Early birds at Gilfach Reserve

The dippers are building their nest under the bridge again. Watching from the otter hide it's interesting to see how they dunk each beakful of moss several times in the river. This is to get it well soaked so that they can plaster it against a vertical surface. It's a bit like slapping a wet rag against a wall and making it stick there.
The early ravens should be on eggs by now but the Gilfach pair didn't seem to be about, until yesterday, when I saw one land on the old nest site.Perhaps they're just a bit later starting their nuptials.

I've just put up five new bird boxes in the oakwood. These are to replace ones that have reached the end of their useful life. There are over forty boxes in the oakwood and more than sixty on the Gilfach reserve as a whole, plus one or two specials such as owl boxes. We have one tawny and one barn owl box. Over the years the barn owl box has been host to squirrels and jackdaws but last season we at last had a pair of barn owls in it. I don't know how many young they reared but from a distance I could see their faces at the entrance hole. If they've managed to survive the long snowy spell they may be back again in the coming season.
We have a little pond on the reserve that never freezes, the other day I noticed that it's full of frogspawn. The first sign that spring will soon be upon us.

I've just been for a walk along the Marteg to get a few photo's of the "Winter Wonderland". In places the river is frozen over with ice up to three inches thick and the falls look like a magic grotto.

A great spotted woodpecker was drumming away by the Longhouse and a green has started a half hearted calling down in the railway cutting. The tawny owls were at their usual roost in the tunnel entrance and in an alder tree by the river was a mixed flock of about 40 siskins and redpolls with a few goldfinches. Above the river I watched a molehill being formed, about every 30 seconds earth was pushed up from below causing that on the surface to roll down the sides. I never did see velveteen and when the snow crunched under my feet he stopped work.

Christmas Day at Gilfach Reserve

Christmas Day and we're snow bound here at Gilfach. We should have gone back to the Midlands for Christmas with the kids but the Welsh weather dictated otherwise.
The snow does have advantages. It's great to see the tracks left by the creatures of the night. There are many more rabbits than I realised and the fox has been everywhere, even around the Longhouse.
Today I've walked along the Marteg and followed otter tracks for about 300 yards. It had walked mainly along the bank, just dipping into the river every 50 yards or so. A kingfisher perched on an overhanging branch looked larger than life, I think this was due to the effect of bright sunlight and light reflected off the snow.
On a slightly negative note, I've not found any brown hare tracks. They're usually to be found in the oakwood and in the meadows below the wood.