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Mountains

I decided that I needed to get back to some moorland walking and spend yesterday in South Wales at the edge of the Brecon Beacons. Parking at the Keepers Pond car park in the Blaenavon World Heritage site I headed off onto The Blorenge. Much of the mountain is heather moorland which makes for very difficult walking but I picked up the route of an old tramway leading to a limestone quarry near the summit.

The walking was usually easier than in the photo where the top layer of small pebbles has been washed away where it crosses a small stream.

As far as birding is concerned it wasn't hugely rewarding, there are red grouse on the mountain but in a number of visits I have never seen one. Skylarks were abundant on this part of the mountain as were meadow pipits. The stonechats seem to prefer perching on the wires of the powerline that serves the TV transmitter mast to the south of my walk but I did get good views of two individuals. What did seem incongruous was a couple of cock blackbirds, something that I associate more with lowland woods than open mountain country.

Naturally there were buzzards in the sky, I had hoped for a peregrine as I know that they nest in cliffs a few miles to the west but naturally they didn't come out to play. At the limit of my walk I was rewarded with the sight of three ravens perched on a small ridge.

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