\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe last two years has taught me many things. We moved to a new house on a new estate almost at sea level without a single mature tree in sight. The only regular avian visitors were the gulls on the weekly waste collection day. Their cousins, the magpies paid occasional visits but the smaller birds were not tempted into the estate from the rail embankments in the middle distance.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn two months of late autumn at the Redrow Grange in Wenvoe there has been a return to the good old days. First to show were a pair of pied wagtails flitting on and off a neighbours roof taking insects in flight and then swooping away to another perch. My favourite garden bird the Robin struts his stuff on the eaves of the garage staking his territorial claim, then hopping and skipping along the fence and shrubs picking up seeds and grubs. His companion is little Jenny Wren, as small as the tip of my thumb, but neat and fast. Shy, yet cheeky enough to explore the potted shrubs on the patio particularly the Christmas fir even though smaller than the smallest bauble.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tOn my dog walks there are more wrens dipping in and out of the hedgerow above the Close while chaffinches and blue tits skip away from branch to branch in front of me and close in behind me reclaiming their territory. Our dog often pulls at the lead desperate to go play with the blackbirds that skit about at ground level.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn the bit of woodland near the garden centre I often hear the ratatat of a woodpecker and am fairly sure from odd glimpses that it is a lesser spotted. And I have also seen a creeper picking off insects as it hops upside down on the trunk. Too far away to be sure it’s a tree creeper.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe skies over Wenvoe were busy in October with echelons of geese flying southeast and honking away. Now it’s jackdaws and the occasional buzzards but my binoculars were too well stored to get in time to see the Ravens in January.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThis all seems quite ordinary. But our time in the Quays has made me appreciate these everyday sightings.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\tAyJay<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The last two years has taught me many things. We moved to a new house on a new estate almost at sea level without a single mature tree in sight. The only regular avian visitors were the gulls on the weekly waste collection day. Their cousins, the magpies paid occasional visits but the smaller birds were not tempted into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-17r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5325,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5325","url_meta":{"origin":4305,"position":0},"title":"The Knepp Estate Success","author":"Alan Williams","date":"23rd December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 NATURE NOTES Whilst much of the news about wildlife is often negative and depressing, one interesting item that is bucking the trend is the Knepp Estate and anyone with a genuine interest in UK wildlife needs to be aware of it. This is a 3,500 acre estate near Horsham\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/dove.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":606,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=606","url_meta":{"origin":4305,"position":1},"title":"Wenvoe Castle","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th August 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe has a castle which is over 600 years old; it is not really a typical castle but rather a very grand house with some architectural features which gave it the appearance of a castle. It is an important and historic building and something of which we can be proud.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3563,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3563","url_meta":{"origin":4305,"position":2},"title":"WENVOE… A GLIMPSE FROM THE PAST.","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 This account that follows was sourced by Lucy Case in 1990 when she was undertaking coursework for one of her A Levels. It tells of childhood days in Wenvoe by Mrs Florence Maud Shelley nee Thomas of Holton Way Cottage in St Andrews Road, Wenvoe, and reminds us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=127"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1043,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1043","url_meta":{"origin":4305,"position":3},"title":"‘CAPABILITY\u2019 BROWN","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"DID LANCELOT \u2018CAPABILITY\u2019 BROWN EVER VISIT WENVOE? The August edition of Wenvoe What\u2019s On contained a fascinating article on Wenvoe Castle. The grounds surrounding the castle are listed Grade II by Cadw (the Welsh Government\u2019s historic environment service) because the layout and surviving planting are of national interest. Some of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8351,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8351","url_meta":{"origin":4305,"position":4},"title":"Footsteps – Hensol Forest","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hensol Forest On another sunny day, Wenvoe walkers met as a group (12 of us), for the first time since the beginning of March, to walk in Hensol forest. We crossed fields with long grass heavy with dew which soaked our trousers, but we knew they would soon dry in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture2.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6106,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6106","url_meta":{"origin":4305,"position":5},"title":"Historic Llangorse Ridge","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th June 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Llangorse Ridge The village hall in Cwmdu has an excellent car park (\u00a31 fee). It was a cool morning for June and we wore layers as we set off along a small lane up the valley, following the Rhiangoll River. We passed a cottage with a lovely garden containing a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_0279-1906-llangorse-ridge.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4305"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4308,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305\/revisions\/4308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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