As a warm up to longer more arduous walks to come in the uplands, I indulged in a little bit of pre-season training in the form of a walk from Y Ddol Uchaf up to the transmitting station at Moel y Parc.
Not much going on in Y Ddol, although almost all birdsong was drowned out by nearby roadworks.
The ascent up to the transmitting station took me through Coed Disgynfa and I was rewarded for a climbing a particularly steep section with a singing Redstart.
For some reason I am absolutely useless at finding Redstarts perched in trees. They can be banging away right in front of me, but it can take me an eternity to pick them out of the foliage. Sometimes - as was the case today - I fail completely.
In defence, the bird became mute as the skies thickened and after a couple of minutes all that could be heard was the loud and erratic drumming of a Keith Moon influenced Great Spot.
As is often the case on the hills it started tipping it down. The visibilty dropped to around forty yards and the cloud rolled in.
When I reached the summit of Moel y Parc it was foul. Plenty of birds around however, including a flock of 3-400 Meadow Pipits and a handful of Wheatear.
No Ring Ouzels though - the bird I had come for.
Maybe next time...
Until later.
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