Elan Valley
Earlier this month, I had a week away in the Elan Valley, birding and walking. I was joined by some fellow naturalist friends who brought their various expertise along too! The Elan Valley is a very beautiful part of the world with a mix of habitats including moorland, hay meadows and ancient Oak woodlands. While it is famous for its many reservoirs and dams it is a brilliant place for wildlife. One of the specialities of the Oak woodlands are Pied Flycatchers , which could be seen flitting around in the canopy. The males are a very striking bird, with white underparts and mainly black upperparts with a white wing panel. The female Pied fly' is more understated than the male, being browner and duller overall. Pied Flycatchers are usually quite difficult to see well, so I was lucky to have such good views of this pair. Redstarts were often seen on the edge of the woodlands and seemed to be much more 'showy' than the Pied Flycatchers. This male was per...