Sunrise and a Shrike.
10th January 2019
I was out at first light yesterday up on Buckland Hill, this hill is situated above a village near to where I live. It was quite cold with a chilly breeze blowing and fortunately I was not there long because I had timed it to just capture the sunrise. However, there was too much cloud for a colourful sunrise but there was some ‘Drama’ in the early morning sky. The sun appeared above Mynydd Llangattwg, below which are some of the most extensive cave systems in the UK. Having said that, caving is definitely not my cup of tea, I’m OK up to a point, but when you have to really squeeeeeze yourself through very small dark places then that’s it for me - I prefer fresh air and big open skies!
In the picture below you can see from the left, ‘Sugarloaf’ mountain, then Myarth in the centre and finally the sunrise above Mynydd Llangattwg on the right.
This morning I was up early again and up on top of Mynydd Llangynidr to try a different viewpoint for a sunrise. Disappointingly, nothing materialised despite the early morning looking promising. It was bitterly cold with a heavy frost and to be honest I was glad to come back home. When I arrived back home I cooked some breakfast to warm me up and afterwards when I was washing the dishes in my kitchen and I just casually looked across the field and I could see a light grey bird in the hedge row. I thought ‘What’s that?’ so I reached for my old Swift binoculars that I keep on the window sill, precisely for situations like this. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, there was a Great Grey Shrike perched there looking across the field.
I called Susan to see it, nearly dropping a plate as I did so – I ran upstairs to get a lens and I opened a bedroom window and took a few low quality hand held shots before it flew out of sight. Susan and I saw it again briefly later, but then it disappeared.
It was without doubt the rarest bird we have seen from our kitchen.
In the picture below you can see from the left, ‘Sugarloaf’ mountain, then Myarth in the centre and finally the sunrise above Mynydd Llangattwg on the right.
This morning I was up early again and up on top of Mynydd Llangynidr to try a different viewpoint for a sunrise. Disappointingly, nothing materialised despite the early morning looking promising. It was bitterly cold with a heavy frost and to be honest I was glad to come back home. When I arrived back home I cooked some breakfast to warm me up and afterwards when I was washing the dishes in my kitchen and I just casually looked across the field and I could see a light grey bird in the hedge row. I thought ‘What’s that?’ so I reached for my old Swift binoculars that I keep on the window sill, precisely for situations like this. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, there was a Great Grey Shrike perched there looking across the field.
I called Susan to see it, nearly dropping a plate as I did so – I ran upstairs to get a lens and I opened a bedroom window and took a few low quality hand held shots before it flew out of sight. Susan and I saw it again briefly later, but then it disappeared.
It was without doubt the rarest bird we have seen from our kitchen.