Thirty three hardy souls took the coach
from Stockport to the Welsh county of Ceredigion. A welcome comfort and
breakfast stop at Welshpool broke the three hour journey.
The day started brightly for Dave Evans
when he picked out a flying Woodcock, in the dim morning light, as the coach
passed junction 2 of the M56.
En-route members and friends identified a
number of birds from the coach including Buzzard, Pheasant, Lapwing and Song
Thrush. Unfortunately though, there were no herds of swans evident in the usual
locations adjacent to the A483.
Parking the coach at The Arch car park
just south of Devils Bridge gave members the opportunity to search for
crossbill in the adjacent trees. The weather was cold and light snow flurries
gave the landscape a serene nature. No crossbills were located but Mistle
Thrush and a nice flock of Fieldfare was observed.
The majority took the 5.6km walk down the valley following the B4574. Birdlife was quiet but the scenery outstanding. The journey starts at 431m above sea level and, with a few undulations, ends at 294m, so generally a downhill direction.
Most of the birdlife seemed to be centred on the gardens of the few houses at Pwllpeiran with most of the tit species in attendance, plus Nuthatch, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Robin, Goldcrest and a sizable flock of House Sparrow.
Walking on we found a fly-over pair of Siskin, a pair of Raven and had Buzzard circling overhead. Four Red Kite were seen at distance, drifting over the opposite mountain side. Unfortunately we had no luck with goshawk this year.
(Holly Page)
Picking the coach up at the bottom of the hill we got underway to the Red Kite feeding station at Bwlch Nant yr Arian (don’t worry nobody else can pronounce it either!).
Walking down to the lake the party quickly picked up two pairs of Goosander, the pristine males moving smoothly through the glossy black waters. A Grey Heron was in attendance and a small murder of crows had gathered in anticipation of the feeding frenzy.
Red Kites (Nick Hilton)
Overhead Red Kites began to gather. When the food was put out small parties of kites did relays swooping down to grab scraps from a grassy bank. With the continued movement of birds a count was difficult but circa 200 kite were in attendance. It was a fantastic sight as they wheeled and dived within a couple of dozen metres of our group. A Buzzard and a Raven kept their distance. Pat Brown located an overwintering Chiffchaff in small shrubs by the water’s edge.
With the feeding over many members took to the cafe and enjoyed a hot drink, keeping one eye on the seed feeders outside the visitor centre. Bright Siskin were in attendance with Chaffinch, Dunnock and a few of the tit family. A male Greenfinch was seen to feed a female, presumably pair bonding behaviour. The temperature had dropped and spring seemed a long way away!
Siskin (Nick Hilton)
Whilst the number of
bird species seen in the day was low it had been a great day out, a lovely walk
in beautiful countryside followed by the special spectacle of 200 Red Kites
interacting in the air above the societies members and friends.
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