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 perched right on top of a Hawthorn at Gilfach Nature Reserve. 

Talking of Redstarts, there was a pair nesting in the eves of the cottage we were staying at. I say cottage, it was an old Welsh longhouse managed by the Elan Valley Trust. 

Another Oak woodland speciality of the Elan Valley is the Wood Warbler, which is usually heard more often than seen, as it sings from the very top of the canopy. 

I was heading back to the car after a days walking when I heard a male Wood Warbler singing very close by. I watched it as it worked its way down the tree, getting ever closer. Eventually, it was almost at eye level and gave some absolutely cracking views, showing its beautiful lemony-yellow wash on the face very well. 

I attempted to video the Wood Warbler and managed to capture its song as well (make sure to turn the sound up!)

I was walking along a small woodland path when two owls flew through the trees and landed in a nearby Oak - an adult and juvenile Tawny Owl. I managed to get a fairly clear view of them before they were dive-bombed by Blackbirds, Robins and a Pied Flycatcher!

Emerging from the woods into the meadows! 

One of the people staying with us was very knowledgeable about plants and whilst visiting the hay meadows they pointed out some interesting species such as Greater Butterfly Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid, Wood Bitter Vetch and Sheep's-bit Scabious. 

On a walk up to one of the hay meadows I noticed this splendid Green Tiger Beetle on a bank as it sunned itself. I think its one of Britain's most stunning of invertebrates, the colours are just spectacular! 

I recently attended a solitary bee ID course which really sparked an interest, of which there are around 275 species of in the UK.

This species of Blood Bee (Sphecodes sp) was on the same bank as the Green Tiger Beetle. 

Blood Bees are a type of parasitic bee which usually parasitize mining (Andrena sp) or Furrow (Lasioglossum/Halictus sp) bees and are difficult to identify to species level. 

Just a few feet away from the Blood Bee, this female Fabricius' Nomad bee (Nomada fabriciana) was flying around. Like the Blood bee, the Fabricius' Nomad is another parasitic bee, and usually parasitizes mining (Andrena sp) bees.

From the lowland meadows we're heading to the uplands.

One of the species I was hoping to see was the Bilberry Bumblebee (Bombus monticola), a scarce bumblebee restricted to upland habitats. I was pleased to come across this worker whilst it was feeding on some Heather, and managed to get a quick record shot before it flew off. 

It is a nationally scarce bumblebee but populations on known sites seem to be fairly stable. 

The Bilberry bumblebee can be identified by showing a very prominent red tail and two buff-ish bands on the thorax and top of the abdomen. 

However, the main ID clue is the habitat; don't expect to find these in your gardens! 

Whilst not an upland specialist, I had my best views of Tree Pipit at Carn Gafallt, which is an upland area near to Caban-coch reservoir. They can be told from their much commoner counterpart, the Meadow Pipit, by showing a lot less streaking, especially on the flanks.

For comparison, here's a Meadow Pipit taken at the same location.

My next upland location is a site near to Claerwen reservoir, where I was lucky enough to see breeding Curlew.  To see Welsh breeding Curlew is very special indeed, as they have declined hugely, mainly from lack of good habitat. 

I watched a Buzzard swoop down and try and attempt to catch a chick from the nest. As there are now so few breeding Curlews, compared to decades ago, any chicks that are predated have a significant consequences for the future of Curlews.

A beautiful sight, with a rather melancholy backstory.

A few miles further on I found a pair of Whinchats in a patch of Bracken. The male was giving the best views, showing its stunning white supercilium and orange/buff throat. Such beautiful birds.

Some other interesting species that I saw during the week include Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Small Heath butterfly, Wall Brown butterfly, Redshank, Spotted Flycatcher, Wheatear and Brown Hare.

A brilliant week away!