Spring woodland birds of Mid Wales
As it’s coming towards the height of spring and activity with migrant and resident species picks up, males setting up territory’s and the first broods being fed, its a good time for a new blogpost featuring a few birds encountered whilst exploring the valley slopes and ancient oak woodlands of Mid Wales. The upland areas and open countryside in Wales, interspersed with farms, copses and river valleys provide a haven for a few breeding species that are not found or very isolated and extremely rare breeding near me in Southern England. In Mid Wales however especially around the Cambrian mountains, it tends to be the fact that if you’re in an area with the correct habitat and preferably more upland woodland, then you should be in luck. Photographing certain species is difficult but watching their behaviour, favourite perches to sing from or bring a beak full of insects to and their preferred feeding spots will be the key to getting great views from a safe distance.
The two main target species I had here on my last visit were the Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher. Both particularly symbolic to the habitats they’re found in, within the UK. A little bit of scouting around the farmland and patches of woodland near where we were staying produced the first Wood Warbler and the one I’d end up spending every morning with whilst there. I still remember entering the thick birch forest surrounded by sheep grazed hill slopes and hearing the Wood Warblers energetic trilling song resonate through the trees, practically instantly as I entered the woodland. It was a fairly small clump patch of woodland with very few birds, but enough habitat to support this male on territory. I set up nearby and waited further away to watch his routine and the cycle he would use, flying from perch to perch and which ones were favoured.
An old oak woodland dispersed up the hillside, starting from the river and slowly fading as they got higher up the hill until they merged with the bracken of the hilltop, making way for open landscape. It was here in these upland Welsh deciduous woodland where I would encounter plenty of Pied Flycatchers, many already feeding chicks. Throughout the woodland it seemed the flycatchers would pop up everywhere, both males and females, often boasting a beak full of insects. Common Redstarts were also present in lesser numbers as where a few Spotted Flycatchers which made an appearance, often silently and would disappear into the canopy.
The Pied Flycatchers were using a mix of nest boxes and natural cavity’s within the trees. Many of the flycatchers I would find along the trail, flying down to the ground, catching prey at mid levels and bring their catch into the nest. Watching from a distance away as to not disturb their routine with feeding their chicks, it appeared both parents would return to the nest within mere minutes if the last one. Sometimes whilst walking along a male would perch in the open and seem to like the open areas along the trails.
A fun encounter was when one of the males landed at the base of a mossy covered tree as caught a caterpillar, the depth in the surroundings and textures showing nicely in a dimly lit scene.
Working with the individual Wood Warbler over the course of week was incredibly enlightening into the behaviour of the species. I believe the male may have been a lone individual, holding territory and not with a mate, sadly singing an unheard song, as I never saw a second individual, or optimistically the female was on eggs. Preferring the mid to third of the way up the tree as a position to sing from, the warbler would feed between the branches and leaves, perch up and give a burst of song. Then, move onto the next branch and do the same. Compared to other warbler species this is one of the easier ones to get grips with photographing, as they tend to stay still whilst singing and like open areas and clearer branches, more often than other species which may stick to dense undergrowth or canopy. The early mornings were best, as the intense light hadn’t come through yet and the cover the woodland made for nice compositions. As the morning progressed the warbler would often disappear for longer and singing would quieten down.
Posing for a few moments at a time, sometime the environment present would allow for some smaller in the frame shots, openings in the leaves and fine rays of light illuminating portions of woodland and just waiting for the right moment until the warbler would perch in right place.
Along the edge of the woodlands and in the more open countryside, which in much of Wales is vast sheep grazed land, small stone walls, copses and river valleys. Here the Willow Warbler is present in large numbers, hearing them practically everywhere and constantly one of the most dominant sounds in the landscape. Along with Meadow Pipits breeding in the open grassland and scrub, both species below photographed at different sites but on the same kind of blossoming tree against a bright overcast sky.
This part of the country is one of my favourites to be in during the spring, it still holds much of the breeding avifaunal diversity that’s missing elsewhere and the very wild areas make it thoroughly enjoyable hiking and exploring as you search for them.