Oxwich

On Friday afternoon, I felt the need to escape, but the rain was pouring down, so where could I go? I decided to pay a visit to the new hide at Oxwich Marsh on the Gower Peninsula. At least I'd be dry, even I didn't see anything!

Here was the view from the hide:

There were very few birds about: just a handful of Teal, almost hidden over the far side of the pond; a male Shoveler, which flew off after a few minutes; a fly-past Grey Heron, which my camera failed to lock on to; and a couple of Little Grebes, of which this was one:

I had heard that a female Hen Harrier had been around recently, which was the main reason for my visit. At one stage, as I was at the other end of the hide to my camera, I looked up only to see the said Hen Harrier quartering the reeds opposite the hide. I hurried back to my camera (there was no-one else there), but the bird had by now disappeared. Fortunately, it reappeared after five minutes, and I was able to take a few shots as it flew past at some distance. This is the only one where the bird is not facing away from the camera, although it's quite a big crop:

After this, the rain became a constant downpour, and I didn't see the harrier again in the remaining two hours I was there.

The weather was a lot brighter on Sunday, today, so I decided to head down there again. Before entering the hide, I took this shot looking across the dunes to Oxwich Bay:

Here was the view looking out from the right-hand side of the hide:

There seemed to be even fewer birds around than there were on Friday, although there were one or two almost-hidden Snipe on the small island just in front of the hide, and this drake Teal which came out into the open for a while:

Another Teal flew down to the left of the hide, and I was able to get this silhouetted shot as it floated on the sunlit water:

A small family group of Mute Swans were on the lake. Here are three of them:

I think reeds are stunning plants, and took a few shots of them whilst waiting for any birds to arrive:

Finally, about 4.30 p.m., a female Hen Harrier appeared from behind some distant trees, and I managed just this one shot of her (which is cropped to about fifty percent of the original frame):

About a half-hour later, I spotted the distant form of the beautiful, pale-grey, male Hen Harrier, circling over some trees. I managed a few shots, but they are so distant as not to be worth posting. Just before I left, I saw him roosting in the low branches of a distant tree.

There was just time for a couple of photos of the low-angled evening sunshine lighting the dunes:

and one more looking into the sunset:

before heading off.

I suppose there are worse places to live than Swansea!



Cowslips and an Orange Tip

Late yesterday afternoon, I visited Oxwich, a nature reserve on the Gower Peninsula. Several times, I had gone past a field here, about this time of year, that was ablaze with Cowslips, a typical flower of British meadows, but now in decline. It was a calm day, so I thought it might be a good time to stop and photograph these yellow beauties - assuming they were there and in full bloom. I needn't have worried, as the field was choc full of these distinctive plants:

As I entered the meadow, an unfamiliar bird flew low towards me; its long-tailed and -winged appearance giving it a bird of prey-type profile. I thought it was perhaps a Hobby, or maybe even a Kestrel, but as it flew past, almost overhead, I realised it was a Cuckoo. These birds are rather scarce around here, and it was so long (several years) since I had seen one, that I had forgotten what they looked like!

This was a good start, and I thus spent the next hour or so wandering the field, taking a few snaps, and sitting just taking in the peace and beauty whilst refreshing myself with food and drink.

I took these two pictures with my Canon 7D and a 70-200mm lens:

I then switched to a 17-40mm lens with an extension tube to get a wide-angle perspective:

As you can see from this shot, there were a few other plants amongst the Cowslips, including plenty of Bluebells, and this Dandelion seedhead:

As I was walking away from the large bulk of Cowslips, my eye was caught by a single plant growing in a sheltered corner on its own. An Orange Tip butterfly was resting atop, which made a beautiful colour combination. It was so docile, I was able to approach very closely, and photograph it from several angles. Using extension tubes on the 70-200mm lens, I was almost on top of it. I wished I had brought my 90mm macro with me for some even closer close-ups. That's what I get for being lazy! Anyway, a few photos:

All in all, it was a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours on a calm Sunday evening, at a place I will have to return to very soon!