Saturday 17 March 2012

A result in South Wales

Back to Gwent today to see if I could improve on my very poor record shot of the Common Yellowthroat taken on my first visit a few weeks ago. I wasn't able to leave Dorset before 0900, and by the time I got to the Severn Bridge most of the Welshmen in England were on the way to Cardiff, carrying high hopes of a Six Nations Grand Slam. This made for long queues at the tolls and on the M4. With the forecast set to turn very wet I was a bit concerned at this point whether I would arrive in time to find and photograph the bird.


It took a couple of hours to get a good view of the bird - very much on its own when it was first found in February, it now appears to be moving around with a feeding flock with Robins, Dunnocks and Wrens. It was quite easy to locate when calling, but still difficult to photograph, and it never stayed still for long. About 10 minutes after these pictures were taken, torrential rain and hail started to pelt down, and I made it to the car just in time to avoid a soaking.


The journey back was much easier with most of Wales no doubt in front of the TV - by the time I arrived back in Dorset they had secured their 3rd Grand Slam in 8 years.
Check out those undertail coverts

The Yellowthroat perched briefly on this stone trough but not long enough to photograph unfortunately

This Robin was with the Yellowthroat - but much easier to photograph

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