Whooper Swans - Mullock Marsh

 7 Whooper Swans on a flooded marsh at dusk today. 

Marloes peninsula

Like a few others, I had a mooch around Marloes peninsula this afternoon between 2pm and 4:30pm to check some of the fields. Beautiful calm and unexpectedly mild afternoon. 30 lapwing on the mere but nothing unusual with them, the mere looks great at the moment. A couple of good looking fields and scrapes that were created earlier in the year down towards Martin's Haven but just corvids and increasing numbers of starling, biggest flock c 2,000 birds had caught the attention of a merlin.

Skokholm

The Killdeer has been between here and Skomer, last heard over here at just after 16:00. Also Black Redstart and a small fall of Chiffchaff and Blackcap. A Crimson Speckled was near North Pond. 

Black Redstart

.. on the roof of the church at St Brides.

All the best,

Mike Duckham

Skokholm

A Killdeer arrived to North Pond at 15:30 this afternoon. It was still there at dusk. A boat currently looks unlikely. 

Brambling

 A male Brambling arrived in Boncath this afternoon. Siskin numbers starting to build too

Dowrog Sunday. 2nd November. Breezy from the west, with good light until later.

We arrived, around 5 pm and parked up on the track just off the road. The resident Kestrel was showing well as it searched the moor from easdt to west. I love the colours of the Dowrog under a lowering sun it is a truly magical place in the autumn/winter.A little while later  a Peregrine passed by heading SW.  Next, what i took to be a juvenile  Sparrowhawk shot across the moor and landed on a roadside fencepost about twenty yards away to my left.

I have been birding for fifty odd years, would have bet a large sum of money that I could identify any native British  bird of prey with ease had I a decent view, but this one flummoxed me. It was a pretty good  prolonged  view.  What really stood out was the pure white underside,/breast/throat marked with heavy black teardrop blotches, not the light barring of a typical Sparrowhawk. The primaries almost extended to the tip of its tail, but even more curious was the fact that it appeared to have dark eyes set in a black mask with just a hint of a white supercillum above. Juvenile Hobby almost fits the bill (excuse pun) though i would have expected a tad more primary projection and more obvious mustachial streaks and anyhow early November seems a bit late. It was incredibly tame as i got out of the car, paying me no heed, nor of a car passing just a few feet away from it.  

After a few  minutes it shot off across the road on a low level run where it had a go at a small passerine probably a Pippit which it flung up to catch, but just missed, continueing on its way, and away! 

A week or so ago, I had a similar /closer view of a 1st summer Musket (male Sparrowhawk) at the same place and that was obviously a Spar'  staring at me with its bright yellow eyes.  I am pretty sure having looked through books etc this must have been a juvenile Sparrowhawk but the seemingly dark eye still irks me.  Maybe its that my eyes are not what they used to be!

The light was beginning to fade when I was scanning out to the SW and a large raptor appeared to be coming my way. It soon became apparent that it was a ringtail and quite a dark one, (perhaps one another birder i did not know had mentioned a couple of days previously). It kept on coming with  deliberate wingbeats at about fifty feet as if on a mission rather than hunting. It passed on by, and over the willow carr and then I noticed a smaller Harrier convergeing on it from the north west. The smaller harrier then dropped down and i saw it was a pale bird, eg a male, meanwhile another harrier a slightly smaller ringtail  approached the the first ringtail  which then turned and a started heading back towards the moor.followed by the second ringtail.

The male bird by now had come back over the willow carr and was hunting low over the moor in front of the carr. From its broad black wingtips i am pretty sure it was a Hen Harrier which were obvious despite the waining light. It was then briefly joined by the two ringtails. The male still showed quite well but the in the dying light it was difficult to keep a track on the ringtails and i lost the smaller one which had probably gone down. The larger ringtail sort of associated with the male for a minute or two before plonking down in the reeds in front of a wooden gatepost. The male continued hunting, droppuing down possibly on some small prey item where it remained for a couple of minutes before coming back up, and flying slowly towards the gate post where the big ringtail had gone down in the reeds. After a short while quartering the area, he also dropped down, presumably to roost, as the light was fast fading.. I hung around for another few minutes but it was by then, properly getting dark.

All in all, a wonderful hour of Raptor watching, sadly i had no camera with me, this image is from a couple of years ago!

Whooper swans

 Back at Sandy Haven  this morning at  7:15 after  a two day absence- bang in the middle of the avian influenza zone.

Firecrests

A good early autumn passage of Firecrests maybe a few will winter..

    With two more new Firecrests on the Teifi Marshes this morning - 6 different birds since the end of September and  November is usually our peak month for arrivals... 

(Teifi RG)

White-fronted Goose - Marloes Mere

 Went down to Marloes Mere today looking for harriers - no luck.

As we were walking back from the hide this  "Greenland" White-fronted Goose landed on the mere. 

(Tommy Evans)

Llys-y-fran

I checked the gull roost this evening, nothing unusual apart from an apparent lack of Yellow-legged gulls this autumn, just a single adult tonight, there were none on the last visit a couple of weeks back, in recent years they seem to average around 4-5 on most visits. 

Arriving at 3:30pm the roost looked like it might form on the upper section of the reservoir so I walked up beyond the first inlet but by 4:45pm barely 2,000 LBBs had arrived and I decided to call it a night and head back. I hadn't got far when gulls began to arrive from the east and in big numbers with some others coming over the dam from the south. Setting up the scope on the north side of the inlet between 5pm and 5:15pm I counted 9,200 LBB with more out of sight at the very top of the reservoir. I've estimated something close to this previously but as far as I recall this is probably the largest count of LBBs I've made.

Other gulls counted before 4:30pm, 900 BH gulls, 10 Common gull, 4 GBBs (3 adult and a 1w), single adult Mediterranean, single adult YLG. Also 3 GC grebe, 2 heron, 2 Little grebe. No geese seen tonight.

Snow Bunting

At Parrog on wall by the cafe a single smart looking snow bunting this afternoon.  Pecking around for food and we were stood within six feet of it.  Completely unphased by our presence.

Helen Grimes

Ringed Herring Gull.

 In my Neyland garden this morning.Blue ring CO74.Believe it may have been ringed on Caldey.

Dale and Marloes mere

An afternoon mooch around the regular spots. The best bird was on the drive down, a probable GWE heading north over the road near Hasguards Cross, a bit distant but certainly looked good, maybe flushed from Sandy Haven? 100s of Wood pigeon flying over the road by the Slate Mill. Arrived at the Gann as did the rain, quick look from the road, 20 Wigeon, barwit and a blackwit, and the kingfisher. Nothing at all in the sheltered track up to the airfield. 100+ lapwing flying around before dropping in the former potato fields on the north edge, a single golden plover in the stony field and 35 snipe on a walk through the inner triangle. Dusk stop at the mere, 4 Tufted duck, 80 wigeon giving their nervous yelps, only raptors were 3 buzzards stationed around the mere.

Whooper Swans

Family of 6 still present at Sanday Haven  Chapel this afternoon at 4.00pm flying from the usual  field down to the river. Also present on the river were redshank, greenshank, curlew, whimbrel, little egret, reed bunting, buzzard and raven.

Alan Seago

Cattle Egret / Whooper Swans

The Cattle Egret was at Mullock first thing this morning, but as Dave noted, the cattle were being moved as I drove past mid afternoon, so unlikely to see it there again.                                                                        The  Swans were still in the usual field as I drove to Milford but as I returned back not long after a visiting birder told me they had just flown down the creek near the chapel.

 

St Brides / Mullock / Sandy Haven

The ringed Firecrest was still at St Brides this afternoon, along with a Siberian Chiffchaff and a Chiffchaff.  With the help of Richard Brown on Skokholm, we managed to identify 4 of the 6 digits of the ring code from my photos - PP09 - and this perfectly matched a Firecrest ringed on Skokholm by Richard Dobbins on 1st October (RPP094), a first winter female.  Cracking stuff!

No sign of either Glossy Ibis at Mullock but the Cattle Egret still there (but not for long I'd imagine, the cattle appear to have been taken inside for the winter).

The family part of 6 Whooper Swans were still at Sandy Haven, late afternoon down in the pill itself opposite the church.

Mullock/Gann/Marloes Mere 29th October

2 Glossy Ibis and 1 Cattle Egret at the field above Mullock Bridge yesterday. Accompanied by 18 Curlew and a Skylark.
Significant sightings at the Gann included 4 Greenshank, 7 Wigeon, 3 Little Grebe, 25 Curlew, 1 Kingfisher, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Teal and 15 Med Gulls.
Nice to see a female type Pintail at the Mere, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Skylark, 1 Kestrel, 12 Wigeon, 4 Lapwing, 30 Teal and 5 Shoveler.

Alan Seago

Whooper Swans

As reported by Derek G, still there on Wednesday in the field to the south of the road just east of Sandy Haven Chapel. They were very close to the road, easily viewable from the gateway opposite the big layby on the north of the road. This field used to have turkey sheds in it but more recently I think there were scruffy daffodils. I wonder if they are eating the daffodil bulbs?

Rosemary Royle