Jay Walking :)

Yesterday despite of, (or maybe because of), the dubious weather forecasts, I decided to revisit an old friend, Alt-Yr-Yn Woodlands, somewhere I have not been for a couple of years.

The reserve is owned by Newport City Council and run by W.I.N.G, (Wildlife in Newport Group), a part of Gwent Wildlife Trust. The site includes a five acre meadow, three ponds, a canal and woodland areas, intersected by a number of footpaths and bridleways. I remember the woodland as one of the best places to see Jays locally to me, hence the slightly cryptic title of this piece ;)

The woodland is managed but retains an almost primeval feel, due to it's age and careful management

Two views of the pools to show the feel of the woodlands

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The weather was not good for photography, with my camera setting shutter speeds as low as 1/20th of a second with anything less than 800 ISO so images are not the best. but some sights are included below ...

Mallard Duckling

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The reserve is one of the few places in the UK that you will find the rare and shy Woodpecker Duck ...

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And as for my memories of Jays? ... ... I was not disappointed, with a couple of reasonable views of several birds ...

I usually enter the reserve from the footpath at the top of the reserve on Alt-Yr-Yn View, and walk down through the reserve, and then walking home along the canal towpath. As I proceeded with this journey I came across a reason to believe  may be spending too much time in the area as I saw this ... ... ...

All in all a good afternoon, despite the gloomy conditions, and I can heartily recommend a visit to this lesser known site which, by the way is visible from the M4

Dark woodlands is my reason for choosing a 2.8 lens over food... beautiful pictures nonetheless! I marked it down as a place to go when I first got here but haven't ventured up yet, must make the time soon

The GWT sites are all worth a look, though not as bird rich as some They do have a wide range of habitats, and hence wildlife - details of all their sites are in the link I gave above

Great post Nigel - still haven't seen a Jay so definitely give it a go!

John, The jays are all round the site but seem to be most visible around the pools, Especially the middle of the three, (there's even a nice bench to sit on :) )

Great set of photos matey! Love the woodpecker duck!

Ant

Think it might be the doubly rare Blue Headed Woodpecker Duck last seen in Asdas Cardiff Bay in 1902,:-) :-) I Like the pics Nigel

Nice pics Nigel, love the Jay.  Must try and get up to the reserve sometime

I am curious how Nigel got the 1960's sepia style shot of the female mallard .... ;o)

Ant

I suppose I could say it's one from my archive, ( I did use a box brownie in the 60's), but it's a basic shot processed in Lightroom 3, It's one of the standard process " Yesteryear1" and a second Pre-set "Rounded Corners White". I don't often use the "wilder" pre-sets but thought this one suited the subject well.

You now realise I expect you to bring the Box Brownie then next time we are at Goldcliff or the Wetlands! ;o)

Ant

I would love to, unfortunately that camera went the way of all my other Old gear ;), i've moved a few times to often I think :(, at least I can resort to the toy camera mode on my A55, to bring back a few of the memories