Blue sky and blue underfoot

 I was paying more attention to the bluebells underfoot on this morning's dog walk, till I looked up and realised the sky matched their colour!

Wandering off the normal paths and through the middle of the wood I discovered this stump that refuses to give up and die .....










and a dead tree, now home to woodpeckers. We often hear their 'drilling' noise but rarely see them.

 ...and more bluebells, because you can never have too many.

Kites in Flight

If you've read this blog before you'll know how much I love the kite feeding sessions at Bwlch Nant yr Arian. So we had to finish our short break on the coast with a visit to these astounding birds.

Every day at 3 o'clock they're fed by the RSPB and dozens of birds come flocking in.

My little camera isn't the best in the world so I was really pleased to get these shots of the birds in flight.

Kite Watching in Wales

The Forestry Commission picnic area at Bwlch Nant yr Arian near Aberystwyth is one of our favourite stopping-off points on trips to Wales. From the back of the car park, you can look down Cwm Melindwr towards Aberystwyth and on a clear day catch a distant glimpse of the sea.


Go the other way and walk round the small lake....




...and maybe catch the red kites coming in for their daily feeding session

This was the first time we'd managed to time our stop-over just right to catch them at dinner.






















Fifty, maybe sixty, kites flew in, their numbers increasing as feeding time approached.
























Having at last seen this amazing sight, we'll make sure that in future we pass by at the right time of day!


A return visit in 2013