Chrimbo

Things seem to go in cycles, and, this year I managed to be very lucky in photographing mammals. So, it is with help of the furry ones that I wish everyone a really good Christmas and all the best for 2012

Vintage racing and sports cars - my heritage

Whilst sitting here suffering from a terrible dose of the dreaded lurgy (really really bad man flue ~ really bad) I have started to try and track down two cars that my father owned when I was ‘but a snip of a lad’. Namely, a vintage Lagonda and a vintage MG racing car. Many thanks to both the Lagonda and MG car clubs for their help in locating the cars and for the information they have sent to me. Yes, possibly I am on one of the photos.

PBG Conference on 26 Nov 2011

Not much has happened on this Blog for a little while mainly because I have spent my time preparing for the Pembrokeshire Bird Group Conference, going to various meetings (and Christmas lunches - hmmm) and preparing and delivering a presentation to the ‘Tenby Camera Club’

Many thanks to the Valero refinery for hosting our annual Pembrokeshire Bird Conference at their site in Pembroke. It was again a great day with both entertainment from our Birding World alongside fascinating current research and future projections.

Just a couple of pictures above showing but just a few of the work horses and speakers together with Graham Walker (Cambrian Bird Holidays) suggesting yours truly may have a resemblance to ‘Pudsey Bear’

For more info please visit http://www.pembrokeshirebirdgroup.blogspot.com/

Whale Festival - Brighton

A few days away and a time to relax, or was it! A visit to the Whale Festival at Brighton for two days and being on the exhibit/stand by the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre was both great fun and highly rewarding. A great opportunity to meet people from other groups and organisations as well as the chance to show lots of people what we are about. I used the opportunity to spend a few days away and visit a number of reserves and Wetlands as well and take a few photos on the way.. What a small world it is!!. Opposite to our exhibit was ‘Elding’s Whale watching’ from Reykjavik (Iceland). Following my trip to Iceland this year (photos eventually) another chance for a good ‘old chin wag’ with them. Also present were Thousand Islands Exhibitions from here in St David’s waving the flag for Wales and many other friends and groups from other areas and countries as well.

Isaballine Shrike – Porth Clais – St Davids

Having spent the last 4 days in Worcestershire watching beautiful autumn leaves and flocks of Redwing ,Fieldfare and charms of Goldfinch I was ‘chaffing at the bit’ this morning back in St Davids to hopefully see the Isaballine shrike present whilst I was away. And, yes, here it still is.

Otters ~ Cardigan

Over the last few weeks many, including myself have been lucky enough to see the ‘Otter family’ on the Wildlife Trust reserve at Cilgerran. Fantastic if tide and fortune are with you.

Crossbills

In the forestry plantations of North Pembs we have lots of Siskins and Crossbills at present. Very difficult to take photographs of them in the tree tops but great fun watching. Today near Puncheston a flock of about 30 XBills, lots of Siskins, Bullfinches, Fieldfares, Caffinch, Jays, etc a Red Kite and a Sparrow hawk.

Two days of Bottle nosed Dolphins

Two days from Newquay on 'Sulaire' with trips organised by the CBMWLC and FoCB produced some excellant sightings and very much needed data on BND's. Also bird wise a Cerdigion first for me in the form of a Pomarine Skua

A Bay To Remember

Yesterday saw another trip to Cardigan but this time to go on a boat trip with ‘A Bay To Remember’. A lovely trip with lots of Bottle nosed Dolphin as we headed up the beautiful coast to Mwnt. We then headed south passed Cardigan Island and across the River Teifi to find lots of seals and brilliant caves and geology. (PS Photo of boat taken 2 days before the trip)
Thanks to both Tony and Tim – For more information see link ‘A Bay To Remember’

A visit to Cardigan

At last, a chance for a day out, with better weather. Managed to get to grips with a Ring billed Gull in Cardigan and some excellent cliff top sightings of Bottle nosed Dolphins

Pembrokeshire Bird Conference 26th November 2011

This years Conference is being kindly hosted by the Valero Pembroke Refinery at their site near Pembroke. See programme for more details and via links to the Pembrokeshire Bird group. Double left click on programme to view. Also, for details of the Bird Group meetings please use the link to 'Pembrokeshire Bird Group'

All monies from ticket sales go directly to the Wildlife Trust – if anyone would be kind enough to donate a raffle prize items will be gratefully received.

Raptors in Cyprus and Dovey Ospreys

Having received an email from a friend of mine (Owen of R and R travel) telling me of good Raptor passage in Cyprus today (many Steppe and Honey Buzzards, Black Kites, Marsh and Montagu's Harriers and a lone light phase Booted Eagle) I spent all afternoon at the Dyfi Osprey project looking at an empty nest !! However, that is excellent news as having fledged three chicks possibly this morning was the day the last of them went off for the winter. Not only is this the first breeding in the Dovey for many years but the first time the breeding of both birds of a new pair has been studied in such detail. Not only that but the results and info have been made freely available to thousands of visitors as well as providing good views. Many congratulations to the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and the Dyfi Osprey team. If only we had this in Pembrokeshire!!
More info on
http://www.montwt.co.uk/dyfiospreys.html

Newgale beach - Pembrokeshire - this morning

I visited Newgale earlier following reports on TV of problems with shearwaters etc. At the Rickets Head end of Newgale beach (Pembrokeshire)there were hundreds (yes) of Manx shearwaters in the surf trying to get out to sea, and safety. Gulls were simply waiting for the exhausted birds to come ashore and provide a meal. At least 50 dead MShears partially eaten were near the rocks. Victims of the storm also included some Gannets, both adult and this years birds and also an Atlantic Grey Seal in milk.

Unfortunately with storms from SW and W at this time of year we see this on Newgale beach. Well done to the RSPCA and people like the gentleman I met this morning for rescuing as many birds as they have.

VSCC Vintage and Historic racing cars

Another of my little interests!! Following a visit to Shelsley Walsh Hill climb in Worcestershire it was an opportunity to see some of these super cars in action at Pembrey last week end. So close to home as well, just could not be missed.

Although the cars are virtually the same after over 70 years in many cases improvements to the race track and tyre compounds, on the grounds of safety, mean they are often achieving better times and speeds than when first raced – although worth a fortune they get raced to the limit. This, and not museums is just how racing cars should be seen.

Marine Wildlife - Pembs and Ceredigion

Please have a look at the link below for more info and photographs regarding marine Wildlife off the coast of west wales

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7l_JWQwzJk

Friends of Cardigan Bay (FoCB) and Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre (CBMWC) Cardigan Bay Dolphin Survey Trips and more

Yesterday was the fourth of a series of boat trips with Friends of Cardigan Bay and the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife in New Quay that I have been on this year. These boat trips are a joint project between the two groups and are to carry survey work on primarily Bottle nosed Dolphins. Each trip has a number of volunteer researchers on board, whose role is to collect the important field data and photo-identification images. In order to help fund the research work spaces are made available on board for a number of paying passengers whose contribution and support for this valuable work is greatly appreciated by the groups.

Trips like this have been running via the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre for many years and the data, observations and information collected by both groups for many years is adding significantly to our knowledge of how many dolphins use, live, and visit Cardigan Bay, as well as understanding the importance of this environment both to them and for the survival of other marine life in this area.

By using photographic identification techniques nearly 300 different bottlenose dolphins have been identified through photo-identification and have been catalogued and studied whilst spending time in Cardigan Bay. Not only do these studies provide us with fantastic information about site usage of the species as a whole but of the lives of individuals, birth rates and group associations etc.

Not only activities of bottlenose dolphins are studied but also locations etc of Harbour porpoises, Atlantic grey seals and sea birds as well as other marine species that are encountered..

For further information please check out the following sites
http://www.friendsofcardiganbay.org/
www.cbmwc.org

Yesterday’s trip was absolutely brilliant with Dolphins leaping all around the boat. Not only that we also saw Porpoise, Seal pups, many birds including, Sooty Shearwater, Mediterranean gulls, Peregrine Falcon (making a ‘kill’) feeding Gannets and of significant interest along this stretch of coast the sighting of a Puffin. Other recent trips have seen Leach’s petrel, Balearic Shearwater, and of course many Manx Shearwaters etc.

Yesterday’s trip was again fully booked so to find out more or to make a booking please look at www.cbmwc.org, www.facebook.com/cbmwc, or twitter @CBMWC

Or phone 01545 560032 to enquire or make a booking

Offshore on Celtic Wildcat - 17 August 2011

With a group from the Mid Pembs and Bird Group section of the Wildlife trust I went ‘Offshore’ from Neyland on the Celtic Wildcat to watch sea birds and marine mammals.

Having passed Grassholm and seen the only gannet colony in Wales we went further out to sea, where there were lots of Auks, Shearwaters etc. Having laid a bait trail we were visited by Storm petrels and a Bonxie. Eventually we had approx 90 Fulmars swimming around the boat – mostly they has swam to us as they were in moult.

What and an absolute treat for all. Having seen many seabirds, a few porpoise and some pods of Common Dolphin our skipper spotted Whales in the distance. As they came closer to us we many exciting views of them, as best as we could we decided there were between 10 and 12. By this time we could see they were Fin Whales. They were accompanied by ‘bow wave riding’ common dolphins and Manx shearwaters. A couple of hours later we spotted another two Fin Whales which may or may not have been from the initial group.
Many thanks to Robin Taylor for organising the trip on our behalf.