Hoopoe near Caerfarchell

From Lynne and Tim at Spring Meadow Farm - Hi – A hoopoe flew through our garden and landed on a hawthorn tree in one of Treithel’s fields adjacent to ours, It stayed there for about 10 minutes until a crow started showing too much interest in it and it flew away. We had a hoopoe land in the front of our house about a month earlier than this 2 years ago where it stayed around for about three days feasting on ants on a dry patch of rough ground under our dining room window -  this one unfortunately hasn’t returned not yet anyway.

Pembrokeshire BTO & Birdwatchers' Newsletter

The Pembrokeshire BTO & Birdwatchers' Newsletter produced by Bob and Annie Haycock is full of interesting and useful information and information about new and ongoing surveys. Highly recommended.

As well as signing up to receive a copy direct (see posting yesterday) you can also now click on the Newsletter link on the right to view an on-line version which also has a link to past versions of the newsletter.

Maybe a different Red Kite

A cracking pristine Red Kite low over the road junction of the A487 /A4219 at Manorowen just south of Goodwick. Not so rare these days but I remember getting one over Withybush about 15 years ago, when the lately and sadly departed  Stuart Devonald (generally regarded to have the largest Pembs bird list at the time), still had not ticked one for Pemb's! Although Cuckoos have definately decreased Kites are obviously  on the up!

A40 Red Kite

Just N of road, half mile east of Haverfordwest golf club

Ramsey

Ring tail hen harrier still present. Also 8 dunlin. Not much else in this cold wind!

Marloes Mere

As a whole, quiet. 1 Tufted Drake, still there from yesterday, good Swallow numbers with a few House Martins. The Glossy was still there last night though I didn`t see it today. Never even saw Brian`s (Brains?) car abandoned in a hedge either!

Pembrokeshire BTO & Birdwatchers' Newsletter

We sent out another edition of the newsletter last night, so I hope you've all recieved it.  If you haven't seen it in your inbox, please check your junk folder.  If there is still no sign of it, you can sign up to receive it here but as it is not an automated system it may take up to 24 hours for us to send the newsletter (that's the price you pay for a free version).

It is a little 'cracker'

Slavonian Grebe

It was a bit deadly at St Davids Head this morning, just 2 Swifts, 1 Redpoll and a Spotted Flycatcher of note. So I went twitching to Newport for the Slav Grebe - and what a beauty! Go and see it if you can. It's just near the Yacht club. More pics etc here: http://mikesbirdnotes.blogspot.co.uk/

cuckoo

In response to "cuckoo cuckoo", there have usually been more than one pair of cuckoos in the Frenni Fawr/Fach area east of Crymych every year. Has anyone over that way checked for them this year. Having moved I no longer hear them from our new home......yet!

Trecwn area

Highlights today were 1 Goshawk, 1 Red Kite, a singing male Redstart, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Lesser Redpolls, 1 Garden Warbler and plenty of Siskins. Sadly no Grizzled or Dingy Skippers on this visit. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Ramsey

Ring tail hen harrier again today plus a hooded crow

Cuckoo cuckoo!

For the first time in years I actually heard two seperate cuckoo's calling at the same time from slightly different locations from my garden. Up until ten years ago they were pretty abundant but in recent years only odd passers by heard/briefly. Lets hope its a good sign of things to come!

Marloes Spoonbill

A (the?, see Sunday) Spoonbill dropped into Marloes Mere at 0930 this morning and stayed for about 20 minutes before flying off in the Dale direction. I saw it first from the North Hide (I was due to lead an NT walk at 1000) and it settled halfway down to the barbed wire gate before flying west, settling briefly at the other end and then flying off.

Water rail called briefly from the rushes near the Britton Hide. 

CUCKOOS AT THE DOWROG

On sunday 19th of May I saw two cuckoos on the Dowrog. I watched one male sitting in a tree singing  for 10 minutes, when he flew off there appeared a second silent bird, a female I believe. I saw a single bird again some 10 minutes later again sitting in a different tree but not singing. This post is late as I only just got registered on the blog.
Renate

Slav Grebe - Newport

From Sue Jenkins - Slavonian Grebe in full breeding plumage seen at close view
feeding by boat club, Parrog Newport at 5pm today.Still fishing right by boat club
at Newport 6.30pm. Bird went out towards mouth of Nevern with receding tide.
(Photo via Blackberry)

Purple Heron - Castlemartin

I walked down Castlemartin Corse with John Hayes early this morning close to the reed bed as part of the team conducting a breeding bird survey on the Corse. Plenty of Sedge and Reed Warblers singing as well as 3 Cettis. These were eclipsed however when a Purple Heron flew up out of the reed bed, flew a short distance and dropped back down again. A pretty dull individual - sub adult. Unfortunately there is no public access to Castlemartin Corse yet though hopefully this will change in the not too distant future. In any event the chances of seeing the bird again seem pretty remote if it sticks to the reed bed. The reed bed can be scoped from the upper car park at Freshwater West.
Another highlight was 2 Lapwing chicks - a bird just hanging on as a breeder in Pembrokeshire.

Dale area

Airfield: quiet birdwise, pair moorhen on pond. Marloes Mere: Glossy flew around and dropped by gate at 4pm, 3 swifts, lots of whitethroat, cormorant dropped in, pair shelduck flew up and headed westward, 4 wheatear on the walk over to Martins Haven, pair Mallard in ditch, 5 chough, really tearing up the ground and seemed to be finding plenty to eat in the rough pasture, male stonechat carrying food, sky full of skylark song today. Dave put me onto the waders at the Gann: mixed flock of 86 small waders comprised of 2 Sanderling and 24 Ringed plover the rest dunlin. Redshank and the Barwit on shore with 5 whimbrel and the 2 Brent.

Gann & Marloes Mere

Late afternoon the Gann was thankfully devoid of people but with a nice selection of birds.  The Great Northern Diver remains, very close inshore initially but then moving further out as the tide fell.  A surprise was 2 Brent Geese - one pale bellied and one dark bellied!  Waders were the main interest with a total of 53 Dunlin spread across the lagoon, with 1 Sanderling & 5 Ringed Plover, also 12+ Whimbrel & a Bar-tailed Godwit.  Marloes Mere was quite quiet, but with plenty of hirundines to check through.

Ramsey

The ring tail hen harrier was here again today. Also 3 red kites and a cuckoo of note. Hirundine passage this morning with 200+ swallows north in a couple of hours plus 32 house martin and 2 swift.

Dartford Warblers

In April, we posted details of the agreement reached with Jane Hodges of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, for recording breeding Dartford Warblers in Pembrokeshire. There has been an encouraging response and good numbers of records have been sent to Jane, who has been very busy liaising with all those concerned in protecting these wonderful birds. We are at the stage where adults are feeding young and it is a good time to fill in a couple of gaps in the coverage of North Pembrokeshire. If any local birdwatcher is interested in helping fill these gaps by making a couple of survey visits to a North Pembrokeshire site where Dartford Warblers have been recorded previously, then please make contact via the Blog email address (see Contact on the right).

Newport Sun am

Very quiet - 1 Curlew, 2 Dunlins & 4 Ringed Plovers. A Red T Diver in the bay was a surprise. Quite distant, but I think a 1st summer, so presumably a non breeder.
Nice that the Swans have finally got their act together.

Angle Bay

A quick look at Kilpaison early afternoon. Pretty quiet with 15 Ringed plover, 8 Dunlin and this splendid summer plumage Turnstone.

Yesterday at Freshwater West there were 70+ Sanderling on the beach and roosting on the rocks together with a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover. 4 Sandwich Terns were fishing close in.

Spoonbill

One seen circling Marloes Mere (Steve Hinton), before sightings over Skomer and Skokholm, and then departing south (Richard Brown).

The Gann

From Mark Cherry - Redshank on the lagoon and got my first sighting of summer-plumage Dunlin (30). A Grey Heron flew in but landed out of sight. Curlew (1) and Shelduck (pair) at the stream; a buzzard soaring above the dead trees by Gann farm was joined by a second bird, rusty coloured in bright sunshine but with pale wing undersides.

Returning to the car via the tide-line, instead of the ridge, paid off with my first alba Wagtail since ~2010, between me and the sea-wall, with Whitethroat and Dunnock in the gorse and shrubs along the ridge for company. Swallows (4+) were flying low over the same gravel bank, next to the sea wall, closer to the car park. A Whimbrel called as it took off from the beach, last seen heading NNE. I kept checking the bay but no sign of the hoped-for diver. 

Martin's Haven to Marloes Mere

A lovely early evening out-and-back walk.  Pretty quiet really - a small but steady passage of Swallows westwards, 3 pairs of Stonechats, a lone female Wheatear.  More activity at the mere with at least 6 Swifts, a few House Martins and 60+ Swallows.  A Dunlin flew around calling but was not seen to land.  Derek's dodgy goose flew with 2 Canadas towards Skomer.

St Davids Hd am

A quieter day than yesterday with similar mix of species. A handful of Hirundines moving, 2 new Spotted Flycatchers, a Reed Warbler in blackthorn at the Youth Hostel was unusual, 6 Redpolls, all those seen well being Lessers.  A Whimbrel flew around Whitesands on stiff wings, as if displaying.

In the Anghof Valley, the Herons now have young, about a week old. Difficult to say how many but Kathy thinks she saw three eggs.

Ramsey - hen harrier

I got a call from Amy this afternoon to say she had a ring tail harrier on the hill. After all the recent harrier excitmenet out here anything was possible! It turned out to be a late hen harrier (without checking I think it is the latest date recorded on Ramsey). Couple of Amy's record shots below:

Marloes Mere

 Glossy Ibis flew a quick circuit, before dropping in somewhere near the gate. Also this hybrid (Canada /Greylag?)goose.