Only because I don't work at Llandegfedd anymore, doesn't mean I don't love the place. Despite being open to public, you can still get the North end hides to yourself for the day and it still has some great passage birds, if you can spot them!. Lucky for me I have a friend who's devotion to birding Llandegfedd exceeds the average jo's 'patching' efforts. Craig Constance time's his arrivals in perfect accordance for spring and autumn migrants and to be fair and so far we've had quite the arrangement.. he finds them, and I turn up late and photograph them. Seems fine to me?

I have a few things to thank Craig for this time around though as he also got me my first opportunity to photograph a Purple Hairstreak Butterfly in his Garden that decided in the hot weather that Craig's tropical sun-tan lotion was suitable enough for drinking, as it literally landed on his chest haha. Take em while you can! Usually Purple Hairstreaks stay right up in the canopy of mature oak tree's, and all you usually get is a fleeting glimpse of them chasing each-other as a spec in the sky. This was a first for his Garden that backs up on the same woodland that Peakmans LTD want to carve a new road thru.. I'll say no more. 

In the bunch  below you'll also see a very detailed shot of a Dark Bush Cricket. They remind me of the sound of late summers nights, as they're the only species of Cricket here than continue to chirp throughout the night. Llandegfedd is a great place to hear this spectacle at night but it can also be heard in many other parts of the countryside.