Only twenty-three hardy souls took the
coach from Stockport to the Welsh county of Ceredigion. The usual comfort and
breakfast stop at Welshpool produced a pair of Goosander on the canal at the
car park.
Leaving Welshpool we quickly picked up our
first Red Kite of the day and they were seen frequently from the coach on the
rest of the journey. We also identified Mute Swan, Little Egret, Cormorant and
Grey Heron from the coach. As we neared Devils Bridge small parties of
Fieldfare, along with Starling, were picked up feeding in adjacent fields. A
Raven passed over as we approached our destination.
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The view from The Arch car park (Holly Page)
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Parking the coach at The Arch car park just south of Devils Bridge the
party alighted to be greeted by a bitterly cold cutting wind. This set the
scene for the majority of the day, the weather was a huge challenge and clearly
impacted on the number of birds we saw. A quick look around the conifers at the
car park produced a couple of Siskin but none of our target bird, the Common
Crossbill.
Most of our small party took the walk down the winding road, although
Eric found a slightly different route through the trees and chanced upon two
Woodcock. Only the bird feeders in the gardens at Pwllpeiran produced any bird
activity. Great, Blue and Coal Tit were numerous with the odd Chaffinch and
Robin. A couple of Pied Wagtail fed on the floor under the feeders. Siskin and
Nuthatch were also identified in the area along with Song Thrush and a Meadow
Pipit in the adjacent fields.
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| Siskin (Holly Page) |
Towards the end of the walk we started to
pick up other species with a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard and Jackdaw
seen. Most of the party picked up Red Kite and a couple had a brief glimpse of
a distant Peregrine.
At, the now usual
location, at the end of the walk a handful of people connected with a male
Goshawk which gave good views over the adjacent wooded hillside. At the same
location most of the group connected with a party of twelve to fourteen Common
Crossbill and a couple of people had brief, but clear views, of a huge female
Goshawk. For those that didn’t get a glimpse of any of these birds it had been
a very cold and frustrating walk!
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| Nant yr Arian (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. On
arrival we all walked down to the lake as feeding had commenced. Over two
hundred Red Kite were in the air with counts varying between two hundred and
twenty to two hundred and eighty birds. Whatever the number it is always an
impressive spectacle. The photographers amongst us went snap happy and the whirring
of motor-drives commenced!
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| Snap-happy photographers! |
Out on the small lake a pair each of Canada
Goose, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe and Mallard were present with a small number
of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. In the adjacent trees a large party
of Carrion Crow gathered waiting to pick up the scraps left by the kites. A
couple of Buzzard also were in attendance.
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| Red Kite (Alan & Glo) |
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| Red Kite (Holly Page) |
With the feeding over many members took to the cafe and enjoyed a hot
drink. The feeding station outside the visitor centre was visited by Siskin, Chaffinch,
Dunnock and a few members of the tit family.
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| Beautiful scenery from the viewpoint at Nant yr Arian (Holly Page) |
One of the visitor centre employees showed
Brian live CCTV footage of a nesting Tawny Owl. The box location was not
divulged but the poor bird was sitting with its back covered in snow.
The long journey home only added Moorhen
and Kestrel to the day’s relatively brief list.
Birds seen:
| Mute
Swan |
Dunnock |
| Canada Goose |
Robin |
| Mallard |
Song Thrush |
| Tufted Duck |
Redwing |
| Goosander |
Mistle Thrush |
| Pheasant |
Fieldfare |
| Little Grebe |
Blackbird |
| Cormorant |
Goldcrest |
| Little Egret |
Great Tit |
| Grey Heron |
Coal Tit |
| Red Kite |
Blue Tit |
| Goshawk |
Nuthatch |
| Buzzard |
Magpie |
| Kestrel |
Jay |
| Peregrine |
Jackdaw |
| Moorhen |
Rook |
| Lapwing |
Carrion Crow |
| Woodcock |
Raven |
| Black-headed
Gull |
Starling |
| Herring Gull |
House Sparrow |
| Lesser
Black-backed Gull |
Chaffinch |
| Woodpigeon |
Greenfinch |
| Great Spotted
Woodpecker |
Siskin |
| Meadow Pipit |
Common Crossbill |
| Pied Wagtail |
Total = 49 |
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