Neil Donaghy

Happy to get my first two Sand Martins of the year through Kenfig Pool this morning, but they didn't linger. Photo from Spring 2020.

Thanks - sorry for the extra work for you... May have to invest in a USB keyboard soon!!

Here are a few more from my Japan winter trip in Feb/March 2023. Japanese Murrulet, Black-faced Spoonbills, male Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch and a a breeding plumaged Saunder's Gull.

unable to add any hashtags Adam as the key on my keyboard is broken...

After a very quiet month at Kenfig NNR, I joined the February Northern Wheatear club at Sker this morning with @deanbolt.bsky.social I only managed a brief glimpse upon finding it before it was flushed by a jogger, and I didn't see it again, so here is a photo from there in Spring 2024

Yes - it will be one month and maybe some extra days in Tokyo as I didn’t see much of it last time…

Oh yes, I sure am!! But, we will come to Hokkaido again too on that trip.

Thank you Jan - that's very kind of you 😀

Thank you Toritori - I will be back in 2029, but this time in spring. I am already excited as we will also go to the Southern Islands 😁

A few shots from my trip to Japan in Feb/March 2023. Slaty-backed Gull, Dusky Thrush, a previously unposted Steller's Sea Eagle image and a pair of displaying Red-crowned Cranes. What a fantastic experience in every aspect!!

We have a mix of migrants and breeders on the reserve Phil, but today there were at least two pairs back on territories that have been absent since last week of December plus a lone male. Quite a few Chiffs and a male Blackcap the last few days too. Loved your Thailand pics by the way 😊

Its a pain in the backside mate 😂

An arrival of Stonechats at Kenfig Pool this morning too with 5 seen but a fairly large area unchecked due to deep lying water on known territories.

Good luck mate - a great bird to find on your patch 👏👏👏

The sun came out at Kenfig Pool and it felt properly like spring, even more so when I saw a male Brimstone fluttering around on my way back to the car park. I didn't have the camera with me, so here is one from 2021...

A male Yellowhammer puffed up against a freezing dawn in a meadow at Chytra in Podlasie, Poland. Photo from January 2022.

Its not too often that you get close enough to raptors to get full frame shots before they fly, but this Eurasian Kestrel was quite happy to just sit and pose for me a few days ago at Kenfig Pool.

Just a reminder to all that I am not able to read chat messages on here or post with hashtags due to a broken key on my keyboard...

Hi - I've done Hokkaido in winter but with a group tour. Its cold and snowy but beautiful and the food is amazing. Feb is a great time to travel thre - have fun!!

Rounding off the photos from an epic trip, here is the first and last bird I saw in South America - the ubiquitous Southern Lapwing.

Kenfig Pool finally got in on the Russian White-fronted Goose invasion this year with a single bird present. Typically, it was raining so I didn't take the camera, so here is a shot of the last one I found that wasn't a flyover there in winter 2020/21.

The final few photos from Ceibas, Argentina show a skulky Spot-flanked Gallinule, Cattle Tyrant, White-naped Xenopsaris and Ringed Teal. After a months travelling, our next stop was Buenos Aires for a night before flying home.

Yes I saw them 👍

Here are a few more from around the amazing Ceibas area; a true wetland wilderness. The bizarre Southern Screamer, Argentina's national bird the unassuming Rufous Hornero, Monk Parakeet and Narrow-billed Woodcreeper.

Our final two days at Ceibas in Entre Rios province were a feast of new birds despite rain on our first day. The amazing Giant Wood Rail, Brown-chested Martin, Bran-coloured Flycatcher and the wonderfully named Firewood-gatherer were some of my favourites but I need another post to cover them all.

En route to our final stop in Argentina at Ceibas, we stopped at a small roadside reserve where we enjoyed some excellent new birds such as Freckle-breasted Thornbird, Guira Cuckoo, Savanna Hawk and White Monjita.

A close encounter with a Puma in a garden near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in June 2023, taken on iPhone SE 2nd edition. Lit by a spot lamp held by another group member - a totally wild and unexpected encounter with this apex predator.

The final port on our cruise was Buenos Aires with time for birding at the fabulous Costanera Sur reserve. Packed with birds here are just a few - juvenile Harris's Hawk, Limpkin, juvenile Rufescent Tiger-heron and a pair of Rosy-billed Pochards.

I had a nice walk to Kenfig Castle Meadow on a cold but sunny morning. The highlight being a flock of a dozen or so Eurasian Siskins that were feeding high in the canopy on alder catkins. I took an age to get a male in shot & in focus, but eventually a couple posed quite nicely.

Its been a quieter start to the year at Kenfig NNR than last year & numbers of many species are also down since the end of the cold snap. Just two Purple Sandpipers have been recorded at Sker though 29 Ringed Plovers there included some already in courtship mode.