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Autumn Summary

Well, what a spectacular autumn that was! We haven’t had a proper autumn like that for a long time. For around 5-6 years in a row now we’ve either had strong winds at peak autumn colours or well before the autumn colours even kick in. We can’t complain this year though as it was perfect and for a good few weeks too. Along with the colours it’s been a fantastic year for Fungi too, so I’ve spent some time picking out some of my favourites in the woods at various local locations. My last blog I spoke about a new camera, and no I’ve haven’t won the lottery, but this time around I’ve also replaced my lens too, with a slightly longer ‘400mm’ instead of a 300mm. Despite the fact that it’s a longer focal length, this lens is slightly shorter in length and much lighter in weight, making it overall easier to hand hold, especially given that the built in image stabilisation offers two-three more stops of stabilisation than my older heavier 300mm. Canon has been able todo this thanks to a technique called ‘Diffractive Optic Technology’ which in theory sounds quite simple, as they have split an element in half in such a way that it retains it’s magnification. It’s actually an ingenious idea that’s quite difficult to achieve and even Canon took two attempts to get it performing on the same level as their other super telephoto prime lenses. I won’t bore you with all the details. For me it’s the ultimate trade-off between performance and weight, which has become quite important to me lately as I’ve been suffering with back issues. This design however does come at a cost, not just to the bank account, but also to the ‘bokeh’. Bokeh is a term used to describe everything outside the main focus plane, whether that be the foreground or the background. Where this design compromises a little is when you have certain light conditions in the image where ‘bokeh’ has to render bright objections. It’s most noticeable if there are pure lights or reflections in the background, and instead of getting pure circular ‘bokeh balls’ you will have bokeh balls with other smaller circles inside. If you look at the diagram below, you can see why this happens, as the image to the left is essentially what the light has to pass thru, leaving you with circles in the image. You won’t see this on anything other than those rare circumstances where bokeh balls are pure and honestly, when are they ever pure in nature! Almost never, so it really doesn’t bother me in the slightest. In the diagram below it also shows you two different versions of DO options, the middle one was Canon’s first design, which meant it had an air gap between the lenses. This resulted in loss of contrast, especially noticeable when used with extenders. The third right image is their most recent design which is even more ingenious as it affectively does the same job, but without an official air gap. Clever Canon. So, fingers crossed this lens will serve me well, for now I’m happy.

Here’s a mixture of images taken locally with both the 400 and my 100mm macro, in various places. What amazes me looking back on these images is not that they’re great images, I’m just shocked I managed to get any of them.. as 90% were taken in horrific lighting conditions. So bad that I doubt I would have been able to get any usable shots with my previous setup, so for that I am happy.

Sound Recording

Just to give you an idea of how mild it has been this autumn / winter. I recorded Roesel’s Bush-cricket’s actively moving around and singing, on the 17th of November! Absolutely crazy! I consider Roesel’s to be a true summer species, only really singing on those piping hot summer days. Granted it wasn’t giving it the full effort but I still can’t believe it had enough energy for this amount in November. #Globalwarming

The same day I managed to catch up with what’s most likely to be the same Willow Tit I recorded last year. Sadly this time it was on its own. If you listen towards the end it does some pretty epic alarm call which I have heard them do before but it’s quite a difficult one to hear in the field as it’s not that loud.

I’ll end on a high note as I’ve been meaning to set aside some time to record a Dipper singing for years but given that my local population along the Afon Llwyd is quite an urban river, I always put it off for fear of recording too much human activity. That and the fact that the Afon Llwyd is one of the fastest flowing rivers in Wales, so it’s quite loud. That said, I recorded this guy singing quite close to a waterfall and a busy school, so was surprised I managed as well as this given the circumstances. That morning I lead a walk with In Our Nature CIC and we managed to listen to two Dipper deep in a song battle, which ended up with a chase. It was great for the group to witness this and it was just the kick up the butt I needed to get down there myself with my recording gear. Lesson of the day, don’t let people put you off.


End of a Season

The picture you see below, will likely be the last of the season, as my last nest has sadly been predated. Over-all the season was a success, with all my other pairs successfully fledging two chicks each. That is a great year for these birds that don’t have a very high success rate. I suspect the failure of this particular pair was down to a Tawny Owl, that was very persistent throughout the night, doing low flights right over the nest site. I was surprised after a nocturnal session how many males were still churring last week, but I suspect it was more of a ‘goodbye’ churr, cuing to the females that the time has come, because the following days, all of my roost sites were un-occupied and I found this female miles from her nest, roosting in a tree. It’s probably a welcomed changed after sitting in mud and poo for most of the season.

Here’s a short clip of the pair seeing off a hunting Tawny Owl:

Midnight used this log roost almost every single day as it was close enough to the nest that he could keep an eye. Not all males will do this, but it made sense for him todo this the second time around, as the first clutch failed. Two sets of eyes are better than one. I only located one of the fledglings, so it’s likely that they’ve left the clear-fell now and headed to more suitable feeding grounds ready to migrate for the first time to Africa. It always amazes me how chicks know where to go..

I’ve done so much travelling between work and random birding trips since my last blog, so I won’t bore you with all the details. Here’s a selection below that highlights my favourite moments, most of which were on the Gwent Levels but some, like the Southern Dune Tiger Beetle were from the Gower. Small Red-eyed Damselflies were numerous at the reen entrance to Goldcliff Lagoons which was nice, as I’ve never seen one officially before. Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers seem to be turning up everywhere on the Levels now I know what I’m looking for. Their sound is actually quite similar to Field Grasshopper but the notes are spaced differently. You can hear it better when slowed down so I’ve including a recording below.

Sound


Below are some targeted flock recordings from Goldcliff Lagoons on a nocturnal visit. It’s quite difficult to get one of the platforms to yourself at high tide with so many visitors, especially this time of year where it becomes more popular due to arriving migrants, so I visited after dark, on a late high tide. There were still quite a few birds feeding in the dimming light, but even after dark, simply moving the dish around you can target specific species. It’s great hearing such a variety of waders in one place, with the added sounds of Shelduck, Little Egret and Greylag Geese in the background. It’s also been beneficial to me, to see different variations of calls on the spectrograph, from wader species, as it helps me ID some of the more unusual calls you get on Nocmig recordings.

Nocmig

What a turn out so far! In my last blog I spoke of how autumn migration has well and truly began, and whilst everyone knows this, I didn’t expect to get all these species over the house already! Wood Sandpiper was on my wish-list and it didn’t take long to get one! I had a Wood Sand long before I had a Green Sandpiper, which goes to show it’s not all about how common the species is, you really could end up with anything on these recordings, regardless of where you live.

Below I put together a selection of different calls, all of which I had within one night, just so you can see the visual differences side by side.

Here’s a few more species, all dated accordingly, but I’ve also had quite a few Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Crossbill, Swifts, House Martin, Swallow, Oystercatcher, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Coot, Spotted Flycatcher and many unknown smaller birds that are going to take a while to ID.

I’ll leave the blog with a Robin recording, which seems to be taking over at the moment.

Autumn Migration

I can’t help but feel the tension this time of year, as it’s a race for many bird species, to complete their breeding task and start to make their way south again for the winter. Some of my Nightjar are either during their second clutch, or are thinking about starting one, but they really want to get a move on, otherwise they risk the unpredictable weather of autumn. Pair number 1 are still roosting with their first clutch of chicks, but pair number 2 have finally kicked out the kids and look to be getting cosy again. I know this because she (Pebbles) is starting to roost with Rocky again at his favourite roost site, which I predict is where she is going to lay her second clutch. As a result he’s started to sing a little more, which has spurred on more territorial behaviour from neighbouring Male Midnight, who wasn’t on his usual log today. I suspect he’s on the edge of his territory, to make sure that Rocky doesn’t get any bright ideas and move in on his girl (which does happen quite often with Nightjar).

Their movements, roost site choices and behaviour all makes sense, the more you get to know these birds. Whilst it might appear random to us at first, there’s always a reason for their choice of roost and the more I’ve learned, the more I realise that their requirements are particular, but quite simple. So simple in-fact that there are things we can do, to ensure their breeding habitat stays in suitable condition, for as long as possible. It’s something I intend on discussing with NRW, Woodland Trust and any other land owners that happen to have breeding Nightjar, as their success rate is pretty low, at just 20%, but we can increase their chances that with some careful land management plans.

Nocmig

Finally, Autumn migration is picking up, and I’ve started to get more waders on my Nocmig recordings. I share this experience with close friend Craig Constance, who is also recording at his home, and despite living just a town away from each-other, we are both getting very different results so far. Just this week Craig has managed to get a Quail!, Green Sandpiper and a steady movement of Tree Pipit. Being on the canal, I seem to be getting quite a number of Common Sandpiper so far, but even with the canal, anything could happen, no matter where you live. Always expect the unexpected!

We’ve both been keeping our ears open for key species, Quail was one of the species that we hoped to pick up, so for Craig to get one already, was quite exciting! Wood Sandpiper was also on our list of species to look out for, and before peak has even arrived, there it was! My first Wood Sandpiper, and the classic call too, so no mistaking this for anything else. Who would have thought, over Sebastopol we’d be getting such a variety of species, some of which are quite the rarity. We usually get one or two on the coast, especially picked up at Goldcliff, and now I’ve heard one from my Garden, i’m eager to go and see one on the flesh, so I’m hoping we do find one soon. We do seem to be getting good numbers in the Uk this autumn so it’s just a matter of time.

There isn’t much left singing now, so I was particularly happy to hear two Male Greenfinch in full song on the Gwent Levels this week. Most certainly not a common sound anymore due to declining numbers. Such a pretty song too, which has been on my wish-list to record for quite some time.
The only birds that are still singing, are birds that are second (or third) clutching. You’ll probably notice that Wood Pigeons are quite vocal again too, and I’ve even seen some carrying twigs to build a second nest, or repair the first one.

The only other singers on the levels right now are random Wren’s, Cetti’s, Linnet and Goldfinch, but as you can hear below, the Linnets aren’t giving it their full effort anymore.

The Dawn chorus has been pretty poor the last couple of weeks and I’m not sure if it’s just the winter Robin song creeping in as autumn approaches, or whether it’s birds going for a second clutch, but either way, it’s nice to hear some birds singing in the morning again.

I’ll leave you with a few more photos, firstly of Midnight who’s still roosting on his favourite log. He’s the only Male that has stayed with the female throughout the entire incubation period, which I think is a reaction to the fact that they failed their first clutch due to predation. He’s keeping a close eye on her, and in doing so, gives her an early warning system should another predator come lurking. Two sets of eyes are better than one after-all.

Birthday Blog

Today I plan on doing absolutely nothing for my Birthday. It’s the weekend, the weather isn’t the best and last night I took a Piriteze tablet, which has knocked me out for the day lol. I got bit by three mosquitoes whilst recording nocturnal waders at Goldcliff Lagoons the other day which has left me itchy all over. Even though piritize usually helps with this sort of itchiness, I have a bad history with piritize, so I don’t take them often. They do make me extremely drowsy and I learned this the hard way as I ended up in A&E a few years ago after taking too many!. They completely knocked me out, like a very strong sleeping tablet. Jodie literally had to peel me off the floor, it was quite worrying at the time. I laugh now, but truth is, it was very stupid of me to not take the correct dosage, so please always read the box before taking any new form tablet. They might be small but they pack a punch!

Anyway, quick update on Nightjar’s. I have three pairs that have successfully fledged two chicks so far and the 4th has just started their second clutch having failed their first. I think they’ve only laid one egg like last year but I refuse to flush her off the nest to find out, like so many nest finders and photographers do.
I’m going to take this opportunity to educate people about Nightjar photos they might be seeing online. IF you see a female Nightjar on a stick with her eyes wide open, or wings in an awkward position, it’s because she has been flushed off the nest. I’m seeing plenty of photos online from irresponsible photographers who don’t know what they’re doing and are looking for that ‘perfect photo’ with the birds eyes open. If you do your job property as a wildlife photographer, which is to NOT to disturb them, their eyes should remain shut or slightly open, called ‘slit eye’. This shows that the bird is trusting in their own camouflage and stil believe they have not been spotted. If their eyes are wide open, you have got too close and the bird fears for it’s life. These birds should only have their eyes fully wide open at night and it makes me sick that there are people out there who are willing to disturb females off the nest just to get that one shot. Absolute idiots! I could easily name names, but I hope that they’ll read this blog and know that they aren’t fooling everyone. There will always be people out there that know the truth behind the photo.

In other news, we had a few days of sunny spells which has brought me back into bug hunting mode, which has finally lead me to find my first pink morph grasshopper! I think it’s a Field Grasshopper but without its usual colour features it’s actually quite hard to tell without it singing. In the same patch was a few Mottled Grasshoppers too and I seem to be finding Roesel’s Bush-crickets wherever I go now! With hundreds singing on the Gwent Levels, Llandegfedd, Pontypool Park, The Race Meadows, Green Meadow, Cefn Ila, and most unusually at an upland site near my Nightjars too. I’ve seen more long-winged Roesel’s this year than any year previous, so I believe this year is one of those exceptional years where conditions were so perfect, almost perfect enough for plague levels of dispersal. This does happen from time to time with locust species across the planet, but I don’t believe it’s anything to worry about here.

Here’s a slomo version of this very loud iconic, electric sound. In slowing the recording down you also bring the pitch down, which means everyone can enjoy the sound of this cricket as some may not be able to hear them as they’re so high pitched and we all lose the top range eventually. I’m losing it slightly in my right ear and I’m sure it’l catch up with me eventually but till then, I’m making the most of it.

Another loud but high-pitched grasshopper is that of a Long-winged Conehead, which is a personal favourite as slowing it down reveals this incredible pattern, otherwise inaudible at full speed.

I’ve done a lot more sound recording this month than photography, making the most of what’s left of summer weather. During surveys I’ve put out unmanned drop rigs, just to maximise productivity whilst at these beautiful locations on the Gwent Levels. I’ve really come to love the place even more after these surveys. Every tide sounds different, as the weather totally changes how the water hits the shoreline. Sometimes it bubbles up thru the mudflats, and others it crashes in like waves on a sandy beach. Here’s two examples below, both high tide in the exact same spot, sounding totally different both times.

I also took a trip to the Canyon, where I found plenty of butterflies, including a Humming-bird Hawkmoth feeding on bramble flowers on the cliff-face. I went there to record the sound of the small waterfalls, but I think I was a little too close now, listening back it can sound a little ‘tinny’ and that’s because the waterfall hits many rocks on the way down, so it’s just a collection of very small sounds, so I would have been better off further away, to capture the sound of the entire waterfall as a whole, instead of just one section of it. Lesson learned. It’s the equivalent of photographing a beautiful landscape with a macro lens.

Goldcliff Lagoons

Goldcliff Lagoons is a classic example of brilliant conservation. The management plan here, to keep the site in pristine condition for breeding waders, is almost perfect, keeping the grass short with cattle, and the water levels just right so that it’s not too deep, and not too dry, leaving just enough shoreline to keep many wading species content but also enough deep water to keep a constant ecology of aquatic invertebrates that provide a constant food source throughout all four seasons. That in conjunction with a high electric fence around the perimeter to keep ground predators out. As a result it’s become a safe haven for many declining bird species such as Avocet, Little Ringed Plover and Lapwing. Post-breeding we start to see the arrival of winter migrants and amongst the hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, were plenty of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Knot, Redshank, Whimbrel, Curlew, Lapwing, and some fresh arrivals in the form of a single Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Sanderling, Green Sandpiper, Whinchat, Yellow Wagtail, and the infamous Glossy Ibis that’s been present for a few years now: So long that’s it’s been named ‘flossy’.

I timed my visit straight after a survey, as it was high tide and still fairly early with my survey finishing at 6:50am. It’s nice when you have high tide line up with the early morning sun, as theres usually more birds present and they’re all lit up by the morning sun, with all the platform and hides on the east side of the lagoons. I didn’t get much time to myself as it’s a popular location for birders, but here’s a few short recordings from the Snipe Platform, of Black-tailed Godwits feeding and a single Oystercatcher performing like it was spring again.

Beings I didn’t get much time alone, I planned a late trip at the next available high tide, which was at 10:30pm. Being dark by then, you couldn’t really see that much but I did see / hear large numbers of Curlew and Whimbrel arriving just after sunset and plenty of arriving waders making sound, but unfortunately the wind levels were too high for sound recording with a parabolic dish, so I’ll have to try again.

This late visit was the reason why I got bit by Mosquitoes 3 times, as there was a HUGE swarm over the lake. So large that you could hear the swarm over the top of the wind and thousands of waders!

Whilst I’m on the Nocturnal, here’s a recent heterodyne recording of a Pipistrelle Bat from a Bat Survey. Heterodyne is a process that transposes the ultrasonic frequencies produced by the Bat, down to an audible pitch that we can relate to. It’s still not the best way to appreciate the complexity and tonality of these Bat sounds but it’s the quickest way to ID Bats in the field, with use of a Bat Detector.

Nocmig

Autumn migration is finally here and I’m really starting to get some decent numbers of waders coming over my house in Sebastopol. I’m lucky here as I’m not too far away from the canal, which the birds are clearly using to navigate during the night on their migration.

There was one night that was particularly good, as we had short rain showers and low cloud, which wasn’t enough to stop waders from migrating, but was enough to bring them lower to the ground and therefor easier to pic up by the microphone. This resulted in a movement of 9 Dunlin, 7 Oystercatcher, 1 (possible 2) Redshank, 2 Moorhen and 1 Common Sandpiper. Here’s a few recordings showing mixed flocks also, which proves that these birds are often moving together. Since this day I’ve had some days with nothing at all, and the odd Oystercatcher, with a few Common Sandpiper. Autumn hasn’t even started yet so it should be an interesting season to come! Who knows what will end up over the house .

Colourful Tenerife

First blog of the year, Happy New Year! It’s been very busy over Christmas but nothing a week away with Jodie in Tenerife couldn’t fix. This is only my second time on a plane and my second time to Tenerife. I’ve not had many chances to travel like this growing up but I have enjoyed Tenerife, as, despite the much hotter climate and vastly different habitats, I couldn’t help but notice many similarities. The list of birds wasn’t large, but I added a few extras from my last trip, in the form of Barbary Partridges, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Blackbird, Great Tit, African Blue Tit, Common Sandpiper, Little Egret, Monks Parakeet, Canary Chiffchaff, African Collared Dove, Canary, and plenty of Kestrels. It wasn’t a birding trip, I actually only brought my Macro Lens with me for portability. All the photo’s below were taken with a 100mm lens, which presented its challenges, especially with the Red Rock Crabs which were hot on their toes the minute your head pops over the rocks. Most of the Reptiles are endemic, such as the Tenerife Lizard, of which there are two subspecies between the north and south. These are the northern variety. Anyway, I’ll leave you with these photographs, I’ll interject a few more in later blogs but I didn’t take that many.

Llandegfedd Delivers

It’s always good to have a regular patch to check throughout the year, not only do you get to learn a lot more about the site but you also give yourself more of a chance of finding something significant. Sharing a patch with a more experienced birder also helps for sure! and I’m lucky to visit Llandegfedd with Craig Constance as he really is religious about birding Llandegfedd and this week it paid off with a striking Male Smew. Last year we had a Female but she only came onto the reservoir when the water level was high on the usk river and she didn’t stick around for long. You need to time your visits in accordance to the weather and we learned a hard lesson this morning as the fog put a lot of birders off this morning, but an avid birder on the damn waited till the fog started to clear and managed to spot a Great Northern Diver leaving the reservoir and carrying on south. It goes to show how easy it is to miss migrant birds.

You’ve already spotted the pics below, but whilst watching the Gull roost we were graced with extremely good views of Jack Snipe from Petingale hide! I’ve been closer, almost standing on some in the past, but I’ve never had extended views like this. It was truly magical, and an experience I’ll never forget. I love birds that camouflage themselves. They don’t have to be colourful, but if they do have vibrant colours like this Jack Snipe, it is certainly a bonus.

Autumn Migration

To be fair, we haven’t had a bad Autumn so far with regard to the variety of migratory birds turning up. The usual Redwing, Fieldfare and Brambling were a little later than usual but in the last two weeks, with temps and weather deteriorating, we’ve just started to get some sizable flocks coming through. We also had a surprise visit on the Blorenge mountain in Blaenavon in the form of this beautiful male Snow Bunting. Hard to believe this male was totally black and white in it’s breeding plumage but as they move off the snow-covered mountains from anywhere between Scotland to Alaska, they usually end up wintering in areas where there isn’t any snow, so they actually darken their overall plumage to help keep them camouflaged to their surroundings. We usually get one or two arriving this time of year, often picked up on coastal paths, especially during cold winters where they’re pushed further south. If you got to see the bird yourself, you would have seen how tame the bird was around people. It would literally walk straight up to you and feed around your feet: You tend to find birds that are from these high altitudes or harsh environments, that they aren’t scared of people, after all, they very rarely encounter people, therefore haven’t learned to fear us.
As you can see, some of the photo’s are in the actual car park! I included a picture of my car wheel as the background to give you a sense of place.

I’m almost done with my Mimicking Firecrest writeup. It’s taken some time to accumulate my data recordings into anything conclusive but I realise now that It’s not always possible to draw conclusions from one season so I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. I have found a few more mimicking species this week though, this time in the form of a Blue Tit, which was following a Long-tailed Tit flock around, as most small birds do this time of year for security. This mimic makes a lot more sense to me, as in order to keep up with a Long-tailed Tit flock, which are constantly on the move, you either need the same high energy, or you need a tactic to slow them down, which is exactly what I believe this bird is doing. Long-tailed Tit families are loyal to each other and won’t leave a man behind. They ensure this by constantly communicating with each other to ensure they don’t stray away too far from each other and it’s this behaviour that I believe the Blue Tit is exploiting. By mimicking the LTT call, whether the Long-tailed Tits think it’s one of their own or not, they will come to investigate, which is exactly what happened in the middle of this recording where a single call made was actually a LTT. See if you can pick out which one is the real LTT, if you can’t, then the Blue Tit has done a good job!

Nightjar and Firecrest Progress

Despite having a tough year so far, both financially and with my health, I still feel privileged to spend my free time with nature, and even more privileged to spend most of that time with Firecrests and Nightjar this season. I started the season collecting Firecrest recordings as I wanted to learn more about their mimicking behaviour. There are still many unanswered questions but I’ll update on this soon.

I’ve since got a little distracted, as Nightjar season has well and truly started. It’s almost a full time Job to keep track of the birds roosting patterns. You’ve got to be extremely cautious and committed to find roosting nightjar. Cautious because you don’t want to cause any disturbance, especially now in breeding season but also because they will inevitably see you long before you see them and flushing them is simply not an option if you wish to ever see them again. It’s a huge trust exercise and they need to learn that you are not a threat, so trampling thru breeding habitat hoping to find one is asking for problems. It’s knowing where they won’t be rather than knowing exactly where they are. I’m so glad I read up on these birds and took some great advice off experts as the last thing I would want is for my presence to have a negative impact on their breeding success. As a result I’ve witnessed some fabulous behaviour and characteristics of individual birds.

Meet Blackbeard, The male from pair no1. He prefers to roost in dense cover and as a result I’ve decided to leave him alone this season as there’s no way of approaching him silently. I’ve called him Blackbeard as he’s considerably darker than all my other Nightjars. Not just his throat, but the stripe down his breast, around his lower eye and also down his back is quite dark. He’s generally more rufous with a wider range of colours.

Blackbeard (Male no1)

Blackbeard (Male no1)

This is his current Female that I’ve named ‘bark’ as she prefers tree stumps and has consistent colouration from head to tail like tree bark without any lichen. Not a very feminine name I know but it’s descriptive enough for me to ID in the field. She was my first ever self found Nightjar. She’s now sitting on eggs but is also in deep cover so this pair I tend to enjoy watching at night only, from a vantage point, rather than pursue them in the day time and possibly cause disturbance.

Female no1

The second pair is a complete different ball-game, and are much easier to approach without making too much noise. They’re both roosting close to the ground but he likes logs or even plastic tree guards. She’s about 10 meters away in a small ditch and is now also sitting on two eggs. I’ve named male no2 silverback due to his overall light shade of grey. He was proving to be quite an attentive partner but since we’ve been having heavy rain, he’s taken to a more sheltered part of the forestry 60+ meters away which is very dry. Do you blame him? I don’t. The female however has no choice but to endure the elements till nightfall where the male then brings her food or they’ll swap over so she can feed. I do wonder if Silverback has gone off with another female while she’s been sat on the eggs as there is a female even closer to his current dry roost that’s been landing on the path and wagging her tail in front of him. He has shown interest in her so it wouldn’t surprise me if he did copulate with her too, this is common with Nightjars. Once his original female has hatched her eggs however, he should take over parental duties when the chicks are large enough, at which point he will copulate with her again, and she’ll lay a second brood elsewhere. The saying, ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ is a literal strategy for these birds and in doing this, they increase their chances of survival, even if only one chick manages to fledge.

This pair is a reminder that they’re so vulnerable to predators on the ground, whether it’s snakes, other birds, deer, badgers, foxes, mice, PEOPLE.. there’s so much out there that seek to kill them, which is why they invest so much (or so little) energy into keeping up their ‘log’ act. It’s vital they aren’t seen moving in the day time. Not so easy when you’re soaking wet and cold, or boiling hot in the sun with insects crawling over you.

Below is female no2 which I’m now going to call ‘lichen’ as the contrast of her dark shoulder really makes the lighter wing strips stand out, like a patch of lichen on a branch. She also has quite short wings and a more rounded shorter head than the Male who has a long, flat head shape. Their shape does vary as they manipulate their plumage in different positions but these features are generally unmistakable in the field once you’ve spent some time with them. This is her below sitting on the eggs, it’s a cropped image and from quite far off as I’d rather not disturb her.

Lichen Nightjar Female Sitting

This next bit might make some laugh, but I certainly didn’t find it funny at the time, but a group of young irresponsible adults bumped into me one night while recording Nightjar at dusk. They didn’t bother me at first and showed very little interest in what I was doing but they did turn the music up louder in their car to annoy me. What they did next though questions their insanity.., as they must have drove all the way home, picked up a family members wind instrument (possibly trumpet), with the intent on coming back up the mountain so they could destroy any chance of me getting clean recordings. Take a listen below, you couldn’t have made this up honestly.. Skip to the end..It’s actually hilarious the more I think about it. I just can’t believe the measures some people are willing to take to disrupt other peoples lives.

Between the trumpets, I was watching quite a few bats on the wing while watching the Nightjar and all I could hear thru my headphones were the faint sound of beating wings. I did wonder if my Telinga Microphone could actually pick up such high frequencies and it turns out, IT CAN! After slowing my recording down in Logic Pro X, I was able to pick out each ‘tweet’ that the bats were producing. These tweets are not audible without slowing the recording down but i’m amazed how much detail I was able to capture. It makes me wonder how many bats are in my previous recordings and the only way of telling would be to lower the pitch or slow the recordings down. I’ve always wanted to record bat sound but always thought I would need a Bat detector to do so.

I do have 3 other pairs of Nightjar that I know roughly where they’re roosting but you need to spend weeks observing them before considering yomping thru their habitat. Please be responsible, all breeding birds are protected and I would not be pursuing them if I wasn’t 100% sure I could do so without disturbance.

Cinemagraph Photography

Cinemagraph Photography

To keep my sanity at yet another bad period of health, I've found myself spending the last couple days expanding my knowledge and finding new ways to display my photography to you. 
This is a 3 minute introductory to a new style of photography, called 'Cinemagraph Photography'. In my last business meeting it was discussed that it would be beneficial for me to start doing more video content, and for a photographer, primarily capturing still imagery, this seemed like an odd thing to do, after-all, if I wanted to take videos, I'd buy a video camera right? Maybe one day..
For now, I think adding a little movement to my images may just make photography within video a little more interesting to watch. 

Cinemagraphing is the combination of video and still imagery in the same sequence. Let me know what you think? 

All of the images / videos used in the video below were taken at Llandegfedd Reservoir