Saturday, 23 April 2011

Minwear/Blackpool Mill & Llangloffan Fen

Leading a group from Orielton FC, a brief visit to Minwear produced a cuckoo (first bird heard as we left the mini-bus), 3 singing wood warblers, expected siskins and other regular breeding species including reed warblers in the Slebech reedbed (also at Stackpole the previous day). Nice to see again redstarts breeding at Blackpool Mill, two males and a female noted. We watched a dipper stripping moss from river-side rocks to build a nest (for a second brood). Each beak-full of dry moss was given a good dunking to wet it before moulding it into the the nest.

It was generally quiet at Llangloffan (no obvious willow tits today) but garden warblers were heard and nice to see the resident kestrel and sparrowhawks hunting; plenty of sedge warblers about too.