Stephen Burch's Birding & Dragonfly Website

Home | Trip Reports | Gallery | UK index | Oxon pics | UK pics | Dragonflies | Other Nature | Links

Pied Flycatcher

Gilfach RWT, mid Wales, UK. 30 April 2017
EOS 7D mk II with EF 500mmf4 II & x1.4TC.

Pied Flycatchers are one of my favourite species but are usually difficult to close enough to for good results. A few years ago, I found out that the small Gilfach reserve in mid-Wales presented good photo opportunities as they had become accustomed to birders feeding them meal worms etc in the courtyard. However by the time we got there in 2014, the use of tripods was being heavily discouraged there, but I still managed some close up images.

Three years later things were even more difficult as it seemed that feeding meal worms was also "banned". However all was not lost as the hide overlooking the river also had a breeding pair close by. The downside here was that the birds only occasionally showed close to the hide and so some patience and persistence in the form of repeat visits was needed to get some close up photos. Looking at these which were taken fairly early morning and the 2014 images, this is probably the pick of the bunch.