Waldo stone area

 Grasshopper warbler 2

Cuckoo  male  calling 

Willow warbler 5

Chiff chaff 3

Blackcap 3 

Swallow  4

Linnet 5 pairs 

Stonechat 6

Stackpole Estate

Started off on the headland today. There were a few Razorbills on cliffs or rafting and the Jackdaws were collecting material to nest with. A couple of Wheatear along the route. A few fulmar trying to get some updrafts off the cliffs. 

A cormerant had found a wrasse to have for lunch! 

Saw a distent Red Kite and was a little surprised to see it come down to sit on headland for a little while. 

The highlight though was a Merlin just sitting on the headland. 

The lakes there were a lot of chiffchaff singing. First thing I did see 2 Common Sandpipers sitting on the logs on side of ponds. Difficult to see but only just saw a glimpse of one heron in the Heronry 

Martin's Haven

A lovely hour at Martin's Haven / Deer Park early evening.  Nice to see a sprinkling of migrants, includin Swallow, Willow Warbler and Wheatear.  Highlight were the Chough: a pair and 2 singles.  Hard to beat a Chough in a location like this on a beautiful spring evening. (Dave & Lisa)

Mating Chough

A chough pair (presumably the "Furzenip pair") mating in a field behind Freshwater West. The male took the initiative by spreading his wings (at first I thought it was the female soliciting food, before it  became apparent which was which...). There are more photos but this captures the essence. Afterwards they flew off   towards the coast. 

Marloes Peninsula

To add to recent records.... 

Yesterday while up on Deer Park I saw a lone Sandwich Tern, long way out into Jack Sound. 

Todays highlight at Mere was a small flock of 6 Grey Plover  

Manorbier - Osprey

A short walk around Manorbier this morning in the blustery wind produced a few Blackcaps, and a few Swallows and 2 House Martins. Also 4 Sandwich Terns offshore. 

Later on whilst out in the garden, just before 10am, the alarming gulls alerted me to a low passing Osprey. It came low straight over the garden and disappeared off north!

Marloes Mere

Last hour on the mere, best sighting was the sunset, wow. The wind had dropped away and a good hatch of midges in the warm evening air were welcomed by the most chiffchaff so far who were launching themselves from the cover of the blackthorn. The ducks, grebes and coots likewise enjoying the banquet. The male lapwing had a competitor tonight,  another male appeared (maybe there's some commuting between here and Skokholm) plus the female still. The displaying male chased off a pair of ruff that tried to land too close but seemed unbothered by the black-tailed godwit. A snipe the only other wader. A couple of Red Admirals in the sheltered spots. Despite the clouds of midges there were no hirundines. Stonechat nest building. 3 chough.

Martin's Haven

Pretty quiet at the start of the weekend due to the wind(!), but Sunday and Monday were lovely.

Not much in the way of passerines: 2 each M&F Wheatear passed through, and a trickle of Swallows.

There is a very wet corner of one of the Trehill Farm fields just by the entrance to West Hook Farm. This still has some standing water, and looks good for attracting migrants for as long as the water remains. We had a Ringed Plover there Sunday morning, and a pair of Shelduck yesterday. 

Several Snipe heard in the valley in the evenings, but noting flushed there, or on the Trehill fields.

A big blitz of Gannets and likely 30++ Common Dolphin off Martin's Haven mid-day Saturday.

Easter porpoise watch at Strumble Head

Twenty + visitors turned up for our Easter Porpoise watch and were rewarded with great views of close Porpoises and also Common Dolphins for the whole two hours! Birdwise, star of the show was a single "commic" Tern. Several Wheatear were feeding in the field nearest the car park and towards the end of the watch, small flurries of hirundines. Mainly sand martins with a few swallows, swept by low and fast in the blustery SE blow.

Preselis

Nice to see 2 Willow Tits at a traditional site in the Preselis today, and at the same site we heard our first Common Cuckoo of the spring.

A single Black Guillemot in Fishguard Harbour late afternoon. (Dave & Lisa)

2 Ospreys fishing at Llys-y-fran Reservoir today (Cerianne Palmer).

Brent Geese

From Carl Mitchell: Three (late) Pale-bellied Brent Geese (hrota) off Pickleridge (SM814066) at tide edge.

16:00 on 6/4/26

Hirundines and wheater NT Castell

 Steady passage of swallows along the coast south of the Fishguard Bay caravan park this afternoon (all heading towards Fishguard) , a few sand martins in with them and 2 house martins . 

2 male wheatear in the field in front of Tŷ Castell 

Marloes Mere

An hour at the mere late afternoon. Pair of lapwing with the male displaying and later chasing off a raven and a herring gull that got too inquisitive. The black-tailed godwit still here the only other wader. 32 coot. Shoveler 22 pair, plus 16 m, 1 female, Teal 15 pair plus 1 m, 3 f,  Gadwall 3 pair, plus 5m, 3 f. C20 wigeon. 3 pair Tufted duck. 2 pair Little grebe, 2 pair moorhen. Chough feeding in the car park. Couple of nice flocks of 50-100 linnet in the fields on either side.

Late afternoon at Strumble 2/4/26

  A brief watch at the lookout, WNW breeze, circa 30-40 well spread out  Common Dolphins  feeding.  Manxies coming out of the bay in dribs and drabs 5-10 at a time, where on recent visits just odd singletons.

 Jay-East Haverfordwest

Jay returns to garden, after two years of absence. Posing with tulips whilst gathering peanuts, presumably to feed young. 

Marloes Mere - Ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull

Some details of a LBB Gull sporting a blue ring that was at Marloes Mere a few days ago. Although the ring is broken and slightly abraded on the side in view there is sufficient to confirm it as being of the form

F:XXX, in this case F:09?.

This narrows it down to being one of 10 birds ringed in 2014 on Flat Holm Island near Cardiff.

If anyone sees it and can read the full number on other side of the ring the ringers will be very pleased to hear confirmation of it.

Identity Crisis

 An old saying often used to guide newcomers to birding is "A rook on his own is a Crow, a Crow in a crowd is a Rook"  Of course as with anything in the natural world, there are often exceptions, but generally this holds true. 
For birders with any experience of course, there is no difficulty separating the two, but what about the birds themselves?

This year in Sutton, the Rookery has definitely increased in size with the nest count likely to top 100, but among the raucous clamour, there is a persistent 3 or 4 note call, yes, a Carrion Crow seems to have decided to become a member of the family, and he is very determined, been here with the same pair of Rooks (who are not best pleased) since February. Every now and then they try and see him off, and on one occasion it developed into a right old scrap, but the Crow had the upper hand (Beak?) and so won his seat.

We have over the years had some odd occurances at the rookery, it was displaced by Ravens from an earlier location, the chicks were predated on for about 3 years by an opportunistic Buzzard and later again by a Raven, the Crow who would be a Rook is just the latest episode in the drama.

I thought it was unusual enough to make a post about though. 

Egyptian Geese.

 3 at Westfield Pill this morning.In a lifetime of birding in the county, my only other sightings were at Mathry and Llysyfran in the late 70's,early 80's.Potential county tick for some, if not disturbed by dog walkers.