Bustards Are Great

 My brother David and I headed off to south Wales yesterday to catch a couple of acts at the Steelhouse Festival near Ebbw Vale. On the way we stopped on Salisbury Plain where we met up with someone from the Great Bustard Project and took a Land Rover trip to look for some of of their growing flock. This commendable project to reintroduce these magnificent birds into England is meeting with some success and it's good to be able to support their on going work.

Great Bustard and Marsh Harrier

We rattled along for a bit before stopping at their reserve which is overlooked by a large hide. Settling in we began to scan and our guide wasted no time in finding a distant female. She stayed in view for some time and we even got a glimpse or two of her chick as it occasionally peeked out of cover. Eventually she disappeared back into the long vegetation and we saw no further signs of bustards. A Roe Deer was sighted as it ran across a field, an army firing exercise may have spooked it. There was a covey of Grey Partridges nearby while a female Marsh Harrier spent some time hunting over the surrounding countryside. After a couple of hours we bid adieu to our host and headed off to the festival where a passing Raven offered a slight diversion from the assembled bands.

Shrill Carder Bee and Black-tailed Skimmer

This morning and we paid a brief visit to the Newport Wetlands which is a reserve run by the RSPB. Not much in the way of birds to report and few insects either though I did manage to see a Shrill Carder Bee which is apparently one of Britain's rarest bumblebees. Conscious that there was a rather important football game taking place today we left at noon and managed to get home in good time. Well done ladies, an excellent end to a rather good weekend!