Swallows of Martin's Haven

The small cove of Martin's Haven, from where we set off for our boat trips two weekends ago, has only three buildings, one of which is a block of public toilets, with a small information room next door. Swallows are now nesting in both buildings, with a small hole having been cut in the top of the info. room's wooden door to allow swallows access to their nest. The toilet doors are left open at all times, allowing unhindered access to the several pairs of birds which nest in both the men's and women's toilets, as well as the small porch between the two.

Here's one bird perched on the guttering outside the building:



Turning left into the men's toilet, I managed to photograph this adult feeding its young at the nest:

This bird would sometimes perch on the cistern, before visiting its nest (there was a sign on the side of the cistern indicating that a swallow had recently fallen in there, and that someone had put gauze over the opening to stop it happening again - what a way to go!):

The following three shots are of the well-grown brood which were nesting in the building's porch:

I finally got fed up of hanging around in the toilets (there was hardly anyone around), and went out for some fresh air, where I was able to capture this swallow as it dashed over a nearby cornfield:



Trip to Skomer Island

I've just come back from a couple of days in Pembrokeshire in west Wales. We had booked a trip to Grassholm on Monday, so decided to while away Sunday with another boat trip, this time to Skomer Island. Not the ideal time to visit, as most of the breeding seabirds, including the Puffins, had left by the end of July. Also, the Short-eared and Little Owls, which had raised young on the island, had now moved across to the mainland.

Anyhow, as we landed on Skomer, and walked up the landing stage, I looked back to see this Grey Seal bobbing in the water below:



The most obvious and numerous avian inhabitants remaining were the large colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls:

One of this year's well-grown youngsters:

We walked up towards the buildings at the island's centre, from where we had this view across the swathes of Common Ragwort to St. Brides Bay:

Numerous Swallows were nesting on the old buildings, with this bird perching on a solar heating panel:

We had been told by the warden on arrival that there may still be a single Little Owl around the farm buildings, and perhaps one Short-eared Owl hunting the nearby valley, but all we saw were a few Manx Shearwater corpses, perhaps the victims of the predatory Great Black-backed Gulls:

Continuing onwards to the far side of the island, we arrived at Skomer Head:

From here, we could see the distant form of Grassholm Island, with its white covering of Gannets:

As we sat down to eat, a Herring Gull appeared, no doubt hoping for some titbits:

We decided to head clockwise around the island, soon arriving at somes steep cliffs opposite the Garland Stone:

We had been told we might see Peregrine Falcons here, but we didn't; the Grey Seals laying on the rocks below having to suffice:

I was able to photograph this Fulmar from above, with the dark sea as a backdrop:

Similarly with this Lesser Black-backed Gull:

We continued our clockwise walk, and eventually ended up back at our starting point for the 3 p.m. boat back to the mainland. Having come at the wrong time of year, it wasn't nearly as wildlife- or photographically-rewarding as my visit last year, but it was still a nice way to while away a few hours on a pleasant late-summer's day.

Anyway, last (and definitely least!), once back on the mainland, we decided to climb up to the to the Deer Park (the headland overlooking Skomer) for a spot of Chough chasing. Turning round for a moment, I spotted this long-lens brigade pointing their equipment at some bushes near the Martin's Haven car park:

There was obviously a rare bird about, but what? I went down to investigate after an hour or two's Chough chasing, but everyone had gone home by then.

 It was not until the next day that a birder told me that the bird in question was a Melodious Warbler, which had been in the area for a week or so. We scanned the area briefly, but couldn't see anything unusual, although we didn't try too hard. I'm not really a 'twitcher', but it would have been nice to see it. 

By the way, if anyone knows the identity of those strange creatures pictured above, please name names!



Very Late Swallows!

Walking along the seafront golf course here in Swansea today, I spotted a familiarly unfamiliar bird flitting overhead. Familiar because it is is a common enough visitor to these shores; unfamiliar due to the time of year, when they should be well away on their return journey to Africa. Was it or wasn't it? I looked a little closer, and sure enough it was: a Swallow! I watched it dashing to and fro above at breakneck speed, doing all it could to evade me and my camera's vain and feeble attempts to capture it in flight:

 After half an hour, it was joined by another bird, and they flew back and forth over the grassland for a further twenty-five minutes, before disappearing south-westwards towards West Cross and the setting sun. I dare say the last Swallows I shall see this year, and probably the latest I have ever seen!

Kidwelly

Early on Monday evening, I went for a couple of hours to Kidwelly, a small town in west Wales, between Llanelli and Carmarthen. I first went down to Kidwelly Quay, where the River Gwendraeth flows into the Burry Inlet. It was high tide, so the mudflats were covered, and the usually-present wading birds were conspicuous by their absence. This was the scene that greeted me as I looked directly into the sun across the estuary:

A pipit landed on the wall quite nearby:



I noticed another fellow pointing his lens towards some old farm outbuildings, so I went over to see what he was photographing. There was a small group of young Swallows, which presumably had nested close by, perched on the ruins. They allowed a close approach for some pictures:

I then walked the short distance up into the town, and crossed over the river and looked back towards the estuary into the low sun:

I came upon this small reedbed:

I spotted these knapweed seedheads, and photographed them against the sunset with my 500mm lens:

This intriguing small plant was growing in a meadow, and I put my 500mm 'macro' lens into action on it:

Finally, as the sun set and the moon rose, I was able to photograph the lunar light behind these Lombardy Poplar trees: