Wales – Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

We have had a few days away in and around Brecknockshire in Wales. We started at Talybont-on-Usk which is only 55 miles away from where we live in Bristol and easily reached in well under 2 hours, driving through some stunningly beautiful countryside.

We wanted to see if we could see a pair of ospreys who have produced a chick for the first time. We walked along the Montgomeryshire and Brecon Canal where we knew there was a vantage point where we could see (at some distance) the nest.

The Montgomeryshire and Brecon Canal at Talybont-on-Usk

The female osprey (right) joining the male who was busy devouring a fish about 300 metres away from the nest

After all the hot weather we have had it was much nicer for us walking in the much cooler conditions. However, we hadn’t really counted on rain and , although we had views of both male and female and the chick, it was not ideal conditions for photography.

The female osprey with chick in the nest.

There’s a great website with webcams of the ospreys at https://www.uskvalleyospreys.org where you can really see what’s going on.

The weather brightened later on and we had a walk around a section of a nearby lake at Llangors.

There were lots of Canada geese and cormorants on this section of the lake at the start of our walk at Llangasty Talyllyn on the south side of the lake

The thatched bird hide with a stained glass window – they take their birding seriously here in Wales

From the hide we had distant views of large numbers of great crested grebe and coots and a much closer view of a passover buzzard.

The buzzard passing in front of of the hide above the lily pads

On our way back we suddenly came across a patch of ground with all sorts of wildlife:

A rather weather-beaten meadow brown butterfly

The views of the environs of the lake were quite stunning

…as were the views of the Brecon Beacons on our way to our pub accommodation at the Griffin at Felin Fach near Brecon

We were very unlucky with the weather on the second day and were forced to dash between showers visiting bookshops in Hay-on-Wye which is famous as a book town and for its literary festivals.

After a snack lunch (the meals were so good at the Griffin we restricted ourselves to one Welsh Cake with our coffee at lunchtime) we set off for Llanthony Priory but we failed to reach our destination as the road was inexplicably closed for several hours just short of our destination. So, we made do with the stunning scenery in the Black Mountains and made our way back to our accommodation.

Fortunately there are plenty of passing places

The weather did not spoil our enjoyment of the views

We got as far as this sweet little chapel

The next day there were more stunning views of the Brecon Beacons.

View back down through the valley towards Brecon

It’s quite some years since we have climbed Pen-y-fan. You can just make out some of the early starters at the top

We were going to climb a 1000 feet or so but by a much easier route on the Brecon Mountain Railway

… starting from Pant station near Merthyr Tydfil

Not quite Darjeeling or Shimla but a lot of fun all the same

For the real train buffs a few more shots of the locomotive which was made in Philadelphia but spent all its working life between mines in South Africa from where it was rescued and restored by amazing volunteers from this part of Wales.

Tag: Wales

16th July 2025 – Brecknockshire, Wales