Teifi -- Bittern ... behaviour tonight !!

As is the daily norm at the moment, a gathering in Kingfisher Hide c1730 to wait...........
& wait.....
18:23 a Bittern glides in from above & behind the hide, & slowly flies & lands in the back right of the reed bed. Within a couple of minutes the Bittern is up over the reeds & hide chasing 2 Carrion Crows across the old railway line.. (you have to rush out the hide to catch this), circling around & then back over the hide to it's usual roosting area 18:31....absolutely amazing..!!

Great to see our New Skomer Warden Chris Taylor & his Assistant Warden Jerry in (& out) of the hide to witness the Bittern tonight, all Pembs birders wish them a great start tomorrow on Skomer.

Ring - necked Duck

This photo has now come to light, taken on 24 February, !!! at Bosheston.

(photo Lyndon, )

Whooper Swans & Green Woodpecker !!!!!!

Penberry Reservoir could have been swan lake with 10 swans there this morning.5 Whoopers 4 juvs and 1 adult almost certainly the same birds that where there 2 weeks ago and 5 Mutes 3 juvs and 2 adults.The highlight of a shopping trip to Haverfordwest yesterday was a fly-by Green Woodpecker in the car park of the Vincent Davies store.

greenfinches

In most years we do well for greenfinches, but this winter we have been lucky to see 1 or 2. However in the last week or so our number has increased & we have a regular 8 or more at the feeders. Good to see they are about & had not succumbed to the cold!

Bosherston Ring-necked duck

The female ring-necked duck was with a group of Tufted Ducks and a Goldeneye at Bosherston early afternoon. They were on the water immediately at the bottom of the path down from the National Trust car park. The pic is just a record shot from a video.
Also at Bosherston but at the Stackpole court end near the hide was a Firecrest.
Other highlights in the South today were 4 Med gulls at Carew mill pond (3 ad, 1 2nd winter), 120 Black-tailed Godwit still on Pembroke upper mill pond and at Angle village 34 Bar-tailed Godwit and 9 Knot.

Stonechat

At Poppit Sands this morning there were two male Stonechats the first I've seen this year.

Ring-necked Duck

Female Ring-necked Duck found by Wendy at Bosherston earlier today. At the Bosherston Village end of the ponds, park in the National Trust car park. Further details later.

Strumble 11.00 - 13.00 Sunday 28th Feb.

3 Black Throated Diver
2 Red Throated Diver

In with the fairly large number of Auks passing which are now mostly in summer plumage a Guillemot of the " Bridled " variety.

In garden , still a few Siskins & at least 1 Redpoll today.

Masses of Magpies

From Pris Stewart - Flock of over 30 magpies again today near Glandy Cross, Efailwen

Otter -- Westfield Pill

Hi Richard(s)
I know this isn’t a bird, but the otter was playing at Westfield Pill today for about 15 mins out in the open, almost oblivious to being watched. She caught 5 fish in about 4 minutes. Two of these pictures were taken from a distance of about 10 feet, she was that close. What a joy to see!
Regards
Woody

Teifi

Otters here too!
2 as "usual" from Kingfisher Hide, no sign of Bitterns here today, or Great Grey Shrike
(Janet, Tommy)
Estuary;
2 Sanderling, 1 Turnstone with c24 Ringed Plover, & c40 Dunlin.

Seemed to be increasing numbers of Teal,.... perhaps time for a passage Green-winged Teal??

Cetti's Warblers;
Singing from usual sites around the Reserve, Goodwick Moor seems quiet, what about the south coast birds?

Millpond Godwits

update on the Black-tailed Godwits on the upper pond.
Today there were 128 including the colour ringed (orange/yellow right tibia, White left tibia). This bird has been recorded here for at least 4 years now. It is consisitant with dates, last year it was here 22nd Feb.
The numbers are building at the moment 32 on the 13th, 60 on the 19th, 97 on the 26th and 128 on the 27th.
They will disapear again if the water levels rise again after heavy rain.
I'll keep you informed.

The Gann

My neighbour told me he saw 3 Otters behind Crab Hall last week, so I took a butchers this afternoon. No Otters visible, just 24 Brent,( toward Mullock bridge on the very high tide) a single Grey plover, 3 G/C/Grebes on the sea & a small (c15) mixed flock of Dunlin, Turnstones & Ringed Plover. Otherwise quiet.

Blackcap

A female Blackcap still present in garden and a pair of Goosander have been present on the river at Cilgerran.
At the Nevern Estuary yesterday 158 Curlew and two Bar-tailed Godwit.

Nesting Swans

A request from Sally Snow of Aden Productions, a small independent television company in Cardiff. They are currently producing two programmes for the BBC both of which are presented by Iolo Williams and would be grateful for any information on Mute Swan nesting activity as this is something they are really keen to film in the next 2 weeks. Ideally they are looking for a Mute Swan nest which is quite accessible so that they can have Iolo in frame with the birds. If anybody has any suggestions could they drop Sally an email at sally.snow@adenproductions.com or use the email link on the right and I will pass the information on.

Plumstone Mountain (yesterday)

Goshawk 2 males 1 female
Hen Harrier male female
Perigrine 1
Merlin 1
Sparrowhawk 2
Buzzard 5+
Raven 2
Starling 1 million+

teifi marsh

Bass lagoon (early Fri a.m.); heard willow tit, cettis, & at least 3 water rail amongst others. The little grebe was seen as were 12 teal & 21 magpies. 2 otters spent a few minutes playing in the pool too.

Cilgerran & Westfield Pill

From Elwyn Davies - From the Kingfisher hide this morning good views of a Great Grey Shrike and of the Bittern, I saw 3 fly byes of a single bird and one of a pair. Nothing photographically, except this record shot. Elwyn

From Allan Hansen - A Green Sandpiper this morning,Up to 3 Firecrests still present. Raven and Heron sitting on nests,and a second Heron's nest under construction.

Angle Area

Bosherston mid morning - wildfowl numbers pretty low with 11 Wigeon, 12 Mallard, 8 Gadwall, 16 Goosander, 3 Little Grebe. Also a Tawny Owl calling and a Kingfisher.
At Freshwater West at last a decent flock of Golden Plover - 400+ on fields up above the beach as well as 600+ Lapwing. Also nice to see a pair of Stonechats back after the long cold spell.
Kilpaison strangely quiet a couple of hours before high tide with 3 Brents of note, otherwise a few Curlew and Wigeon.

Pembroke River

Today:
7 Grey, Plover, 4 Gt Ctd Grebes, 4 Greenshank, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, c600 Dunlin, 6 Turnstone...so far..
(Paul G.)

agh!

I was looking for the moorhen & then I realised! That is quite some picture caught at the right moment (well not for the moorhen obviously!).

Yesterday at Bosherston

At Bosherston yesterday there were lots of Wilfowl, good views of an otter, a moorhen 'going down the hatch' and a 'Yaffling' Green woodpecker.

Black Guillemot -- Fishguard

Presumably the same sum. plum. adult as Wendy saw Monday, this time on the seaward side of the Outer Breakwater,....if a returning breeder....then a few weeks earlier than the last 2 years.

Also on the b/w 5+ Purple Sandpipers, 4 Ringed Plover.
1 Bar-tailed Godwit by the Flagpoles.
1 Little Grebe on Goodwick Moor...perhaps another new breeding site?

Teifi -- Bittern

The Bittern was seen this evening from 17:40, from Kingfisher Hide on the right hand side.
(Janet & Howard)

Teifi Med gull

Amongst the roost of c500 Black headed gulls there was one adult Med gull.
A Common Sandpiper opposite St Dogmaels quay was presumably the same overwintering bird that is usually behind Jewsons.

Rosebush Resr.

A look late pm produced nothing more than likely breeding wildfowl species, & c4 Goldeneye, & 1 Kestrel.

Pen Anglas

I saw a Merlin twice today, chasing a Linnet (it disappeared over the edge of the cliff still chasing it) at 13:45 and back across at 14:30.

Landshipping Quay

Late morning - Lapwing 180, Dunlin 250, Redshank 31, Oystercatcher 24, Teal 45, Wigeon 5, Little Grebe 1.

Great Grey Shrike -- Teifi Marshes

Kingfisher Hide;-
The Great Grey Shrike spent c1hr perched on top of bushes at the back of the reed-bed.. when eventually fed up with being mobbed.... flew off high over the Visitor Centre....
Also 2 Otter (I guess cubs) feeding & being noisy! Active for about 30 mins in front of hide.
.....Didn't see a Bittern though!!

From Badger trail, a Goldcrest singing from above some Ivy...so hope there.
Janet also has Goldcrest & Treecreeper singing in her garden, so positive signs of small birds getting ready to breed.

3 Little Egrets feeding in the fast moving rapids! from the River Viewpoint seemed unusual.

Great Grey Shrike -- Teifi still...& ..coming home..

See -- CereBirds !!
Teifi;-
Waders from the Railings, included 2 Sanderling, c15 Ringed Plover, c60 Dunlin, 3 Turnstone.

On the way back to Pembs, the Lesser Scaup, & male & female Greater Scaup.. good value along the M4 . As was the male & rh Smew at Talley Lakes.

Westfield Pill

Monday 22. 12 noon 9 Herons all sitting in the trees around the nest (same place as last year).
Another Heron was on the nest. I haven't seen that many Herons together at Westfield Pill.
A Little Egret has taken up residence also at the Pill .

Sandy Haven Pill

Yesterday (Monday) from Mark Cherry - 3 Buzzard seen and heard as soon as I got out of the car. From further along the shoreline I pleased by my first ever sighting of a Greenshank as well as two Redshank. A single Little Egret was visible in the channel further south and 20+ Curlew landed in the sloping field opposite with the odd one or two down on the mud.

Just to whet the imagination of my seawatching friends!

"Today we surveyed along the most southern area of the Porcupine Bank. Seabirds for the day were gannet, fulmar, kittiwake, great skua and sooty shearwater.

"Bird life remained plentiful but with few species. Gannet, fulmar (one of which was 'blue-phase'), kittiwake, great skua and great shearwater was the species list for the day."

Follow the daily progress of the survey on the IWDG Ship Surveys pages.


FYI: The porcupine bank is an area of the Irish shelf approximately 320Km or 200 miles west of Ireland. perhaps to put it into context, within a days flight from Strumble Head....

Yesterday and Today!

Yesterday - a quick trip in bumpy seas out to Skokholm where we found two Whimbrel on the rocks in South Haven/Peters Bay and at Crab Rocks - one was present in mid October so once again have presumably wintered here. as usual near the Oystercatcher roost on the Anticline in South Haven (where c 30 birds) but there were about 90 Oycs at the east side of Peters Bay near the start of the Devils Teeth.
Quite a lot of Fulmar and Razorbills around with a few Guilli's, herring Gulls on teh cliffs but relatively few LBB's. There looked to be quite a lot of thrushes around, mainly Song thrush and a few redwing but one Mistle Thrush flew over. A couple of wrens heard.

Today - at St Ann's Head a Black Redstart but not much else apart from three Peregrine. At Marloes Mere 180 canada geese and 85 Wigeon were the most numerous but four Pochard and 11 Tufties were the best birds. No harriers and no Whitefronts. Many of the geese headed for Skomer and later I counted around 160 on Midland from the Deer Park. Stonechats notable by their absence from the Deer Park area.

Teifi marsh (Ceredigion too!)

Further to Wendy J's report of goosanders on the river at the Teifi Marsh, there were 15 there this morning, 9f & 6 m.

Black Guillemot

One in Fishguard harbour this morning close to the outer breakwater.
Also a Black-throated diver and 3 Red-throated divers.

Yesterday

There were 6xYellow hammers yesterday by the entrance to Broomhill farm between Rhoscrowther and Angle village

Plumstone roost

A good raptor and starling spectacle late afternoon.
2 male Hen harriers and a ringtail, 2 Goshawks, a Sparrowhawk, at least 6 Buzzards and finally a Peregrine Falcon which came and perched on the rocks as the light went.
(Paul G)

Rings, rings, ring

Ended up with 6 Mediterranean Gulls at the Gann (4 ads, 1 2ndW, 1stW). One of the adults had a red ring on the right leg, 6PI. Have submitted details, expect it to be Polish in origin. A good gathering of mostly small gulls on the beach pre-roost in perfect viewing conditions. 19 Brent Geese including ringed KLWR, and to finish off the ring theme, a yellow colour ringed Curlew that I could not read!

On the way back from Cardiff early afternoon I called in to see the first-winter female Lesser Scaup at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, Port Talbot - it would be rude not to - just to remind myself what they look like (my first female in the UK).

Gann / St Ishmaels

1 Grey Plover, 1 Kingfisher on the lagoon, I started looking through the gull flock as Dave arrived. Spent some time checking Meds, then I left. So being lazy, I`ve left it to him to fill in the gaps!
20 Golden Plover over St Ishmaels flying high & West.
4 Greenfinches on our feeders - the highest number this winter.

Hen Harrier St. Davids / Strumble / Flagpoles 21st Feb.

A brief look at Treffeiddan marsh around lunchtime produced an unlucky Ringtail Hen Harrier which was flushed & relieved of it's recently killed Moorhen by a Buzzard.

Later on , in an hour & a half at Strumble i saw 1 Black Throated Diver , 1 Ad. Med. Gull & 9 Common Scoter.

A quick look at the Flagpoles on the way home where i had another Black Throated Diver & a mix of gulls mostly Blk Headed & approx. 70 Common Gulls.

Angle Area

Bird numbers were considerably down at Castlemartin Corse this morning compared to last month for the Webs - 325 Lapwing, 2 Golden Plover (where are all the GP's this winter?), 20 Curlew, 35 Teal, 27 Shoveller, 68 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, 23 Mallard, 11 Coot, 2 Little Grebe, 200+ Skylark, 50+ Linnet. No raptors seen at all which is very unusual for the Corse.

At Angle Harbour at high tide there was a nice little collection of waders roosting on the shingle spit - 40 Barwits, 2 Knot, 120 Dunlin, 12 Ringed Plover. Also c.20 Redshank around the harbour and a Kingfisher.

At Kilpaison late morning - c.250 Dunlin, 5 Redshank, 10 Ringed Plover, 40 Curlew, 33 Knot, 25 Oystercatcher, 10 Brents. 9 Great Crested Grebe. Didn't count the Wigeon but numbers well down c.100+. Click photos for larger versions.

Marloes

From Mark Cherry - No sign of the White Fronted Geese this afternoon but from the Mark Britton hide, the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen patrolling the hedges just west of the northern hide, at around 3:30 pm. From every tree it lunged at, starlings would emerge at speed.

A wren appeared on the gorse just behind the near pond and at least 2 skylark were heard singing, in the distance, when I left the hide, after 4pm.

Tresinwen (20 Feb 10)

Male Blackcap resident in the garden for the last couple of weeks.

The Gann

11 Brent inc KLWR
c350 B/H/Gulls on the roost, with more flying in.
5 Meds, c150 Common gulls, usual Teal, Goldeneye & Shelduck.

Broadhaven

10 Red-throated divers, c100 Scoter and a Great Northern diver.
(Paul G)

Stackpole Area

On a circular walk from Stackpole - Bosherston - Stackpole pretty quiet birdwise with just a few Razorbills close in under the cliffs and Fulmars on the ledges. At Bosherston a few Tufteds, 16 Goosander and close views of the 3 Otters which are still very confiding. At the holiday cottages by Stackpole Quay a Black Redstart on the roof.

Greenland Whitefronts

16 Greenland Whitefront Geese, including the collared bird, still at Marloes Mere this morning. Seen from the hide just past the youth hostel.
(Paul G)

Teifi marsh

9 Goosander on the river (4 drakes). A Cetti's warbler singing near Kingfisher hide.

Pembrokeshire Birds makes Radio Pembrokeshire

By a strange link between triathlon & the Pembrokeshire Birds Blog, which would take too long to explain, I recorded an interview today with Radio Pembrokeshire about blogging, and took full opportunity to shamelessley plug this Blog. It might air sometime Monday or Tuesday - keep an ear out if you happen to be tuned in. Thanks to Rich Crossen for the crib sheet!!

Castle Pil

From Mike Jones - At Castle Pil all the usual waders plus a Common Sandpiper and an adult summer plumage Med Gull

Tegryn

Good to see the lone female brambling is now regular at the feeders, but no males seen yet. At least one regular willow tit too; where was it back before christmas! No siskins seen this winter, but goldfinches every day.
I have not seen a wren here for several weeks. I do not think we are through the winter just yet!

White-fronted Goose -- (not Pembs)

Wasn't going to blog whilst away!
I liked this info. though, a fellow birder, Steve, from Hawaii & I were searching for a lifer for both of us today, after finding the bird, our conversation developed onto vagrants...he said that he was pleased before he came to NZ with a good find, a great vagrant for Hawaii...
Yes White-fronted Goose!!...
Any update on the Pembs birds please?

Martin's Haven snipe

The valley is still extremely waterlogged, and yesterday I flushed 2 (common) Snipe in the morning. In the afternoon I flushed a Jack Snipe which behaved according to the books, came up without any call, and flopped down again 20-30 yards away.
The predominant songbird in the valley remain Song Thrushes and Blackbirds (the snail shell count is astonishing), with just 2 Robins and a solitary Great Tit seen. The other highlight of this morning was a Skylark singing strongly overhead.

If you are driving between Marloes village and Mullock, the irrigation pond on the right hand side after the Winterton corner has has had a regular 2-4 Teal most of the winter. They, at least, love the strong green algae that covers the pond even after the recent rain and frosts.

Plumstone & Rosebush

At long last went up to see the Starling roost at Plumstone late this afternoon. Having left south Pembs in sunshine arrived with dark clouds and a hail shower to welcome me. But the Starlings came in from all directions in huge numbers and put on a spectacular, though fairly brief, display between c.5:15 and 5:40 p.m. . 2 Buzzards were seen over the conifers with the Starlings and a distant Ring Tailed Hen Harrier over the ridge to the right. The highlight was 2 adult male Hen Harriers quite close in below the vantage point at Plumstone.

News from Leo Reich of a Goshawk in the conifers near the qaurry at Rosebush this morning.

Pen Caer

Merlin (m) was highlight of short afternoon visit. 2 gannets seen going north, & one going south. A few auks also seen but strong cold breeze meant few small birds showing at all.

Firecrest

A firecrest at Bosherston was the highlight of a days birding around the Angle peninsula. It was in scrub along the path between the reed bed and the hide. An otter was swimming around the reeds here too.
Pembroke River - 4 Greenshank, 7 Grey Plover and around 500 Dunlin. Yesterday's Avocet was well searched for but not found. Wigeon numbers are markedly down with only c30 seen here.
Kilpaison - 8 Pale-bellied Brent Geese.
Angle village - 43 Bar-tailed Godwit and 12 Knot.
Castlemartin Corse - a pair of Pintail.
(Paul G and Wendy J)

Teifi Marshes Bitterns

I had a report of two Bitterns, seen together and courting (!!!) on Tuesday night, 5.30-6pm, Kingfisher Hide. Both birds in the area of the bamboo ringing pole (left by Richard no-doubt as a marker) to the right of the hide.

It appears that this sort of time is the best to catch a glimpse, albeit in poor light conditions.

Goodwick & Plumstone

Info from Leo Reich - Goodwick; 7 Redshanks, c15 Oystercatchers, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, 3 Curlew, c10 Turnstone (all by the flagpoles)

Plumstone: at least 1,000,000 starlings from 17:00 to 17:50. Also 1 male Hen Harrier patrolling the heather, 2 buzzards catching starlings and a brief view of a probable goshawk

Avocet

Paul G found an Avocet on the Pembroke river, from Pennar, this afternoon. Also a good winter record of a Ruff and 8 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank and 5 Great-crested Grebes.

Fishguard

A Black-throated diver from the fort this afternoon.
(Paul M)

Up North

From Janet A - Two Gadwall and Barwit still at iron bridge Newport . 3 Stock Dove scratching about in a field of fresh slurry near Brynberian.

South coast

Wisemans's bridge - 30 red-throated divers, 3 red-breasted Mergansers, 4 Great crested Grebes.
Amroth - 3 Red-throated divers, 1 Great crested Grebe and c350 distant Scoter.
(Paul G)

Diving ducks

John's impressive count of 44 Tufted Ducks at Pembroke Mill Pond, which no doubt Bob & Annie can put in context with WeBS data, reminds me to alert you to be vigilent when checking diving ducks, particulary Tufted/Scaup types. The second Lesser Scaup for Wales, a young female, was identified recently at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir in Port Talbot (see http://goweros.blogspot.com/) and the first, a male, is still around Cardiff. Pembrokeshire is surely overdue one of these subtle aythyas, so check those Tufties very carefully!!

Angle Area

At Kilpaison this morning a lot of Dunlin - 500+. Also 5 Knot, c.30 Ringed Plover, 4 Redshank, 2 Barwits, 20 Oystercatcher. Only 40 or so Wigeon.

Round at Angle Harbour there were 32 Barwits and c.40 Knot along with a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover on the shingle spit. Also 9 Redshank, c.20 Turnstone and 3 Shoveller.

At Freshwater West 31 Grey Plover and 2 Sanderling roosting on the rocks. 100's of Lapwing on Castlemartin Corse but no sign of any Harriers from a very quick look.

pembroke Millponds 15th Feb

Upper Millpond
32 black-tailed Godwits, 1 Greenshank, waders back now that the water level has dropped.

Main Millpond
Pochard 4, tufted duck 44, Gadwall 2, Dabchick 16.

Black Necked Grebe Llangwm Ferry

Pics taken this morning & sent in by Graham Stephens of what may well be a Black Necked Grebe at Llangwm Ferry. Pics taken from some distance but bird larger than Dabchicks nearby and pic shows a nice steep forehead. Seems to have been around for some weeks.

Another Tawny

In addition to the hooting Tawny Owl at Picton, there was a "kyricking" Tawny in Crundale later on Sunday evening.

Tawny Owl

A Tawny Owl was calling in Picton Castle Gardens at lunchtime today.

Whitefront, Marloes.

A slightly better picture today! 16 still present with Canadas & 1 Snow goose.
Quite small compared to the brutes behind.

Red Kite

I saw one fly east over Pen Anglas at 13:00.

Teifi

A few more small waders around the estuary this morning - 2 Sanderling, 87 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plover, and 30 Redshank. 2 Goldeneye, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Snipe from St Dogmaels quay.

Bittern Teifi Marshes

Info from Janet A - Bittern still at WWC,Teifi marshes-------Suddenly took off in front and to the right of Kingfisher hide(where it had been invisible) and disappeared off into it`s usual roost behind. ( Bittern appeared 5:40).

Photo from Forest Farm, Cardiff last Thursday. There are at least 6 Bitterns in Glamorgan at present. Keep up to date with bird news from Neighbouring counties by using the South Wales Birds link on the right - a great site which draws together news for a number of other sites/blogs.

Kite Black/black P3

This bird was tagged near Newport, Pembs as one of a brood of two in 2008. It has been seen a few times since either in north Pembs or occasionally wandering into Carmarthenshire where it was last seen on 25th jan this year. At just two years old it may try to breed this year but it will more likely wait another year or two. Many thanks for reporting the sighting - they can be very difficult to read especially in flight.

Plumstone

Fantastic Starling spectacle tonight with countless birds (perhaps 1,000,000 plus) arriving in two distinct waves, the former providing the best display viewed from the rocks to the east with the pinky sunset sky providing a wonderful backdrop. A male Goshawk in amongst the melee with 3 Buzzards, and a male and ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the nearby heather. Superb.

A fabulous 2 hrs

Went searching for the Whitefronts, armed with my scope, I pulled up at the gate where they were last evening - nothing! I drove down to Martinshaven car park, got out the car, looked around & there were 16 geese flying in from the direction of what could`ve been the Scillies! I jumped back in & drove back to the gateway & watched them land.
P5D was there I managed a few pics, but digiscoping on max zoom was always going to be down to my usual low standard. Nice looking birds they are too.
Off to the Gann to locate Brent goose KLWR, which I soon found but what soon caught my eye was a large Otter. Wow! feeding on a small Island behind Crab Hall, it swam out, dived, & returned with a fish which it then ate. I watched this process 5 times before the cold & fading light made me leave. I`ve seen only a couple of Otters before, but this one (which appeared to be a dog - the same one as Graham saw?) was oblivious to my prescence.
On the sea there were 5-6oo gulls - mostly BH`s, a few Commons & 5 ad Meds.
A fine afternoon!!

Blackpool Mill

Male Peregrine shering a tree with 3 Magpies, the peregrinne was more wary of the magpies who totally ignored it. Reminded me of when we visited China and soon noticed that the locals ate everything that moved, when I asked the guide why there were so many Magpies arround he replied " they no taste very good". Only other birds of note a pair of willow tits and 3 wrens in different locations.

Nevern Estuary

Two male Gadwall by the iron bridge this morning and two Red kites over head.

February bits and bobs

Sadly not Fishguard, but seen in Rosslaire Harbour last week whilst doing Sea Trust ferry survey. These were two of 12 tysties we could see, though there are probably 15 pairs or so most years, breeding in crevices amongst the harbour walls. Interestingly there was plenty of courting behaviour going on despite the frigidity of the weather! Apart for a couple of weeks post the breeding season, they are usually about, often in pairs interacting comunally. All very different from the prospecting ones in Fishguard, it will be interesting to see if and how the colonisation progresses.

Definately in Pembrokeshire last night, the Starling Roost viewed from an area besides Goddards Knackers yard with trusty local guide Jack Donovan was impressive. At one point at least four buzzards were trying to snatch speckled titbits from amongst the whirling throngs!

Dartford Warbler

I saw one for the first time since the cold snap at the coastal site in the north of the county at 12:15.

Divers and Harriers

St Brides Bay from Broadhaven, 4 Red-throated divers and c180 Common Scoter. From Newgale, 1 Great Northern Diver and 2 Red-throated divers.
Plumstone mountain at dusk - a male Goshawk, Merlin, 1 ringtail and a male Hen Harrier.
(Paul G and Wendy J)

Marloes mere

15 White fronted geese on the field, just West of Trehill farm - viewable from the gate. (I never thought to look for the neck ringed bird, I`ll take my scope tomorrow.)
1 Ringtail hunting, 1 female Merlin, were the other birds of note.

Red Kite - wing tagged

Rob Johns (near Strumble Head) recorded a Red Kite on his land around lunchtime today, with the inscription P3 in white on black wing tags. Hopefully someone can provide more details? I will feedback any information provided to Rob. Thanks.

St David's airfield

One ringtail Hen Harrier late afternoon.
(Paul G)

Whooper Swans

Sighting from Geoff and Jan 5 Whooper swans on Penberry res 1 adult and 4 juvs mid afternoon still there at 16-30.

Cilgerran

On the river a pair of Goosander displaying some strange noises coming from the male,also Dipper and a female Blackcap still feeding from the birdtable.
Yesterday at Cwm yr Eglwys a Woodcock and a Red-throated Diver off shore.

Strumble Head 09.30 - 11.30 11th Feb.

Common Scoter 25 ( 19 M , 6 F )
Black Throated Diver 2 ( Together flying N/E at approx 10.30 )

Good numbers of Auks going through , the majority also in a N/E direction.
Mixed flock of thrushes in the fields directly behind the lookout included Redwing , Fieldfare , Song Thrush & at least 2 Mistle Thrushes.

Grey Plover still at Flagpoles this morning.

Goodwick Moor etc

A Firecrest in the scrub opposite the green bridge. Also a Woodcock.
Heathfield gravel pit - 1 Tufted duck, 1 Goldeneye and 16 Teal.
Newgale - 1 Great Northern diver and 3 Red-throated divers.
(Paul G)

Castle Martin & Sandy Haven

Sightings from Paul Warren - Today, Gupton Sandpits, 1 female Hen Harrier flying up from the valley then over the road heading towards Castle Martin

Yesterday, Sandy Haven - Greenshank 2, Redshank 12, Snipe 3, Jack Snipe 1

Brambling in finch flock

Last week there was at least one Brambling in a flock of Chaffinch in the winter stubble fields at Fowborough Head, Hook. Also three Water Rail at Westfield Pill.

Odd looking raptor -Walwyns Castle

Anyone seen an unusual looking raptor in the Rosemoor/Walwyns Castle area lately?

A few days back I saw what looked like a "scruffy" Peregrine sitting in a tree above the lake at Rosemoor. The bird had the Peregrine mask, but this was indistinct and the forehead appeared pale. The colour was generally brownish with rather "scalloped" looking feathers on the wings.....Looked most like a Lanner Falcon and was pretty tame so a possible escape??

FLAGPOLES MEGA ! 16.00 Weds. 10th Feb.

Had a quick walk along the parrog at wdig & expected just the usual stuff in the recent low numbers , it turned out i was not to be far off my estimation . Only 11 gulls , but 1 was an Adult Med. so things were looking up then as i came back to the steps by the stream a quick glance into the wader roost corner at the far right hand end produced the usual Oystercatchers , 3 Ringed Plover , 4 Dunlin & no Barwit but a roosting GREY PLOVER , only my second ever at the Flagpoles since being in Fishguard. A quick look at the records shows Feb. to be the best month for them in Pembs. I'm just glad i got one as they can be difficult up here in the North.

Envy

I wish I had a garden like Sue Lamb's!

Ramsey - stonechats

Before Christmas we had at least 20 stonechats resident but since the cold snap they have all disappeared. 3 maybe 4 pairs of ravens either nest building or completed. Pretty quiet otherwise on the bird front.

Spring is in the air....?

Whilst out and about over recent days doing timed-tetrads, numbers of some common species appear to be high - good numbers of robins, blackbirds, dunnocks, blue tits and chaffinches, for example, in pretty well all tetrads visited. Between Annie and myself this included 6 TTVs and several additional ones for roving records. Numbers of these particular species were much higher than during the first visits before Christmas. Of course many birds were easier to find because males of a number of species (robins especially) were in full song. Numbers of wrens were much lower though and almost no goldcrests seen at all.

Still plenty of redwings about (hundreds around Manorbier-Manorbier Newton on Sunday). Also flocks of lapwing in the same area (2-300) but only a handful of golden plovers in this area.

I have to say that in my experience of tetrad bashing on the coast stonechats have been decidedly scarce or entirely absent since the New Year - they have probably fled west and south during the cold snap. It will be interesting to see how many turn up in March when breeding should be underway. Spring must be on the way though, two pairs of ravens have more or less lined two nests on the south coast and are ready to breed. Watched a pair of long-tailed tits nest-building today, they don't seem to mind the cold weather - roosting in such a well insulated nest (this one in dense gorse)and feeding down inside dense scrub.

At Bosherston lakes we still have around 30 gadwall present in a mixed coot, wigeon, tufted duck etc flock of about 160 birds; 15 goosanders were also noted today.

stonechats

Steve, you might be interested to know that the North Slob in Wexford usually has stonechats on virtually every bush & in two days of driving around there this last w/e we saw none. It will be very interesting to hear other people's reports on them too!

Mullock Bridge

Red leg partridge calling in the fields near the bridge at Mullock this morning.

In the weedy field where the sand quarry used to be still aorund 200 Chaffinch feeding.

On the Deer Park mid morning very quiet with just a few Mipits and a Skylark and a couple of Chough. Ravens have been busy at the nests but which of the three they will use is still a mystery as all seem to have some new material!! Anyone seen a Stonechat recently???

Fancy sponsoring a species for the New National Bird Atlas?

Since September 2007, the BTO has been looking for sponsorship of individual species to support publication of the New Atlas - the biggest stock-take of British and Irish birds ever carried out. They have already found 121 species champions, and interest has been expressed in 47 more. That still leaves about fifty species, so, are these our least favourite birds?

To try and find support for these species the BTO is currently running a "Species Sponsorship Auction" which is running at the moment up until 12th February 2010.

They are calling for individuals and clubs, conservation groups, or companies to take part in this auction and show these birds that someone appreciates them, at the same time as giving their support to the work being done by thousands of volunteer birdwatchers involved in the Atlas.

Bids of a minimum of £300 will be taken during office hours Monday to Friday and can be placed by calling the BTO on 01842 750050 or by e-mailing fundraising@bto.org Bidding will close at 5pm on Friday 12 February.

The bidding can be tracked at www.bto.org/bird-atlas-bird-auction

Species available to sponsor at the BTO’s Bird Atlas 2007-11 Auction, in which no interest has been expressed so far are as follows:

Arctic Skua, Bar-tailed Godwit, Bean Goose, Brambling, Cetti’s Warbler, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Dunlin, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Garganey, Golden Oriole, Grasshopper Warbler, Great Grey Shrike, Greenshank, Greylag Goose, Knot, Lapland Bunting, Little Stint, Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Pochard, Quail, Razorbill, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-legged Partridge, Red-necked Grebe, Ring-necked Parakeet, Ringed Plover, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Ruddy Duck, Ruff, Scaup, Shelduck, Spotted Redshank, Teal, Tree Pipit, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Water Pipit, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Wood Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Gull

Cym Cych

I was pleased to see 3 woodcock in Cym Cych earlier today. Also a goldcrest in a small tit flock so there are some about. I am still not finding wrens though!
Tegryn; first brambling of the winter in our garden today (f).

Westfield Pill

A 1st winter Med gull at Westfield pill, also a pair of Herons on their nest.
At Llanstadwell, 1 Greenshank.
(Paul G)

Teifi

The only different bird around today was a male Tufted duck on the river near the bypass bridge.

Brambling

From Sue Lamb - Today in my garden

1 brambling

1 male and 1 female reed bunting

1 male blackcap and 3 females.

1 bullfinch plus the cusual flock goldfinch, chaffinch, sparrows, starling,tits etcNot seen a single greenfinch all winter though sue

Great Northern Divers

3 Great Northern Divers together a little way north of Broad Haven late afternoon (presumably the same as those seen by PG yesterday). Great to get the story of the collar ringed White-front!

Teifi

From the railings this morning - a pair of Goldeneye, 2 Sanderling, 3 Turnstone, 30 Ringed Plover and 17 Dunlin.

Dale & Marloes (06 Feb 10)

Dale

Little Egret - 1

Pale Bellied Brent Goose - 15

Ringed Plover - 4

Marloes Mere

Hen Harrier - 2 (F - 1 wing tagged)

Buzzard - 4

Peregrine - 2

Kestrel - 1

Sparrowhawk - 1

Merlin - 1

White Fronted Goose - 12

Dowrog Comon

From Alan and Wendy - 2 Barn Owls, 1 ringtail Hen Harrier and 150-200 Redwing at The Dowrog.4:30 p.m.

Llys - Y - Fran Res. 6th Feb.

Again quite low no's of gulls in the roost , but the Adult Ring Billed Gull put in an appearance & 2 Med. Gulls an Ad. & a 1st W.
Black Necked Grebe still present , at least 3 Red Head Goosander & 30 ish Canada Geese. Close in to where we were watching a pair of Great Crested Grebe were doing a bit of head shaking as if to accept that the main business is not far off !

Broadhaven

This morning, 3 Great Northern Divers, 10 Red-throated divers and c180 Common Scoter.
(Paul G)

Greenland White-fronted Goose

Great news that we have already received the story of the ringed Greenland White-fronted Goose that was seen at Marloes on Monday.

"P5D was a adult female Greenland White-fronted Goose caught on 3 October 2001 at Hvanneyri, the campus and farm of the Agricultural University of Iceland in the west of that country. It was caught with its mate P8C and four out of her 5 goslings were also marked P1F, P2D, P5C and P9D, the remaining gosling eluded capture, but was amalgamated with the rest of the family after the catch.

She was first reported on the winter quarters by a guy called Dick Hewitt, who found her with the rest of the family (including the unringed sibling) at a place called Mid Mains Farm near Elgin. This was fortuitous for us, because Dick kept an eye on this group which remained from at least 11 November until 6 December 2001, and it was this flock that got him interested in Greenland White-fronted Geese. Since that time, he has been a real stalwart supporter of our work, re sighting a huge number of birds for us from throughout Scotland. This area of eastern Scotland is emphatically not a regular site for Greenland White-fronted Geese that tend to be highly site faithful, so when they disappeared, we were not surprised to learn that P5D and her family were later seen at a known regular site for the race (and winter home of many geese staging at Hvanneyri) at Appin, near Benderloch in Argyll, west Scotland on 18 February 2002. We saw her and the family at Hvanneyri in October 2002, and she has wintered at Appin or nearby Inverfolla every winter until 16 January 2007, when she was still accompanied by offspring P5C and P9D. We are not sure what happened that year, but she turned up at Wexford Slobs in SE Ireland on 12 March 2007 and was seen there in winters 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 (last on 9 February 2009). I am not sure if she has been seen there this winter so far, but I will find out from Alyn Walsh who searches the flock there for collars. It was he who caught P5D in Iceland and has been responsible for catching the vast majority of marked Greenland White-fronted Geese currently at large."

Tony Fox

NERI, Aarhus University

Denmark

Plumstone

Another superb late afternoon trip to Plumstone. 2 male Hen Harriers and one ringtail were watched for a long time flying around below the rocks. Another ringtail was seen over towards the ridge. Also a Goshawk, Peregrine, Kestrel, 10 Buzzards and not forgetting the thousands of Starlings which put on a good display.
(Paul G and Wendy J)

Great Northern Diver

I saw one fly east past the point at Pen Anglas at 14:00.

Firecrests and Greenshank

News for yesterday from Allan Hansen - Two Firecrests, also three Otters watched at point blank range devouring fish (Rudd),at Westfield Pill this morning.

And for Wednesday from Hugh Wood - 1 Greenshank yesterday on the Sandy Haven Estuary. Seen from the road at Sandyhill Cottages.

Newport gull

The Lesser Black-backed gull with the ring CYD seen at Newport on Tuesday was ringed at the Stoke Orchard landfill site in Gloucestershire in February 08.
As always , a very quick reply from the Severn estuary gull group.

Fishguard Harbour 4th Feb.

1 Great Crested Grebe out from the flagpoles , at the Ferry Port side 2 Ad. Med Gulls in the pre roost gathering on the mud in front of the Dive Centre. Approx 200 gulls.

Events for Mid Pembs and Bird Group sections of the Wildlife Trust SWW

Programme for Mid Pembrokeshire section and Pembrokeshire Bird Group
Indoor meetings at the Furzy Park Community Centre, The Patch, Haverfordwest at
7.30pm.Contact Programme Secretary Robin Taylor , Maesteg, Hayscastle, Haverfordwest, Pembs. SA62 5NY. Telephone 01348 840617 or Barbara Priest on 01834 860175. Both members and non members are welcome

Mid Pembrokeshire section
Tuesday February 16th
Indoor – 7.30pm – A talk by Chris Lawrence of CCW on the wildlife and conservation of Pembrokeshire Rivers
Sunday February 21st
``The Birds of Angle Bay`` Meet by the shore at Kilpaison – SR897020 – at 10.30am – we shall visit several points around the bay . Wear waterproof footwear and bring packed lunch - Leader Robin Taylor

Pembrokeshire Bird Group
Indoor Tuesday 2nd March 2010 – ‘Macaws and More’ – a bird watching trip to the Brazilian Pantanal by Peter Royle

Lyndon

Lapwing Numbers

A round trip from Haverfordwest via St Davids and Fishguard yesterday, 3 Feb 10, produced impressive, for these days, numbers of Lapwing. There was a large flock, c500, over Tretio Common, with other flocks along the route bringing the total to probably well over a thousand.

Pembs oiled beaches and birds survey

Many of you used to carry out surveys each year of beaches checking for oil and oiled birds for the RSPB. If those that used or some of you would like to carry out these surveys then if you would contact me I will put you in touch with the organiser. For those that don’t have my details please email the contact email address on this blog if you wish to take part. Lyndon

Raptors at Plumstone

From Adrian Stallwoood and Monica Fernadez - Seen today at the starling roost - 2 female Hen Harriers, 1 male Hen Harrier, a Peregrine, and best of all, stunning close-up viewing of a male Goshawk. He seemed oblivious to our presence, so intent was he on the more vulnerable starlings at the edge of the roost. The starlings themselves remain an awesome spectacle.

Merlin

A male, heading West, at the St Ishmaels/Dale road junction around 5pm this evening.

Pembroke Mill Pond

From visiting birder Hugh Wood - 33 Black-tailed Godwits in the upper pool east of the mill pool, beyond the railway bridge.

Newport

On the mud this afternoon, 1 Grey Plover, 5 Turnstone and about 70 mixed Dunlin and Ringed Plover.
2 Goldeneye by the iron bridge. There was a ringed Lesser Black-backed gull, CYD (orange writing on black or navy). This number doesnt sound familiar so I will report it unless it is one of the Nevern gulls that is already well known to Sam.

whoopers

Interesting to see the whooper report below.
After lunch on Sunday 3 swans (I think whooper) flying high just north of Trelech (Carm.) heading east.

Cilgerran

A redhead Goosander on the river and two female Blackcaps feeding on ground up peanuts from the bird table today.

Ringed Greenland Whitefront

Good enough views of the Greenland Whitefronts were had mid afternoon to see that one was ringed. It had a neck ring with P5D on it and rings on both legs but too distant to make out any details. It will be interesting to find out the bird's history. Details have been submitted.
(Paul G and Wendy J)

Brent Geese

At 16.00 hrs this afternoon there were 34 Brent Geese on the foreshore, at the Gann. The 16 White-fronts were still in the fields beyond Trehill Farm, but were very flighty. No Harriers.

The Gann & Marloes

At The Gann around 10 a.m. 26 Brent Geese and 8 Goldeneye of note.

At Marloes around midday two ringtail Hen Harriers on show - one wing tagged (green with letter V on the right wing and possibly a yellow tag on the left wing), the other untagged. Also 4 sightings of Peregrine - a pair together then later two separate individuals. A nice male Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard rounded off the Raptors. On the mere there were 7 Tufted Ducks, 4 Pochard, 10+ Shoveller, 8+ Gadwall and plenty of Teal and Wigeon. In a field opposite the hide a flock of 200+ Skylarks flew around briefly when flushed by the Sparrowhawk and the 16 White Fronted Geese were in a field near West Hook Farm.

Another Bittern

News from Paul G this morning: a Bittern in flight over the wetland area on the north side of St. David's Airfield and the Velvet Scoter still at Newgale.