Newton Farm, Scurlage

There has been a small colony of the rare and declining Tree Sparrows nesting at the ruins of Newton Farm on the Gower Peninsula since at least the 1970s. Feeders and nest boxes have been put out for them by various conservation organisations for the last few years. I went out to see them twice about three years ago, and was planning to head out again last winter, hoping to get some better shots. Sadly, I heard the sparrows seemed to have left the area, and so didn't bother. A couple of recent sightings of a single bird at the feeders prompted me to head out to the village of Scurlage this last Wednesday. I set up my camera and tripod about twenty yards from the feeders to see what turned up. Eventually, amongst the numerous House Sparrows, I spied a single Tree Sparrow. This was the best shot I managed of it, which is not quite sharp, but will have to do for now:

The sun soon appeared, making for quite a nice afternoon. The Tree Sparrow (I assume there was only one as I never saw more than one at a time) visited the feeders occasionally, but frustratingly tended to feed round the back of a feeder, making decent photos impossible. I had to content myself with photographing this male House Sparrow:

And this Great Tit:

As well as this female Chaffinch (male Chaffinches didn't seem to have the intelligence to work out how to land on the feeder!):

Another cock House Sparrow:

At one point, a Sparrowhawk dashed through, although there were no birds on the feeders at the time, so I don't think it caught anything. (I wonder if he's been eating all the Tree Sparrows?!) Besides the birds on the feeders, the only other birds of note I saw were a few flyover Ravens, and a couple of small flocks of chattering Fieldfares.

As I was packing up, the sky began to colour up, so I quickly plonked my big lens on a tripod and zeroed in on this distant tree:

I altered my positioned, so that the tree was positioned against the brightest part of the sunset sky:

I added a 1.7x converter to get in as close as I could. I think the bird perched in the treetop is a Buzzard:

I took one last shot, before trudging across the muddy fields for home:

Recent Bird Shots

A few avian shots from the last few days.

Coal Tit:

Male Chaffinch:

Nuthatch:

A couple of days ago, I walked along the coastal path from Langland Bay to Caswell Bay, hoping to see Choughs. There were none there, although I did hear my first spring migrant of the year - a singing Chiffchaff. I had to content myself with photographing the Feral Pigeons as they flew past:

Carrion Crows seem to always appear when I walk along Swansea seafront. I'm sure they can pick me out from other people, and zero in on me as a potential source of food. Here's one who suddenly appeared when he saw me eating my sandwiches:

Today was a beautiful, almost summery, day, and I went down to the park for a bit in late afternoon to see what was about. No sooner had I sat down to eat my sandwiches (food again!), than I heard a strange squawk from above. I looked up to see the lonely male Ring-necked Parakeet, exactly where I saw him about a year ago when I first started this blog: 

He was clearly getting into the breeding mood, and was peering down towards this nest hole which has been commandeered by a pair of Jackdaws:

Unfortunately for him, the nearest female is probably hundreds of miles away!



Park- and Shore-birds

I went into the Botanic Gardens in Singleton Park for half-an-hour or so before they closed this afternoon.

Here are a few of the shots I took:-

Blue Tit:

Coal Tit:

Male Chaffinch:

Robin:

Magpie:

After the gardens closed, I walked along the seashore to Blackpill, where it was high tide. Here, there was the usual large gathering of Oystercatchers; smaller numbers of Curlews; a handful of Ringed Plovers and Dunlins; half-a-dozen Knots; and a flock of several hundred Sanderlings, of which this was part:

Birds in the Park

This lunchtime, I went down into my local park with my camera, and a bag of peanuts to feed the birds. Here are some of the results.

Blue Tit:

Robin:

Male Chaffinch:

Another Robin:

Female Blackbird:

Nuthatch:

I then tried taking a few backlit, 'contre-jour', pictures.

Great Tit:

Nuthatch:

Eventually, I managed a shot of the fast-moving Coal Tit: