Sunset Shorties

My first welsh post from Saturday was entitled 'Welsh birder in Wales part 1' so this should really be called part two but that would be a bit boring so have opted to cancel the sequel and go for a different title. Short-eared Owls have long been a favourite of mine and used to be fortunate to live not far from here.

This is Waunafon Bog near Bleanavon, its nothing special to look at but for some reason its a Short-eared Owls delight. I will at this point apologies to any non-welsh readers for the strange place names, my spell check is going nuts! Back to the owls, for at least the past 5 winters up to five Short-eared Owls have made this their winter home and they have provided incredible views for a large number of birders. Views aren't quite so easy these days as barriers have been placed across the road that leads to the bog which means you have to walk. Wales is often a but chilly in winter which is probably why there hasn't been any reports of owls at the site for a few months. Despite no recent reports of Owls I went along and hung around for a while and two these eventually showed. Its nice to catch up with old friends!

It's also worth mention a walk I went on yesturday, I decided given the amount of Great Grey Shrikes in south Wales to try to find one myself. Didn't see any despite walking about 9 miles covering 5 different clearings but did see plenty of Siskin and Redpoll both in full song, a pair of Crossbill, 2 Goshawk one of which was thinking about displaying and a single Red Kite.