Ring Ouzel - The Mountain Blackbird.
30th October 2022
On Tuesday evening this week I received a text from an old mate of mine which said ‘They are in the quarry’. This message would have seemed somewhat cryptic to everybody except me, because I knew exactly what he meant. The passage Ring Ouzels that come down through Mid-Wales every year in late October had arrived and were in one of the locations that they always favour. The northern Torquatus’ race of Ring Ouzel has been in steep decline in the UK for many years and this decline is of great concern, rightly so. The word Torquatus is based on the Latin word Torquis, meaning collar. I read that their decline is something like 50% over the last forty years. They do breed in very small numbers in the Brecon Beacons but it’s much harder to photograph them there because they favour a remote mountain habitat. In addition because of their current ‘Red List’ status I just keep away from potential breeding areas. They winter in the mountains of North Africa, principally Morocco and Tunisia returning to the UK in March. I used to try and photograph them when they first ‘came in’ to the Brecon Beacons when they perched in trees.
However, I've given up on this some time ago.
In essence a photographer doesn’t get many opportunities to get close up shots of these lovely birds, so I had to react quickly. This was 19.00 so I dropped everything, put my camera batteries on charge, got all my kit together, made some sandwiches and arranged my outdoor clothes ready for the following morning. Luckily I had put fuel in the vehicle that day or I would have had to do that as well.
I can't stand scrabbling around early in the morning before I leave to try and photograph wildlife – I like planning!
The weather forecast was for rain the following day which was ideal for us because hopefully it would deter people from being out and causing the inevitable disturbance.
The following morning Susan and I were up by 05.15, it was dark, rain was falling and a blustery wind blew – perfect! We left the Brecon Beacons at 06.00, the rain had now eased a bit and incredibly the stars were showing in the sky - such unpredictable weather. However, this did not last because as we drove along the A470 road towards the town of Builth Wells the rain returned with a vengeance, the wind intensified and we met really heavy commercial traffic in the form of huge lorries which thundered past continually throwing up spray and fallen leaves and in addition many other cars were also coming from the same direction so there was no respite from dazzling headlights for the whole journey along this stretch of road. We were really surprised by the volume of traffic.
After we passed through Builth Wells and continued on to the town of Rhayader the gateway to the Elan Valley dams, thankfully the traffic eased but the rain and wind continued. We finally reached our destination at 07.00 after a bit of a tortuous journey.
Typical Elan Valley habitat.
It was just starting to break light which was good timing so we had a cup of coffee and settled down and waited. Thankfully there were no other cars around because this is always a fear for me that someone may have parked in an awkward position making things difficult or even ruining the morning because I knew we didn’t have much time, perhaps two hours before people and dogs inevitably arrived. It wasn’t long before we could hear that tell-tale ‘Chuk Chuk’ of a Ring Ouzel and as it got lighter around 07.30 we could see up to ten birds flying around the rocks above the Rowan trees where they have historically fed – this was a really good count of these elusive birds.
Heavy showers and a blustery wind persisted and I had to protect my lens with a ‘Goretex’ cover. There was sufficient light to take a few shots by this time, albeit with a high ISO. Fortunately, unlike in the past with Digital SLR cameras, modern mirrorless cameras, such as the Canon R5 I am now using, don’t have a problem with high ISO ratings. Another huge advantage is that they are totally silent which is perfect when dealing with shy and wary subjects. Another, to use modern parlance, ‘Game Changer’, is the animal eye tracking feature on these cameras which locks onto your subject’s eye and focuses immediately and stays focused even when the subject moves. This results in a much higher percentage of sharp shots.
Suddenly a single bird came down.
These birds wait until one bird makes a move to feed and when they see there’s no danger they all descend to gobble up the soft Rowan berries. In a flash there were half a dozen birds feeding in the Rowan trees, adult males and females and first winter birds.
What a glorious sight to see these often elusive birds up close and even better in front of my lens.
I have theorised for some time that this site in the Elan Valley is one of, if not the best place to photograph Ring Ouzels in the UK. The autumn colours of the turning Rowan leaves along with the Ring Ouzel’s beautiful plumage make a really lovely combination.
I took many shots and a bonus was a flock of ten Bullfinches, another one of my favourite birds also feeding on the Berries, they were not swallowing the berries whole like the Ouzels but squeezing the berry until the flesh was exposed then allowing the flesh to drop to the ground while retaining and eating the small seed inside.
It was now 09.00 and the inevitable cars started to arrive with children and dogs and it was now time to leave. We packed up and took a leisurely drive around the rest of the dams until we reached the far end where the river Elan enters the first of the dams.
In a little car park I was packing my kit away ready for the journey home when Susan said ‘Steve, Ring Ouzel in the Rowan tree right beside the car park’. Without wishing to sound like Victor Meldrew, I couldn’t believe it! I hurried back into the car and as I looked across the moorland on the other side or the river I could now see a flock of Ring Ouzels flying towards us and they landed right in the Rowan tree twenty five feet away.
Ten Ring Ouzels, now I really couldn’t believe it!! To use a colloquialism I took a shed load of images in what was a lovely setting and as a bonus a few Fieldfares and Redwings also came in to the tree – Utopia!
However, more people started to arrive and I’m afraid there’s no escape from disturbance in the Elan Valley, but I didn’t care because to use motion picture parlance, ‘They were in the can’.
What an end to the day!!
More images in Latest Images - Ring Ouzels.
A short youtube video of these Ring Ouzels.
https://youtu.be/gNPRuEu3XLc
However, I've given up on this some time ago.
In essence a photographer doesn’t get many opportunities to get close up shots of these lovely birds, so I had to react quickly. This was 19.00 so I dropped everything, put my camera batteries on charge, got all my kit together, made some sandwiches and arranged my outdoor clothes ready for the following morning. Luckily I had put fuel in the vehicle that day or I would have had to do that as well.
I can't stand scrabbling around early in the morning before I leave to try and photograph wildlife – I like planning!
The weather forecast was for rain the following day which was ideal for us because hopefully it would deter people from being out and causing the inevitable disturbance.
The following morning Susan and I were up by 05.15, it was dark, rain was falling and a blustery wind blew – perfect! We left the Brecon Beacons at 06.00, the rain had now eased a bit and incredibly the stars were showing in the sky - such unpredictable weather. However, this did not last because as we drove along the A470 road towards the town of Builth Wells the rain returned with a vengeance, the wind intensified and we met really heavy commercial traffic in the form of huge lorries which thundered past continually throwing up spray and fallen leaves and in addition many other cars were also coming from the same direction so there was no respite from dazzling headlights for the whole journey along this stretch of road. We were really surprised by the volume of traffic.
After we passed through Builth Wells and continued on to the town of Rhayader the gateway to the Elan Valley dams, thankfully the traffic eased but the rain and wind continued. We finally reached our destination at 07.00 after a bit of a tortuous journey.
Typical Elan Valley habitat.
It was just starting to break light which was good timing so we had a cup of coffee and settled down and waited. Thankfully there were no other cars around because this is always a fear for me that someone may have parked in an awkward position making things difficult or even ruining the morning because I knew we didn’t have much time, perhaps two hours before people and dogs inevitably arrived. It wasn’t long before we could hear that tell-tale ‘Chuk Chuk’ of a Ring Ouzel and as it got lighter around 07.30 we could see up to ten birds flying around the rocks above the Rowan trees where they have historically fed – this was a really good count of these elusive birds.
Heavy showers and a blustery wind persisted and I had to protect my lens with a ‘Goretex’ cover. There was sufficient light to take a few shots by this time, albeit with a high ISO. Fortunately, unlike in the past with Digital SLR cameras, modern mirrorless cameras, such as the Canon R5 I am now using, don’t have a problem with high ISO ratings. Another huge advantage is that they are totally silent which is perfect when dealing with shy and wary subjects. Another, to use modern parlance, ‘Game Changer’, is the animal eye tracking feature on these cameras which locks onto your subject’s eye and focuses immediately and stays focused even when the subject moves. This results in a much higher percentage of sharp shots.
Suddenly a single bird came down.
These birds wait until one bird makes a move to feed and when they see there’s no danger they all descend to gobble up the soft Rowan berries. In a flash there were half a dozen birds feeding in the Rowan trees, adult males and females and first winter birds.
What a glorious sight to see these often elusive birds up close and even better in front of my lens.
I have theorised for some time that this site in the Elan Valley is one of, if not the best place to photograph Ring Ouzels in the UK. The autumn colours of the turning Rowan leaves along with the Ring Ouzel’s beautiful plumage make a really lovely combination.
I took many shots and a bonus was a flock of ten Bullfinches, another one of my favourite birds also feeding on the Berries, they were not swallowing the berries whole like the Ouzels but squeezing the berry until the flesh was exposed then allowing the flesh to drop to the ground while retaining and eating the small seed inside.
It was now 09.00 and the inevitable cars started to arrive with children and dogs and it was now time to leave. We packed up and took a leisurely drive around the rest of the dams until we reached the far end where the river Elan enters the first of the dams.
In a little car park I was packing my kit away ready for the journey home when Susan said ‘Steve, Ring Ouzel in the Rowan tree right beside the car park’. Without wishing to sound like Victor Meldrew, I couldn’t believe it! I hurried back into the car and as I looked across the moorland on the other side or the river I could now see a flock of Ring Ouzels flying towards us and they landed right in the Rowan tree twenty five feet away.
Ten Ring Ouzels, now I really couldn’t believe it!! To use a colloquialism I took a shed load of images in what was a lovely setting and as a bonus a few Fieldfares and Redwings also came in to the tree – Utopia!
However, more people started to arrive and I’m afraid there’s no escape from disturbance in the Elan Valley, but I didn’t care because to use motion picture parlance, ‘They were in the can’.
What an end to the day!!
More images in Latest Images - Ring Ouzels.
A short youtube video of these Ring Ouzels.
https://youtu.be/gNPRuEu3XLc