Spring in the Brecon Beacons.

Spring is fully here in the Brecon Beacons, the weather has finally settled down and the evenings are drawing out. It's a pleasure to be out early in the mornings to hear the birds singing and to see the woodlands full of Celandine, Wood Anenome, Lady's Smock and of course Bluebells. Cuckoos are calling and the Green Woodpecker's 'Yaffle' is echoing across the valley this morning. This is also prime time for Dotterel passage as they make their way north to breed, but there have been no reports as yet and I have myself been out walking the hill tops in search of these enigmatic birds, we live in hope!
This week I have began to hear in numbers the call and song of the Wood Warbler, this tiny little jewel of our woodlands is incredibly difficuly to pin down for a photograph because they are so small. They also tend to occupy the tree canopies in their search for insects and grubs and rarely come down to eye level. Although their single note call, a repeated 'Tee' and their 'Spinning Coin' song are quite distinctive it still remains quite difficult to focus a lens on them because they are so restless, they rarely stay still for more than a few seconds and getting an uncluttered background is an achievement. However, today I managed to locate a singing bird and to get a few shots as it very briefly perched on an isolated twig in a clearing as it flew between trees.
These little birds will always for me remain the iconic sound of spring in our woodlands!