|
Written by Pip
|
|
Friday, 11 December 2009 14:26 |
River Walk at Gilfach Reserve
I've just been for a walk along the river. The level was perfect for leaping salmon but in half an hour at the falls I didn't see any. It looks as if the run is over for this year, it started earlier than usual in early November. Heavy rain and high water levels made for rather poor viewing although there were one or two good days.
There are still salmon in the breeding shallows, today in one redd I could see four large fish. Also plenty of otter signs in the form of fresh spraints and footprints in the sand.
Away from the river, two tawny owls roost in the tunnel entrance. Today they were so close to each other that it looked like one fat body with two heads. I don't know whether they're a pair or siblings, but I look forward to seeing them each day.
|
|
Written by Pip
|
|
Saturday, 14 November 2009 20:55 |
|
Leaping Salmon at Gilfach Reserve
The salmon run started early this year. There's a steady run, with some of the biggest fish I've yet seen. Todays high river level will have slowed things down but as the water drops there should be some good viewing. The otter has already been seen hunting the "middle pool" (not by me). This time of year the otter is a regular visitor to our stretch of the Marteg, as shown by the part eaten salmon along the banks. |
|
|
Written by Pip
|
|
Monday, 09 November 2009 17:27 |
Thrushes at Gilfach
We had a wonderful crop of rowan berries this year but the winter thrushes along with large flocks of starlings cleared them all in just two weeks. They've moved on now, just a few fieldfares left to do battle with the resident mistle thrushes.
I wonder whether birds can taste what they eat. I watched a fieldfare eat six rowan berries in as many seconds, in contrast a bullfinch took a berry and "chewed" it letting the less palatable bits fall away.
|
|
Written by pip
|
|
Saturday, 07 February 2009 22:15 |
|
The snow has opened a window into the secret nocturnal world of Gilfach. Along the Trod, fox and badger tracks run side by side. Probably made many hours apart, but it's easy to imagine them walking along together as in some child's story book. Fox, badger and rabbit have all been in the farmyard during the night and brown hare in the oakwood. At one point in the wood I found the signs where a tawny owl had taken a small rodent. All small birds are struggling to find food. All that is except the dipper, foraging as it does under the water it is unaffected by the snow. |
|
Written by pip
|
|
Tuesday, 06 January 2009 21:25 |
|
The Tuesday Volunteer Group were on the hill today cutting the gorse. The idea is not to remove all the gorse, but to make inroads into it, making more 'edge' thus creating nesting sites for yellow hammers, stonechats and maybe the redpolls which seem to favour this area, although they probably prefer the birch trees.
After many days of sub zero temperatures it's hard to imagine that for some, spring is in the air. But for several days now, three great spotted woodpeckers have been competing to see who can drum the loudest. One's using the apple tree right outside my bedroom window. The ravens too are showing interest in last years nest site and have been showing off doing their upside down flying routine. They are one of our earliest breeders and will be sitting on eggs by the middle of March. |
|
Written by pip
|
|
Thursday, 01 January 2009 21:48 |
|
A Happy New Year to everyone. The sun never reached Gilfach today and the trees stayed white with frost throughout. There's a lot of otter activity on the Marteg, judging by the number of spraints and footprints I'm finding, but apart from that, the only life on the river seems to be the ever present dipper. Lately I always manage to flush a woodcock or two as I walk around the reserve. The first I know of them is the flutter of wings as they get up a few feet away. I've never managed to spot one on the ground. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 3 of 4 |
Gilfach Blog
