Day 16: Star Species
Ringed Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)
An interesting day today. We ventured up to the Brecon Beacons National Park to a wonderful Nature Reserve called Craig Cerrig Gleisiad.
We knew Ring Ouzel have been sighted there, it even says on the information board at the entrance of the reserve, but we've never ever seen one here...until today.
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| The start of the walk with a information sign... |
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| ...Ring Ouzels! |
We made our way to the reserve and were dwarfed by the overpowering steep crags. This fascinating landscape is the result of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago and over time the ice carved the 150m cliffs we see today.
Despite the reserve's tough, mountainous setting it has an array of wildlife. Over 500 plants can be found here and 80 different birds including; Peregrine Falcons, Kestrels, Red Gouse and of course the Ring Ouzels. In addition to the plants and birds, you will find many species of fungi, insects, amphibian and reptile species.
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| The step crags of Craig Cerrig Gleisiad |
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| Green Tiger Beetle |
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| Red Tailed Bumblebee (I think) |
We explored deeper into the reserve and noticed a large bird perched on a cliff in the distance, we couldn't really work out what it was, so we checked the pic on the camera's screen and noticed another bird on the right of the pic...we couldn't believe it, a Ring Ouzel! We saw with our own eyes the Ring Ouzel was join by another one and attacked the bird on the left until they eventually chased it off.
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| Here is the pic, you can see the large bird on the left (which is in fact a buzzard) and to the right you can see a small black bird (the Ringed Ouzel) with the distinctive white collar |
After all the excitement and no other sighting of the Ouzels we decided to call it a day. Walking back to the car we spotted a fox and watched as Pen Y Fan disappeared behind hill fog.
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| Pen Y Fan behind the clouds |
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| Red Fox |
Want to see Craig Cerrig Gleisiad in the snow?
