Mark Hipkin 🏴
@markhipkin.bsky.social
Always birding and enjoying nature
🐦⬛ 🦆 🐝 🦋 🐬 🦈 🦭 🌲 🌻 🌳
🐦⬛ 🦆 🐝 🦋 🐬 🦈 🦭 🌲 🌻 🌳
Wow, what an amazing moment that must have been to set eyes on them. Stunning birds and lovey photos capturing them together. Another great find, Dave 👏
October 3, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Wow, what an amazing moment that must have been to set eyes on them. Stunning birds and lovey photos capturing them together. Another great find, Dave 👏
Hopefully, better photos from others to follow over the next days/weeks/months #birdingWales
October 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Hopefully, better photos from others to follow over the next days/weeks/months #birdingWales
Excellent work again Frank! No doubt difficult call in fading light. I, along with a few others, managed to connect with it this AM. It quartered the brambles on and off btwn 10:00 to 12:50 offering decent views in variable light. I make it a sub-ad Fem, so poss returning bird, but I’m not an expert
October 1, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Excellent work again Frank! No doubt difficult call in fading light. I, along with a few others, managed to connect with it this AM. It quartered the brambles on and off btwn 10:00 to 12:50 offering decent views in variable light. I make it a sub-ad Fem, so poss returning bird, but I’m not an expert
We were almost certainly there at the same time Frank and yet I managed not to meet. You are my bogey birder 🤣
Great photos as always capturing the scenes really well. And what an amazing scene it was!!
Great photos as always capturing the scenes really well. And what an amazing scene it was!!
September 20, 2025 at 11:55 AM
We were almost certainly there at the same time Frank and yet I managed not to meet. You are my bogey birder 🤣
Great photos as always capturing the scenes really well. And what an amazing scene it was!!
Great photos as always capturing the scenes really well. And what an amazing scene it was!!
I wouldn’t mind a big feeding group of Great Shears off Gower either 😊. I’m listing Glamorgan this year so not leaving the area much but looking forward to a few seawatching trips to Cornwall in 2026. My best seawatching experience ever was at Pendeen over a decade ago so want another one of those
September 20, 2025 at 5:42 AM
I wouldn’t mind a big feeding group of Great Shears off Gower either 😊. I’m listing Glamorgan this year so not leaving the area much but looking forward to a few seawatching trips to Cornwall in 2026. My best seawatching experience ever was at Pendeen over a decade ago so want another one of those
Nice to get the Sabs with breaking waves in the background. Lovely shots!
September 20, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Nice to get the Sabs with breaking waves in the background. Lovely shots!
Oh what I would do for just one of those Great Shears to come up and have a look at the Gower coastline in South Wales 🤣 Great video as always
September 19, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Oh what I would do for just one of those Great Shears to come up and have a look at the Gower coastline in South Wales 🤣 Great video as always
September 18, 2025 at 5:26 AM
A few photos of the juv Sabs off Mumbles this afternoon . What an absolute stunner!!
September 18, 2025 at 5:24 AM
A few photos of the juv Sabs off Mumbles this afternoon . What an absolute stunner!!
Snap! I saw this bird too. In fact I saw it at 14:35 first much further out but it must have decided to turn back and head into Swansea Bay with the wind as I lost it while taking the waterproof covers off my camera. Very pleased that it came past again later
September 18, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Snap! I saw this bird too. In fact I saw it at 14:35 first much further out but it must have decided to turn back and head into Swansea Bay with the wind as I lost it while taking the waterproof covers off my camera. Very pleased that it came past again later
Ok thanks Peter, that’s really sad and worrying trend. It would be good to see them where their numbers are healthy so perhaps a visit to see them among other cool birds in Iceland, Norway or Finland is in order
September 13, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Ok thanks Peter, that’s really sad and worrying trend. It would be good to see them where their numbers are healthy so perhaps a visit to see them among other cool birds in Iceland, Norway or Finland is in order
Not done that yet Mike, but thanks for alerting me to a missing entry to my bucket list
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September 12, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Not done that yet Mike, but thanks for alerting me to a missing entry to my bucket list
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Absolutely shocking that this goes on year on year. I guess it all comes
down to folk with money, power and influence who like holding guns and killing things
down to folk with money, power and influence who like holding guns and killing things
September 11, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Absolutely shocking that this goes on year on year. I guess it all comes
down to folk with money, power and influence who like holding guns and killing things
down to folk with money, power and influence who like holding guns and killing things
Thanks mate, the next few weeks look a bit tasty. I’ve been busily making note of coastal locations with Cypress trees and Tamarisks
September 11, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Thanks mate, the next few weeks look a bit tasty. I’ve been busily making note of coastal locations with Cypress trees and Tamarisks
Not sure about expected but listed below are species that I still need that might expect to be recorded in Glam most years.
Grey Part
Red- L Part
Whooper Swan
Long-t Duck
Turtle Dove
Little Tern
Iceland Gull
Leach’s
Glossy Ibis
Purple Heron
Wryneck
LSW
Woodlark
YBW
Brambling
Lapland Bunt
Snow Bunt
Grey Part
Red- L Part
Whooper Swan
Long-t Duck
Turtle Dove
Little Tern
Iceland Gull
Leach’s
Glossy Ibis
Purple Heron
Wryneck
LSW
Woodlark
YBW
Brambling
Lapland Bunt
Snow Bunt
September 11, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Not sure about expected but listed below are species that I still need that might expect to be recorded in Glam most years.
Grey Part
Red- L Part
Whooper Swan
Long-t Duck
Turtle Dove
Little Tern
Iceland Gull
Leach’s
Glossy Ibis
Purple Heron
Wryneck
LSW
Woodlark
YBW
Brambling
Lapland Bunt
Snow Bunt
Grey Part
Red- L Part
Whooper Swan
Long-t Duck
Turtle Dove
Little Tern
Iceland Gull
Leach’s
Glossy Ibis
Purple Heron
Wryneck
LSW
Woodlark
YBW
Brambling
Lapland Bunt
Snow Bunt
Thanks Bernie. If feels like the Autumn is delivering locally fairly frequently so hope that continues to the end of the year 🤞
September 11, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Thanks Bernie. If feels like the Autumn is delivering locally fairly frequently so hope that continues to the end of the year 🤞
Well done buddy, that’s a great effort. I’m super pleased you were rewarded for chancing it late in the day. And what a bird. Credit goes to Lukas who picked it out and managed to shout at me 100m away to let me know he had it without flushing the birds. It was a great birding day in Glamorgan 😎
September 6, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Well done buddy, that’s a great effort. I’m super pleased you were rewarded for chancing it late in the day. And what a bird. Credit goes to Lukas who picked it out and managed to shout at me 100m away to let me know he had it without flushing the birds. It was a great birding day in Glamorgan 😎
Fantastic find Chris!! And great record shot too 👏
August 25, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Fantastic find Chris!! And great record shot too 👏
Nice one Frank. Not absolutely but this might be the first sighting of any deer on Gower for an extremely long time. I did a mammal course a few years back and the tutor mentioned that they thought it odd Deer absent from Gower but also mentioned that Roe Deer would probably turn up at some stage
August 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Nice one Frank. Not absolutely but this might be the first sighting of any deer on Gower for an extremely long time. I did a mammal course a few years back and the tutor mentioned that they thought it odd Deer absent from Gower but also mentioned that Roe Deer would probably turn up at some stage