Of course the species that everybody looks for in the Wetlands is the Bearded Tit. Until this year I had never had any success with photographing males. Yesterday I was on target to get some good shots of three adults on the opposite side of the pontoon bridge when out of an almost deserted windswept reserve appeared two novice birders. Standing a few feet away from the subjects they proceeded to take out their reference book to check the ID of the birds pinging in front of them and of course the birds fled.
Today I returned to the bridge and met up with Dai Casnewydd who used to post regularly on here until the website 'upgrade' which he finds so difficult to use he's given up. It certainly needs more expertise than the original version. We bemoaned the loss of friends who no longer share their thoughts on here, Cath, Pontycyclops, Barman 58, to name a few. I think the blame for this lies fairly and squarely with the adoption of the new system and as there has been such a dramatic fall off in participation the decision to change cannot be considered to be a success.
Anyway back to today. We did spot Beardies but they really kept their distance. I said goodbye to Dai and went off to look for the Cuckoo, no luck I'm afraid so I decided to call it a day. On the way back to the car I decided to give the bridge one more go. I'm so glad that I did as I was greeted by pinging and a really good display. The only fly in the ointment was the lone biker who decided to push his bike through the reserve and over the bridge just as the Beards were at their best. it made quite a racket and visual disturbance as he pushed it past
Nice set of shots John. I've yet to see a Bearded Tit although there were a couple recorded at Loch Leven last year. Fingers crossed that they appear this year again.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
Hope so Paul, I know they've been spreading to different areas here in Wales and also reported last year over in Cotswold Water Park, Gloucestershire, which I think was a new species for them. Their one requirement are large beds of reeds so if they've got those there's a chance they'll stay.
Lovely photos, John, and it is great that you finally were able to photograph a male Beardie. We did not see any Bearded Tits today, but that was most probably because we are not early risers! However, the first thing we saw at the Wetlands were 2 Cuckoos! Sadly too far away to photograph, but they were calling intermittently the whole time we were there.
Kind regards, Ann
Nice update John and photos of the Bearded Tit, lovely birds but often hard to find so well done and thanks for sharing. Good to hear they are spreading and that Cotswold W.P. now have them :) think they had a good breeding season last year with the milder winters unlike the two bitterly cold winters 4/5 years back.
_____________________________________
Regards, Hazel
It's always welcome seeing photos of the Bearded Tits. Very good photos too. That last look around when you may have gone back to the car seems to pay off. I remember reading the report from M. Meehan when he found the Savi's Warbler had a similar theme. A day when he was ready to head off home but decided on one last walk around...
About posting to the forum: I remember the first time I tried finding it frustrating to add photos and media. Using the rich formatting solves most of the issues and the system seems smooth to me.
Thanks Ann, Hazel and Colin for your kind comments.
Ann the surprising thing is that the Beardies didn't show well until about 11.00 am, so although as a general rule the earlier you get there the more you're likely to see in this case it didn't matter. Keep hearing that Cuckoo but still elusive!
Hazel I was down at the bottom end of Newport Reserve in the late Summer/early Autumn last year when I saw a flock of Beardies ascend to an incredible height and then head East. There were sightings at Cotswold Water Park a couple of days later. Coincidence?
Colin I don't have a problem with the current interface either but it seems that others do. It is true that the previous iteration was simpler and didn't require photos to be reduced in file size, just a simple 'photo' button and browse to the .jpeg. It worked well and judging by the fall off of contributors it seems to have been more popular.
I had another lucky last minute sighting today. On my way back to the car park I saw a Heron on the out of bounds pathway that runs from the right of the first screens up towards the hide, so I went up to the gate to photograph it. I heard a pinging behind me and there was a male Beardie perched on one of the reeds to the left of the screens and I got a couple of shots of it. They were OK but not as sharp as I would have liked. Then walking back past the screens there was more pinging and three Beardies were in the reeds to the right of the path just past the screen and I got probably my best ever shots of a male. Hope to post those soon!
John, the amount of hours you put in you deserve all these sightings. Well done.
I don't,t find the forum a problem, I have certainly used worse.