Red Kites - Gigrin Farm

Its been a while since I have had an opportunity to get a blog post on, life getting in the way!!! But at last I've been able to sort through the 1600+ shots I took recently at Gigrin Farm, and those stunning Red Kites. We travelled down to Gigrin Farm, via a morning walk up Cadair Idris to Llyn Cau, the morning weather was a bit murky but as we left the mountain to travel down the afternoon got better and better, with clear blue skies when we arrived. For anyone that hasn't visited Gigrin, I would really recommend it, until this visit I had only ever seen the occasional Red Kite from a distance, but when the feeding begins here there are hundreds of them in the air all around you, and at times I just didn't know where to point the camera, the difficulty being they swoop so quick but the auto focus on the D300S is pretty good when locked on so I managed to get some decent shots, with the bonus of some decent Buzzard shots. I've have posted a selection below

Sunset Walks

The last couple of evenings have been beautiful, and we have taken the opportunity to get out for a couple of walks to take in the setting sun, and for Sharon to do some more painting.
On Monday evening we walked to the top of Moel Famau, our favourite place to be, it was a lovely evening but rather a bit chilly on top and with no jacket or flask of coffee it was a bit cool, but Sharon did a lovely painting of the Jubilee Tower, seen here on her facebook page
And last evening we had a walk along the Offas Dyke path beneath Moel Gyw, this section of the path overlooks a beautiful valley called Plas-Y-Nant, the path is at high level at the head of the valley and is a stunning vantage point to watch what is going on below, lots of Wildlife including one of my favourite Birds of Prey, Buzzards, which we didnt see last night but we heard them calling loudly below in the woods. Again Sharon rattled off a few beautiful watercolours that will appear on her BLOG
A few photos from both evenings below

Firstly from Moel Famau on Monday evening
There are lots of Buzzards in the area, but they never fly low enough for better shots than this record shot



The path up to the top and the Jubilee Tower





Was looking good for a nice sunset over Snowdonia



The artist deep in concentration!!



Lovely sunset over the distant Carneddau



Looking back as we descend Moel Famau



a lovely moon out by the time we got home



And last nights pics from Moel Gyw

Sharon settling down to paint



and this was her view to paint, over to Moel Famau



She has really taken to Plein Air painting, and I get loads of pleasure sat watching and just enjoying the beautiful places we visit



The Heather and Gorse looked lovely in the light cast by the setting sun



Plas-Y-Nant, a stunning valley, we sat and listened to Buzzards calling below



Another beautiful sunset over Snowdonia

Extreme Painting!!

As you will have seen from my post last WEEK Sharon and I visited Loggerheads, which is beneath our local favourite... Moel Famau, for her to do some Plein air painting. We visited again on Saturday, but this time didnt walk along the river, but instead climbed up the steep path onto the Limestone escarpment that towers over Loggerheads, and looks across to Moel Famau, and this was the view she had planned on painting. The conditions were quite good when we left the car, but as we left the woods onto the cliff edge, to say there was a stiff breeze was a bit of an understatement! It was blowing a gale, and I thought to myself she aint going to get the paints out, but paint she did, despite the wind doing its best to relieve her of all her bits, and she produced some lovely small loose paintings of the great view, I'm sure they will be on her blog site soon, take a look HERE
Whilst she was painting I had a mooch round with the camera, a selection of the evenings shots below, as always your comments are gratefully received.

The view across to Moel Famau



And a little to the left over Loggerheads



The artist at work, her hair illustrating how windy it was!!



as tea time approached we had a wander down through the woods to head back to the pub, this shot of the exposed tree roots caught my eye



The River Alyn that runs through Loggerheads, and the bridge that Sharon painted from the other side last week.



The 'Wee Three Loggerheads' our tea time stop, and very nice it was!



The climb back to the escarpment a little more difficult with a full stomach!!



Back on top to hopefully catch a nice sunset over Moel Famau



At this stage we set off for home as the wind had become flippin chilly!



I've really enjoyed our last two trips out watching Sharon paint 'in the wild', as I type we are hoping to get up there tonight as the weather promises a nice evening, then we are dropping a few framed paintings and prints off at the pub as they have agreed to display them for sale... fingers crossed the punters like them and a few sales come our way.

Autumn around the corner.... Whoopers soon will be back

Well here we are in September, just where has this year gone, but as the summer draws to a close my mind once again is already thinking of the Autumn and the opportunities that will be coming, I have already talked about the Red Deer rut on a previous POST, but I am seriously looking forward to the return of the Whooper Swans. This amazing birds migrate every year with their youngsters from their breeding grounds in Iceland to many places in the UK, amongst those is WWT Martin Mere. A great place to visit in the Winter to see these swans fed every afternoon, and the chance to get very close, and there is no better site than seeing them flying in from the surrounding fields. More info can be found on Martin Meres website HERE
Below are some photos I have taken of these magnificent birds over the last few winters

























The sun sets on a great afternoon at Martin Mere



Then the Starlings come out to roost

Loggerheads... with the Rambling Artist

A different day off today, no long walk in the mountains, no wildlife photography day but instead I had a most wonderful morning on a gentle stroll around Loggerheads with Sharon, which is at the foot of our favourite local place, Moel Famau. Sharon is quickly becoming an amazing watercolour artist, and as well as producing some amazing pieces from a lot of my photographs, she has started doing more paintings 'plein air' and today she quickly painted two watercolours on our wanderings. All her work is for sale either originals or prints, and more of her work can be seen on her site HERE She often says that I am biased, but I think her work is amazing, so if you have a few moments pop across to her site and see what you think.

The old stone bridge over the River Alyn, the subject of her first painting









A different view of the bridge



Loggerheads visitor centre and Caffi Florence



Big fish in the rivers in Wales!!!



Sharon stopped me on this path and said she would like to paint the view down the path, again I sat in awe and watched her produce a lovely watercolour





The finished watercolour on the pad drying off