The prospect of a sunny Bank Holiday had me off to the top of the lake and a wander along the Green Trail to see what was around. Drop in to our shop and visitor centre to collect a trail guide to all our trails and find out the latest information before going out to explore the reserve.
My first sighting was of Tom, an ex-intern from a couple of years ago who had popped over for the day, which may have been the biggest surprise of the day! After a quick chat it was back to the real wildlife with singing redstart around the car park and a distant view of a spotted flycatcher. Along the stream both a grey and pied wagtail were bouncing along the rocks only as a wagtail can, tail going like a metronome.
Pied wagtail below waterfall by Gavin Chambers
Looking skyward the local pair of peregrine were hanging in the strong wind and a couple of raven soared over with their distinctive deep croaking call. Another redstart decided to really show off and sit proud at the top of a tree and burst out its song while clinging on as it swayed in the wind.
Male redstart singing along Green Trail by Gavin Chambers
The woodland section of the trail started with a distant cuckoo calling and a male pied flycatcher keeping guard around its nest box. Unlike the pied flycatcher a singing blackcap made itself extremely difficult to find despite sounding very close and a spotted flycatcher sang directly above in a dead tree.
Common sandpiper below dam by Gavin Chambers
A walk to the Centenary Hide produced an energetically singing garden warbler which showed very briefly and a newly fledged grey wagtail chick. Walking back to the car park a dipper gave a burst of song and a common sandpiper floated downstream, they have also recently been seen feeding along the dam wall.
Previous Blog: All about Ffridd