot