Third time lucky

My third visit to Ty Rhyg this year was rewarded with very close views of the great Grey Shrike. It was close to the gate and had flown in from the field to the left, so it hunts outside the forestry area at times, perhaps that is why I've missed it previously.

Yesterday: still at least one Slavonian Grebe at the Gann.

Iceland Gull - Teifi

No sign of the Glaucous Gull either this evening, or last night, but an immature Iceland Gull this evening from the gull view point.

Rarities

Today I included 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers in a Bird Track list. I was told, in red, "unusually high bird count".

Pembs Bird Group, Monday March 5th

Peter Royle will be giving an illustrated talk on "Birding in Malaysia and Borneo", at The Patch, Furzey Park, Haverfordwest at 7:30. All welcome. Further info on the Pembrokeshire Bird Group Blog.

Cwm Gwaun

16 Ravens displaying & generally enjoying the Spring sunshine.

Goldcrest - Ramsey

First Goldcrest of the year today on the west coast

Chiffchaff

A Chiffchaff was at Cwm Yr Eglwys today, I have not seen any there all winter so may be an early migrant.

Purple Sands - Ramsey

We have a regular winter roost on SE corner of Ramsey but it is very difficult to view from the island itself. Most of my records come from Ffion, boat skipper with Voyages of Discovery from their round island trips. As a result records are pretty sparse from end October.

Ffion was on the water during Feb half term this year and counted a max of 11 on 16th. 15-20 is a good count for here with 23 in October 2007 being the highest. They usually arrive back around mid-late July and the last stragglers can still be present in mid May. Only ever record 1's and 2's out on Grassholm in late summer. No winter records from there.

Lapwing have been displaying on Ramsey this past week. Up to 10 birds present but only had 2 pairs stay to breed these last couple of years. Any displaying elsewhere in County?

Purple Sandpipers - Skomer

Some figures from Chris (warden)
March 1993 -- 22 Purple Sandpipers, and in March 1994 a count of 21.
Steve's count of 21 on February 26th - last saturday, a near record for Skomer as suspected.
What are current counts for Ramsey & Grassholm ?

Newport

Along the Nevern ~5 Ringed Plover, 10 Dunlin, 4 Sanderling, 3 Grey Plover, 3 Barwits, 12 Redshank, 3 Shelduck, 1 Kingfisher.

Also noted in my garden all feeding at the same time were 11 Blue Tits, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Great Tit, 2 Golldfinches, 3 Greenfinches, 8 House Sparrows and 2 Robins sizing each other up.

Brambling - Boncath

1 In the garden today, with good numbers of finches, particularly Greenfinches and Siskins passing through at the moment.

Wigeon and a Merlin

There were 40 plus wigeon on Penberi pond and a female merlin on the A487 near Panteg, at SM919342, late this afternoon.

Ty Rhyg

The shrike was up near the gate this afternoon. Also of note was a flock of 60 fieldfares on the move and a party of at least 25 goldcrest. It was nice also to hear several willow tits calling.

Glaucous and Iceland - Teifi estuary

A juvenile Glaucous gull was around for the third day running today. It was on the main sand bank from the "gull view point". It was there when we arrived at 17.15, preening and picking up sticks, then flew off towards Cardigan Island at 17.34.
Earlier Mike had found a 1st winter Iceland Gull directly in front of the Webley hotel. It looked the same as the bird that was seen on Saturday.
Definitely a site worth regularly checking at the moment.

Water Pipit

There was a Water Pipit on Newgale Marsh this morning. No sign of the Whoopers at Castlemorris but yesterday's Velvet Scoter was again off Broadhaven.

Saturday off Skokholm (and a couple of other islands)

Echoing Steve's comments from Skomer, the cliffs and seas around Skokholm were notable for really very large quantities of Guillemots and Razorbills. Interestingly, no Puffins or Manxies were seen on either day. A few Gannets, including two diving right in the mouth of Martin's Haven; Grassholm looks pretty white, though, so probably many more there now.

On Skokholm the two over-wintering Whimbrel were notable by South Haven. A Red-throated Diver over-flew Jack Sound, and Stack Rocks had at least 25 roosting Canada Geese.

A quick trip in towards Little Haven at Low Tide showed that the main area that the flocks of Common Scotor often spend the winter (and which is over-looked from the Goultrop watch point) has no more than 11ft of water depth at the Low, and that this shallow water extends out for well over half a mile. It should be obvious from a chart, but it is fascinating to discover the extent of this feeding area when on the water.

As for mammals, a couple of singleton porpoises, one off Skokholm, on off Wooltack Point, and at least 150 seals on the beach in Skomer North Haven: quite a noise!

Sunday on Skomer

On a flat calm day managed to spend a couple of hours on and around Skomer. Not much on the island plateau except for a woodcock, a couple of robins, probably 4 redwing and a goldcrest but the cligffs were completely full of Guilli's Razorbills and Kittiwakes. The gulls are back in force and there seemed to be Buzzards everywhere - at least seven I think. The ponds very quiet - probably less than 20 teal and a couple of mallard. No Peregrine or Short-eared owls and no curlew seen or heard.

However there were 21 Purple Sandpipers at the long established South Castle roost which may be something of a record.

Grassholm Research

Dr Steve Votier and his team from Plymouth University have been carrying out research on the foraging and migration patterns of Grassholm's gannets since 2006. We thought people might be interested in the scientific papers that have arisen from this work to date.

There have been 5 papers so far, 2 of which are free to access online. They are:

Individual responses of seabirds to commercial fisheries revealed using GPS tracking, stable isotopes and vessel monitoring systems (click on 'Get PDF' link to download full version)

A novel projection technique to identify important at-sea areas for seabird conservation: An example using northern gannets breeding in the NE Atlantic (read directly online with this link or download as a PDF)

The following 3 are 'abstract only' and to read the full paper you would have to subscribe to the various websites - if after reading the abstract you would like to see the full paper please feel free to email Steve direct for a copy on stephen.votier@plymouth.ac.uk

The use of plastic debris as nesting material by a colonial seabird and associated entanglement mortality

Inter-colony movements, at sea behaviour and foraging in an immature seabird: results from GPS-PTT tracking, radio tracking and stable isotope analysis

Meta-population evidence of orientated chain migration in northern gannets

If you have any question about anything to do with these studies please drop Steve or myself an email.

Glaucous Gull -- Teifi

The 1st w was on the mud opposite Curlew Hide at 17:15 this evening. It then flew off over the town down the river. We couldn't relocate it further down the estuary.
6 Med. Gulls seen over the course of the day, all near summer plumage adults except 1 2nd yr.
The 2 Grey Plover still around, with 1 Sanderling on Patch at high tide.
3 Little Egrets, and 3 Goldeneye.

V-tastic: Velvet & Slavs

A nice afternoon out with Paul G. First stop Broad Haven where, amongst some 118 Common Scoter, a Velvet Scoter was present (looked like a first-winter male). Also here a number of feeding auks (Razorbills mostly) along with 2 each of Great Northern & Red-throated Divers. A scout around the fields of Marloes & Dale area revealed one field full of gulls following a plough but nothing unusual amongst them. A walk around Dale Airfield produced a Skylark, a Teal & 2 Mallard. Onto the Gann and a veritable Med fest - at least 18 birds (13 adults, 1 2nd winter and 4 1st winters). Many of the adults were close to summer plumage - stunning - and 4 of the adults were ringed (3 at least with white darvic rings) along with a 1st winter sporting a red darvic ring. Sadly all too far away to read. Also here 2 Slavonian Grebes fishing together in the bay, along with 7 Great-cresteds, and other birds of note included 4 Grey Plover, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and around 20 pale-bellied Brent Geese.

Glossies at Marloes Mere

Still at the Mere around 4.30 -5.00pm, when they vanished in the sedge, perhaps settling down to roost. I wonder if they left the Mere at all today - they seem to be reliable in their habits, flying out early, then in, in the afternoon. Their plumage seems to be sharper, turning into summer garb perhaps? Also two of them seemed to be pairing but maybe wishful thinking on my part. Gorgeous birds nonetheless, They`ve won me over almost to the point of obsession!

Tresinwen & Gwent (26 Feb 12)

At least one Short Eared Owl hunting fields behind the house this afternoon and showing well.

[Outside of region, I know, but if anyone is thinking about going to Gwent to see the Common Yellowthroat then have a quick look at my website.  It is a stunning bird and well worth seeing.]

Crossbills

At least 10 Crossbills at Glynaeron this afternoon also 5 Fieldfares which I have found thin on the ground this winter,very little on Rosebush Reservoir or at Ty Rhig.

St. David's Hd.

Following in Mike's footsteps, we plodded out to St. David's Head this morning and scouted round for the Snow Bunting. We eventually saw it amongst some Meadow Pipits near the site of the old coastguard station (marked by a stone cairn). After a bit of stealth we got near enough for some decent pics. It seemed to us this bird was mesmerised by the sound of the camera shutter; most amusing. I hope the photos might be of some I.D. value to some of our Bunting buffs.

Also on the Head this morning were 2 pairs of Stonechats and a Peregrine. At sea, quite a few Gannets were diving in the same area as some Porpoise, no doubt sharing a breakfast.

Glossy Ibis/ Marloes Mere

Still 3 this morning, in front of the North hide, looking smart with the sunlight on their plumage.

Iceland Gull

An adult Iceland Gull was circling low with Herring Gulls at Merlin's Hill at about 1300hr. Watched while waiting for the traffic lights to eventually turn in my favour.

Later when returning to town noticed a Cormorant perched on the corner of a tall building overlooking the river at Victoria Place, Haverfordwest.

Yesterday at Rudbaxton, in light drizzle and rising temperature, there was a lot of singing from Robins, a Song Thrush, Blackbirds, a Blue Tit, Great Tits and a low communal song from a group of Redwings. I've heard Redwings singing in Scotland before but this was my first time in Pembrokeshire.

Plumstone

Still plenty of starlings at the roost, along with three sparrowhawks, a 1stW goss, a peregrine and two ring-tail hen harriers.

Glaucous & Iceland on the Teifi

From Jon G. news of 1st yr Glaucous Gull and a 1st yr Iceland Gull on the sands at the Teifi pre-roost at 17:07 this evening.
15 minutes later we were watching the Iceland Gull, but the Glaucous had moved off. Med. Gulls were now up to 5 with 4 adults and a 1st yr.

Glossy Ibis /Short Eared Owl

At Marloes Mere, SEO, being mobbed by Crows (which I lost track of as my dog went awol)
However, the 3 Ibises flew in from the East, landed in front of the pink cottage & started feeding in with the Wigeon & Canada geese. 4:45pm - ish.

Fulmars

Plenty of activity amongst a small group of Fulmars at Broadhaven South this morning. Pairs on ledges with much bickering with interlopers flying up to the cliffs and trying to muscle in. As Mike says below, signs of spring.
Quiet elsewhere in the area apart from a flock of several hundred Golden Plover flying over Castlemartin Corse.

St David's Hd

A Snow Bunting present near the Burial Chamber also 2 ad Med Gulls and 3 Red-throated Divers Whitesands Bay. The Snow Bunting was another Greenland or (less likely)Scottish or Scandinavian bird - anyway not from Iceland: probably an adult male. There seems to have been a throughput of Snow B's at the Head this winter, it will be interesting to see if it's a 'one off' or a regular occurrence. All the birds raced have been 'nivalis' and all or almost all males. Something to consider. There have been quite a lot more Meadow pipits about over the last couple of days and a few more Pied Wagtails, these (along with Stock Doves) would have been usually the earliest migrants I noted on the East Coast. It seems to me spring may be upon us.

Whoopers

Present this morning at Castlemorris but down to four.

Glossies at Marloes Mere

Took off as I arrived - 8am, flew East for a minute or two & landed South of, & quite close to, James Marloes Court House.

Glossies at Marloes Mere

3 Glossy lbis,still at the Western end of the mere around 5pm this evening.

Bittern

A Bittern flew along the west side of Goodwick Moor this am, dropping in near the secret pool. In the harbour: a Black Guillemot and ad Med Gull. No sign of the Whooper Swans near Castlemorris earlier.

The Gann

A quick walk around the foreshore and pools. 27 LB Brent Geese on the tideline and 7 Great Crested Grebe out in the bay were the best of the sightings. A few Redshank and perhaps 50 Oystercatchers were the best of the waders apart from a single Little Egret by the bridge.

The gull roost was way out in the bay bat at 4pm was already around 300 birds.

Puffin in the Haven

A Puffin still in winter plumage off one of the refinery jetties today.
(Paul W)

niger

In all that rain yesterday we had the usual goldfinches on the niger seed, & the 4 redpolls are still pretty regular. However we also had a visit from a male bullfinch; sitting on the tray that catches spillage, tucking into seeds. This may be normal behaviour but I have not seen it before.

Brief Strumble visit

AT Strumble today between 10 and 11 am approx: a Black-throated Diver pitched in and there were 4 Red-throated. The Whooper Swans were still at Castlemorris.

Skokholm

This is a bit of a late post as i managed to get out to the island on 14th.

Greeting us at South Haven were two overwintering Whimbrel again. this has been a regular feature for some years now.
On the island around 40 Teal and a few Mallard but the ponds were remarkably quiet. A couple of Chough, a Buzzard and a Peregrine patrolling and ather few passerines - just a few Blackbirds (which could be resident), three song thrush and a reed bunting noted. About 50 LBB's and 30 HG's hanging about in a flock and a lot of GBB's looking as though they were already occupying territories.

Red Kites.

Two near the water tower at Neyland this lunchtime.

Newport Mon pm

Numbers of the regular waders quite low, but there are still 5 Sanderlings, 3 Barwits & 3 Grey Plovers.

Whooper Swans - Castlemorris

The 5 swans still present this morning.
(Janet)

Teifi Marshes, a thank you & sightings

Firstly a massive Thank You to John Thomas, Tommy Evans and the rest of the Tuesday work party on the Reserve. Whilst some of the Ringing Group have been away in Uganda, see Teifi Ringing Group for more new photos, they have been re-cutting and maintaining our CES ringing rides. I estimate they have contributed c15 man-days work, a enormous help to us and the CES ringing scheme.

On the river 3 Goldeneye and 1 pair Goosander. 2 Grey Plover at The Webley. c40 Dunlin and 10 Ringed Plover on Patch. Several Little Grebes are still on the main river, and at least 2 Little Egrets.

Iceland Gull - Llys-y-fran Reservoir

1 1st year Iceland Gull present at 1615 when I arrived.
10 Goldeneye (5m) and 1 pair of Goosander too. Gulls numbers still only numbered c300 at 1730.

20th Feb Mid Pembs Section meeting

Please use the link to The Pembrokeshire Bird Group Blog for more info

Glaucous Gull Abermawr.

A large very pale gull flew into the bay from the Pwll Deri end at 12.30 , giving reasonably close views identified it as a Glaucous Gull & due to the very pale almost whitish plumage my best guess would be a 2nd yr bird.

Barn owl

A barn owl, between Frenni Fawr & Frenni Fach, last night.

Glossy Ibis @ Marloes

Also saw the 3 Glossy Ibis at the Mere, twice in flight and once on the ground, feeding in a grassy field at the W end (not at all marshy). Last seen dropping in to the east of the Britton Hide somewhere. Plenty of dabbling duck across the mere, and 200+ Lapwing in a ploughed field.

At the Gann 2 pale-bellied Brent Geese, 10 Goldeneye (3 drakes), and amongst a sizeable gull roost at Dale at least 11 Med Gulls (8 adults, 1 2nd wint, 2 1st wints) but a massive downpour prevented further scrutiny.

Glossies at Marloes Mere

3 still present, at the far end of the Mere - wouldn`t have seen them if it was wasn`t for a Kesrel hovering, which I assume put them up. After looking & hoping for the past 3 weeks that they were still around I was quite chuffed, in fact it was one of those moments when one does a moonwalk & punches the air!

Ramsey - Manxies

Did a quick half hour seawatch this afternoon and had 2 Manxies, the first of the year. Good numbers of gannets around too (17 in 30 mins). Guillemots and razorbills almost all in summer plumage now.

Rosebush Reservoir and Ty Rhyg

Rosebush Res.
GC Grebe, 2 Goldeneye (pair), 9 Tufted (7male,2female), 5 Little Grebe, a Pochard (male), 2 Canada geese. Man walking his dog said there were another 6 or so swans here recently who left leaving the young Mute Swan. Kestrel and Red Kite overhead.
Ty Rhyg
Apart from 3-4 buzzards, kestrel and sparrowhawk, really quiet.

Lesser B B Gull

Sadly the Severn Est Gull Group decided 1700 km in 3 days was impossible & rejected the earlier sighting but had forgotten to update the history file.

Ruff at the (truncated) Flagpoles

There was a ruff feeding among the oystercatchers, redshank, dunlin, turnstone and sanderling at the flagpoles late this afternoon.

Porthlysgi

Turnstones doing what turnstones do on Porthllysgi beach this morning. Also present were 4 grey plover and 3 sanderling.

Yaffle

Carole had a one fly across in front of her on the new bit of the A40 just beyond Spittal on the way to Haverfordwest this morning. Her second one here & not a dissimilar sighting to one she had a few years ago at Wolfscastle. I haven't had one yet in Pembs. But i'm not jealous..

A fine Male Reed Bunting in the garden this afternoon was a bit of a suprise?

Bullfinches

I think of Bullfinches as rather solitary birds - see one & you'll probably see its mate, but that's it. So a party of 8, including 6 males, at Aberforest, was a surprise.

Angle Bay

At Kilpaison this lunchtime there were 30 pale-bellied Brent Geese and two Little Egrets, with a partial s/p adult Mediterranean Gull in the bay.

Migrant Chiffchaff?

There was a Chiffchaff at the Crossroads in Porthmelgan Valley, St Davids Hd this am. A very strange spot for a wintering bird. The 5 Whooper Swans are still in a field near Castlemorris; viewable from the road.

Lesser B B Gull

Yesterdays Lesser BB at Newport had indeed led a more interesting life.
Ringed on a Gloucester landfill site in May 08, it was still in the Gloucester area on Dec 9 08 then impressivley in Faro Portugal, 1700km away, 3 days later. In Jan & Dec 11 it was in Madrid.
All other sightings, apart from this latest, have been in the Gloucester area.

Carew

At Radford Pill (off the Carew River) this afternoon 2 Green Sandpipers, 47 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 30 Teal, 1 Pintail. In the locality plenty of Lapwing - 600+.

By the way if you wondered where Richard Dobbins had got to a few weeks ago check out the Teifi Ringing Group blog for some great pics from his, Wendy, Dyfed and Dawn's trip to Uganda.

Newport Wed am

Well, just the bridge really. As well as the Dunlin (I had 37 too) there were 5 Barwits & 3 Grey Plovers which have been around c 10 days. Rarest of all - a M Shoveler upstream.
& a Gloucester landfill Lesser BB which I hope will have led a more exciting life than their Herring Gulls.

Ibis...origin Spain

From Derek Moore -

There is little doubt that these Glossy Ibises wearing white plastic rings originate from the Coto Donana, Spain. Check out my blog www.derekbirdbrain.blogspot.com for some musings on the subject.

The Glossy Ibis Jigsaw

Following on from Dereks post - a search of the web for ringed ibis turned up a bird on Scilly at the end of last year that appears to sport a similar 4-digit ring to the one Richard photographed. I'd fed this through to Mark as it might have a bearing on our Ibis' provenance.

ttp://scillyspider.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html
Glossy Ibis ring 02H9

Re Glossy Ibis

photographed by Richard Crossen on 1/Feb, just had an email from Mark Grantham at BTO. He has tried to match a ringed bird seen at Ceredigion recently but can`t make it fit, so he`s on the case still! Anyway just for posterity :- http://midwalesringers.blogspot.com/2012/02/bienvenido-gales-17096983.html pity they seem to be diminishing in numbers.

Ibises Down to 4......?

From Richard Ellis - A group of 4 flew over Carew Cheriton on the usual flight path at 17.16. I hung around briefly to see if there was another group but none showed.

 

Pembs Bird Group Meeting ~ 13th Feb 2012

Please use link to Pembs Bird Group Blog site
Lyndon

Newport

Parrog 15.15 ~ 10 Ringed Plover, 37 Dunlin, 5 Sanderling, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Kingfisher.

Gupton Farm and Freshwater West

The Ruff was still present at Gupton Farm this morning, again feeding among the Lapwings and Golden Plovers in the cattle-poached field above Freshwater West.  Also, an unusually diverse selection of waders at the southern end of Freshwater West beach, including 40+ Grey Plover, 100+ Dunlin, 2 Bar-tailed godwits, a single Sanderling and small numbers of Turnstone, Curlew and Oystercatcher.

Strumble Shorties (12 Feb 12)

As promised a few pictures from yesterday.....

3 Ibises

The 3 Glossy Ibises were reported this afternoon flying into Marloes Mere so they are till around.

Weekend Waterfowl counts - Carew/Cresswell Rivers and today at Bosherston Lakes

Despite a general return to milder weather, numbers of most waterfowl were still holding up over the weekend. Within the Carew/Creswell complex, numbers of wigeon appear to have declined but good numbers of teal were present there (a few hundred) and in the Eastern Cleddau (about 800 at least).

Also in the Carew/Cresswell complex there were at least 250 shelduck, 50+ shovelers, 12 pintail, at least 15 black-tailed godwits, c. 1,000 dunlin, at least 1,250 lapwings and a few grey plovers (most of these birds roosting near New Shipping area).

At Bosherston Lakes today, near the old boathouse, there were at least 28-30 tufted ducks feeding near several wigeon and gadwall and a few  goosanders.

Most of the gadwall and wigeon were paired up and exhibiting well their well-known Kleptoparasitic traits, by following individual coot around to get free helpings of various aquatic plants. Food noted to be taken by coot (and their shadowing ducks) included at least one or two kinds of algae, Canadian pondweed, spiked water milfoil and at least one small stonewort species (most likely Chara globularis which in 2011 was quite common in the lakes Eastern Arm.

After diving, coot often seem to bring up to the surface more plant material than they can eat in one go - providing quite easy pickings for waiting gadwall and wigeon.

The white-spotty coot (a leucistic bird, previously mentioned by others on the BLOG) is still here (at least the 3rd winter in a row it has been at Bosherston) constantly being followed by a pair of wigeon. There was no obvious animosity between it and the wigeon. In fact the coot seemed quite relaxed about sharing out the spoils.

Fishguard Harbour

A summer plumaged Black Guillemot on the ferry side,an adult Mediterranean Gull and 13 Dunlin by the flagpoles this afternoon.

Castlemartin Corse

Late morning at Castlemartin Corse there were a few ducks on the flooded area by the reedbed - 14 Shoveller, 120 Wigeon, 3 Pintail, 17 Mallard, 81 Teal. At the east end of the Corse 370 lapwing and a few Curlew.
A big flock of birds were roosting in the muddy field up the hill from Freshwater West - 900+ Golden Plover and 500+ Lapwing. In amongst them, looking rather out of place, was a male Ruff. There were 9 Ruff on the Corse on 17 January last year so there may well have been more birds out of sight.
On the rocks at Freshwater West a good count of 53 Grey Plover and 20+ Dunlin.

Whooper Swans

Five still present near Castlemorris this morning.

Iceland Gull ...........

Pwllgwaellod:-
08:00 this morning, a 2nd winter Iceland Gull
(Andrew Crowder)

Not seen later, but 1 Great Northern Diver offshore.
(Karen & Janet)

Blackcaps, male and females feeding in a Newport garden.
(Tony Lewis)

Airfield Owls

I recall working at St.Davids Airfield when it was fully operational, and being treated to some great aerial displays, but nothing to compare with the Short-eared Owl displays I watched this week over the big pond. I had wing clapping ,the locking of talons, the works. But to be fair DeHavilland Mosquitoes didn't do 'wing clapping'.

Sewage works bird table

Yesterday at the Monkhaven sewage works there were loads of birds hopping around and feeding - just like a bird table. In the short time we watched we saw 12 species including 2 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap. There must be something worth eating!

Tresinwen (12 Feb 12)

I had a stunning male Hen Harrier fly through the fields behind the house at 1330 - it then disappeared towards Llandre.

The Short Eared Owls (2) were showing again this afternoon and I managed to get a few more pictures - watch this space - hopefully get them uploaded tomorrow evening. 

When they first appeared one Owl flew straight towards me and only realised I was there when it was less than 10yds away!  Absolutely stunning looking straight into those big orange eyes!  I was frozen to the spot so didn't get any pics of that encounter but they continued to show off and on giving me some opportunities for pics...

Pantmaenog and Ty Rhyg

Pantmaenog
Despite the drizzle a few birds in song made it feel more spring-like. Crossbill calling in the tall stand of trees. Whilst watching a flock of coal tits and goldcrest a nervous call from some bullfinch heralded a fast moving female sparrowhawk, didn't notice her connecting with anything.

Ty Rhyg
2 flushed snipe brought up a Green Sandpiper, all three birds then dropped back down behind the pond. 2 woodcock also flushed in the forestry. First frog spawn of the year in the ditches. (Ditches and pond ice free here whilst over at Pantmaenog still iced over)

No sign of any shrikes but conditions not ideal.

Angle Bay and Bosherston

This morning, a Slavonian Grebe and Little Egret were on view during the high tide period from Kilpaison.  At Bosherston, a flock of 15 Tufted Ducks was notable, along with 5 Goldeneyes and 15+ Goosanders.

Short - eared Owls - St. David's Airfield

Quartering the fields just north of the airfield, 3 short-eared owls, at about 16.00 hrs today.
15 -20 lapwing flying around, also.

We haven't seen short-eared owls before - these were fabulous!

Bronwen and Jon

Glossy Ibis - Carew Cheriton

At last! Got 'em on my garden list. They flew high and fast over Carew Cheriton at 17.22 precisely. So fast, and my field of view being restricted by trees, I didn't have time to count them.

Radford Pill, 15.30-1600, waders: Lapwing, easily 1500>, golden plover >500, greenshank, redshank, dunlin, teal, wigeon. 1 green sandpiper - possibly the same bird I see occasionally on my neighbour's pond in Carew Cheriton, half a mile away? Also, 29 black-tailed godwit. One had coloured leg rings - white upper left, orange upper right - with just binoculars, I couldn't see if there was any lettering (or where the BTO ring was). Who is colour-ringing black-tailed godwit?

Cheers

Richard Ellis

Tresinwen (11 Feb 12)

No sign of the Shorties this afternoon but I did flush a Ringtail Hen Harrier from a hedgerow below Tresinwen.

North Pembs

The 5 Whooper Swans were in a roadside field just outside Castlemorris on the Letterston road late morning.
Black Guillemot, 1 breeding plumage off Fishguard Port wall. Also 1 Gt. Ctd. Grebe from the Flagpoles, and 1 Grey Plover.
Rosebush & Llys-y-fran Resr showing no sign of any cold weather waterfowl movement.
Great Crested Grebes in courtship display, and an adult Med. Gull with 95% full hood looking most impressive through light snow.
(Karen & Rich D)

Broad Haven

High tide and calmer conditions revealed 60+ scoter, c.10 Red-Throated divers, a GC Grebe, tight flock of wigeon, 3 Grey Plover on the rocks and a chough. With Paul G.

Whooper Swans

The 5Whoopers Whoopers are still at Castlemorris. Can be viewed distantly froom nr Priskilly GC turning

Whooper Swans

The Whoopers still present Castlemorris.

Glossy Ibis

Sorry, Jill, but they were seen yesterday; flying low past Carew Cheriton church at 5.20 p.m.

Glossy Ibis

At 5.08 they came over Carew Cheriton church heading towards the Carew River as we watched from the roundabout, flying fast, almost seemed to be in a V formation at one stage. We gather that they were not seen yesterday.
Jill and Mike.

owls

A barn owl between Frenni Fawr & Frenni Fach, & a tawny owl in Tegryn last night.

Tenby

Yesterday a fine male Black Redstart in the centre of Tenby.

Whooper Swans

5 Whoopers are in a field just the Letterston side of Castlemorris. Parking awkward. Update: the swans are in a roadside field with lots of Gulls - view through hedge - still present 11am)

Goosander

3 male and 10 redheaded Goosander on the river at Cilgerran this morning my highest count of the year so far, also a Kingfisher here.

Heard my first Blackbird singing this year on Monday 6th.

Bittern - St. David's Airfield

1 Seen at the pond, where Shoveler and Teal feeding on open water.
The Bittern seen at c14:50 today.
(Robert & Jenny Briggs)

Ramsey Sound - six hrs in the freezer

The usual gull feeding activity in the sound to day (kittiwakes, c. 100 black-headed gulls, several common gulls, a single 1st winter little gull and at least 8 med gulls (six adults in various head plumage stages towards summer breeding condition and 2 first winter birds) our highest count yet this winter. In addition a great northern diver flew south through the sound this afternoon and there were at least a dozen of so gannets heading south as well - our first of the year here (a possible maritime reminder that spring is not far away!).

Auks were not so numerous today but probably the majority of razorbills seen were in full summer plumage now. For a few minutes it was nice to have extremely close views of 3 grey plovers and 4 sanderlings temporarily perching on seaweed-covered rocks below our watch-point, before flying on north. Seemed quite odd to see sanderling in this location - wonder if they called in and stayed longer at nearby Whitesands?

Also of note was an otter swimming south through the sound this morning, just like one we saw was doing last summer. Question is, where was it coming from and where was it heading for?

No sign of the ring ouzel but a few blackbirds and song thrushes were feeding in sheltered areas out of the biting icy wind.

Newport

On the mud at the bottom of Long Street, as well as the usual sprinkling of Redshanks, Curlews & Oystercatchers, there were 55 Dunlin, 12 Ringed Plovers, 5 ea Sanderling & Barwits, 3 Grey Plovers & 2 Knot.
At the bridge c70 Teal & 50 ea Mallard & Wigeon. A M & F Goosander looked in briefly at the bend & 2 Snipe in the gap.
Few gulls but included an ad Med.

Fishguard Harbour and Fort

At the Flagpoles: 19 Dunlins, 2 Sanderlings, 4 Ringed Plovers and a Grey Plover. From the Fort: 2 Black Guillemots, Great Northern Diver, 3 Red-throated Divers and 3 Great Crested Grebes.

Lapwings

On the Trehill fields on the other side of Marloes Mere yesterday morning was probably thebiggest flock of Lapwings I have even seen -about 1500 I reckon. They were eventually disturbed by a sheep dog and spent the next 20 minutes milling around in the sky. Eventually they headed off south - I wonder if they will be back.
No sign of any ibises but from the notebook they were seen on the 5th.
A good selection of ducks, including 8 Tufted Ducks, were looking very smart in their spring finery.
Note that the door knob on the Britten hide is broken but you can still turn it with care!

Glossy Ibis

Yes ---- We cracked. Today we joined the list of Glossy Groupies and waited dutifully at Carew Cheriton roundabout for the fly-past. At 5:13 Karen yelled "There they are" as they appeared above the church , flying high, fast, and elegantly, in a perfect straight line ------ there were 14! The spectacle was over so fast we barely had time to catch a breath!
It was worth it. Janet and Karen

Black Redstart

The male at Pembroke Dock yesterday. (Monday)

Glossy Ibis and Owls

13 Glossy Ibis seen coming into roost near Carew and on journey home saw a Barn owl around Boncath cross roads and a Tawny Owl in the car headlights on the way back from cardigan on the canal road towards Abercych

Dowrog

Visited Dowrog in the vain hope of stray Glossy Ibis` and no luck--- Never mind, we parked in usual place and saw a Shortie straight away, hunting round the withies. This was quickly partnered by another. Scanning right , found a male Hen Harrier sitting on a tump. Looking left , another male Hen Harrier, coming in fast, straight at the Shorties, and a bit of a sparring match followed. The three birds circled up and up together until eventually the harrier peeled off and descended whereupon it was joined by the other male and they both settled down on tumps , affording great views----- the Shorties went into a display, the uppermost one doing stiff winged circles and short stoops with half closed wings, the other descending slowly in circles until they joined and went to ground away from the Harriers. Janet and Karen

Glossy Ibis

Thirteen flew over Carew Cheriton at 17:20 this evening in the direction of Carew River / Radford Pill to roost.

Out West

At Porthlysgi Bay (West of Porthclais) at low tide this morning there were 10 Sanderlings, a Grey Plover and 4 Curlew ---not much of a bay for waders normally but this winter there is a lot more sand than usual, which probably helps.

Bird Group meeting Tonight

Unfortunately tonight's meeting has to be cancelled. We do apologise to everyone as the meeting was for us all a special one. We have re arranged the meeting for next Monday the 13th February – same venue same arrangements. Once again please accept our apologies and we look forward to seeing you next week for Chris’s talk on Skomer etc. For any further information please phone me on 01437 721859 - Lyndon

Glossies and more

I was watching from Carew Mill and saw the 13 Glossy Ibis drop in to roost on the east bank of the Carew River just downstream from the mouth of Radford Pill (approx SN034041) at 17:09ish. Didn't actually see them land because of the angle, but the map is pretty close I think. From the OS map there appears to be a footpath running NNE from Paskeston to Hakin Point through the woods, perhaps there is a better viewing point along this path? Take a torch for the walk back if you try it!

Earlier my WeBS was clicker-tastic, my thumb was sore from counting 5,095 birds between Hook & Sprinkle Pill. Highlights were:

Greylag Goose 39 (by far the biggest flock I have ever seen in Pembs)

Teal 946

Lapwing 1,215

Dunlin 1,778

Golden Plover 740

Pintail 15

Black-tailed Godwit 3

Bar-tailed Godwit 2

Knot 2

Grey Plover 18

Another record breaking flock (for me) in a Pembs context was the 44 (!) Stock Doves that flew up from a sheep field at the mouth of sprinkle Pill (SM995110).

Just a thought.....

The colour ringed Ibis that Richard photographed in the week, came from (as everybody realises) Spain. Mark Grantham at BTO tried to jigsaw puzzle it in with other photos of ringed Ibises, but couldn`t make it work. So whoever gets the clincher pic, email mark.grantham@bto.org & he`ll be very pleased!

Marloes Mere

Early this morning - 1 Ringtail Harrier.
Later this afternoon, I met Sue & Alun Lamb, while we were talking a female Merlin flew past, then a few moments later a Short Eared Owl flew past us, showing very well, absolutely gorgeous. Sue & Alun had a Brambling, in the Chaffinch flock. Many hundreds of Lapwing in the fields. I`ve been looking (hoping?) to see the Ibises, these last couple of days, I fear they`ve moved on though.

Glossy Ibis

Thirteen Glossy Ibis flew over Carew Cheriton at 17:06 this evening on their way to roost. They followed the usual pattern of descending as they headed towards Radford Pill and the Carew River.

Newport Sun am

A good selection. 74 Teal (my 2nd highest ever here), 84 Wigeon (should be >100), a flock of 5 Sanderlings, another of 6 Barwits, 3 Grey Plovers & a Knot.
Also, 38 Dunlin, just 6 Ringed Plovers, a Shelduck & the Gran Canaria 2nd W Med gull of a week ago.

Lapland Bunting at Broomhill Farm

A Lapland Bunting was feeding with the Skylark flock (100+) in a field at Broomhill Farm this morning.  The Skylark flock was viewable from the B4320 (in the field on the right just before the turn to Freshwater West - see image), and the birds were often within c.20-30m of the road.

Llys y Fran

Broad Haven early - 18 scoters

Llys y Fran - 348 Canadas with a Greylag in amongst them
8 Wigeon, 10 Goldeneye

Broad Haven

Diver sp. and Slavonian grebe on north side of bay viewed from near Lion Rock, about 30 scoter scattered in groups of 5-10 and a peregrine.

Angle & Freshwater West

Regular readers of this blog will know that over the past 5 years or more I have spent a good deal of time in the Angle area watching and photographing birds. Many of the photos have appeared on the blog and are on my own photo website . I have now put a book together with many of my favourite photos from the area called, imaginatively, "Birds of Angle & Freshwater West".
If you want a look at some photos of Pembrokeshire birds other than Glossy Ibis you can preview the book by clicking on the picture above. Once the page opens click "Preview Book".
If you fancy a copy the book, which has 180 pages and is 10 x 8 inches, it can be ordered from the publisher, Blurb, direct from the preview page.

Black Redstart

News from Paul Warren of a male Black Redstart this morning at Popton.

Hen Harrier

Not often I bump into a Hen Harrier away from the regular roost sites, so it was nice to see a stunning male float across the A487 at Pelcomb Bridge yesterday at around 15.40 on my way back from Roch collecting my daughter from school. It was heading in the general direction of Plumstone.

Ibis

News from Dave G: also saw the 13 Ibis from Carew Cheriton taking the 'normal' flight path at 17.25.

Thirteen ibis observed from Milton this evening

Annie and I watched from behind the Milton Brewery this evening. A couple of grey wagtails came into roost along the stream, just as they did the previous evening at about 1700 hrs. We waited and eventually 13 ibis came over, following pretty well exactly the same flight path as last night but a bit lower and 10 minutes later (1725 hrs). We watched for several more minutes until it was becoming a bit too dark to see well but the other 10 didn't appear. So it seems that the flock has now split up. Did the other 10 come into roost from a different direction we wonder? Hopefully other observers will have seen them somewhere.

Ibis and Bosherston

I waited from 08:00 to 08:45 at the bottom of Radford Pill, behind the Milford Brewery pub this morning but no sign of the Ibis. Another guy I met later had also been looking in the same area but saw nothing. Could be the birds took a slightly different flightpath or have changed feeding ground. However, it was -6.5 degrees at Milton this morning and the ground was/is solid. How do they feed and have they moved on? It will be interesting to see if they fly in again over Carew Cheriton this evening.
Late morning at Bosherston little of the lakes were frozen over. Pretty quiet there with 22 Goosander and 12 Goldeneye the highlights.

The Ibis

Have done some searching of UK records and it looks like the Carew flock of 23 is the second largest flock ever, following 25 reported in Carmarthenshire in 2009.

Couldn't resist the temptation to witness the amazing fly-over

Matt Sutton and I managed to watch them fly over us, behind Milton Brewery, heading (as Dave suggests) towards Carew River somewhere beyond the Millpond - they passed over us at about 17:15 hrs. An hour or so earlier there was a nice flock of lapwings in frosty root-crop fields nearer to Cosheston  - must have been 500+.  Bob H.

Carew Glossy Ibis x23

The birds were seen again this evening flying to roost over the A477 at Carew Cheriton (Dave G), Paul G was further north on the footpath that runs down to Radford Pill, N/E of Milton, and saw them drop down - looked like they were coming down on the Carew River between Radford Pill and Carew Mill. Worth a look first thing in the morning as it may be possible to see them at roost before they head SSE again.

Whooper Swans

There were two Whooper Swans on Penberi Reservoir this morning at 9:45: unfortunately they didn't hang around and flew noisily east. There was another 1st W Sanderling looking rather lost on Whitesands Beach. The wintering male Ring Ouzel showed at least a couple of times in the garden of the pink house and adjacent field St Justinians around midday (found by the Wisemans).

Marloes Mere area

Actually this dates from Tuesday when there were still around 1200 Lapwing around the Mere in groups of 200-400 birds in most visible fields.

On the stubble fields around the Britton hide large finch flocks included c.200 Chaffinch with Goldfinch and Greenfinch mixed amongst them and at least 30 Reed Bunting. In the field nearby over 90 Skylarks and briefly a nice male Hen Harrier hunting along the hedgerow.

An icy Gann

The pools were pretty well covered with ice this morning, so no birds there apart from two Crows enjoying a big fat mullet which had somehow got stranded on the ice. However there was plenty on the river and on the shore - at least 100 Teal, some on the sea and many tucked up under a bank of the river, 2 Greenshanks, 2 Grey Plovers, 100 Curlew, 25 or so Ringed Plovers (which flushed from the stony beach - we hadn't seen them at all), a good number of Redshank, 11 Brent Geese, 10 Wigeon, 2 Shelduck and 10 Goldeneye. And something I have never seen before - frozen sea foam on the beach.

Rosemary

Mid Pembs and Bird Group Field trip Sunday 5th Feb 2012

Sunday 5th February 11.am Fishguard Harbour –. A walk along the outer breakwater. Please use the link to the Pembrokeshire Bird Group Blog or visit the Trust WEB site for more details

St Davs Glossy Ibis

Just an update. They were not see after 10.30 yesterday morning nor this morning as yet.

Plumstone

Starlings seemed to appear in numbers from soon after 5pm until we left around 5.30pm. We didn't witness any exaggerated gyrations with most dropping straight into the plantation but the sheer number of birds was fantastic to see, some coming at head height! At least 2 sparrowhawk, 2 kestrel, 2 buzzards, a merlin had a go, at least one peregrine and a goshawk earlier pre-starlings but didn't notice it once the action began. Also in the forestry a flock of around 10 bullfinch and a GS woodpecker.

More of the same....

At lunchtime I decided to take a drive around the area between Milton and St Florence, in the hope that the Ibis flock had dispersed into more viewable fields.  This hope was largely forlorn, though I did manage very good fight views of a single bird flying low over Coal Lane - about halfway between the Ridgeway and the B4318.  The Ibis was flying pretty much east to west, over an area where large pools of frozen floodwater were present either side of the road, and where small numbers of Lapwing and Golden Plover were feeding in adjacent fields.  More surprising than the Ibis were two Dunlin skating around on the surface of the icy floods.

Dowrog and Fishguard

The 2 Glossy Ibises were in the usual Dowrog field at 9:35am, also a Little Egret dropped in nearby. This afternoon both the Black Guillemots were visible from Fishguard Fort along with 5 Red-throated Divers and 3 Great Crested Grebes. Most surprising record was 2 1stW Sanderlings on the grassy roadside verge behind the beach at Goodwick; with Oystercatchers and Starlings. At Sealyham, the Green Sandpiper was calling at dusk though I couldn't see it.

Ibis............again

The 23 Glossy Ibis again flew over Carew Cheriton this evening. Same details/flight path as yesterday although a little earlier at 16:53. They descended as they flew over the A477 over Milton and may well be roosting around Radford Pill which is off the Carew River.

Gotcha!

To quote that well known phrase from the Falklands "I counted them all out and I counted them all back in"! Having watched the astounding spectacle of 23 Glossy Ibis flying off to roost yesterday I determined to find where they were feeding during the day. At 07:20 this morning I was in position up on the Ridgeway with Carew Cheriton and the Carew River in the distance spread out below me. Of course I was miles too early and with a hard frost and -2 degrees c. I was starting to freeze nicely by 08:25, although the wait had been enlivened by 4 Buzzards, a Peregrine and a few Lapwings passing. At 08:28 I picked up a group of likely looking birds over trees near Carew Cheriton and sure enough in the scope they were the Glossy Ibis - all 23 of them. Amazingly they came on towards me and dropped in below a farm a quarter of a mile or so away. Astounding!!! I then went down to the farm and with permission was able to find them quickly in the corner of a field sunning themselves in an attempt, no doubt, to warm up. I was able to get a few photos but a closer approach was not possible with open ground between me and the birds. The Ibis' then started to disperse to an adjoining field near to some ponds. As hypothermia set in I set off for home to warm up. Hopefully the sun will thaw out the ground and allow the birds, which have probably been in the area for a few days at least, to feed. One bird had a ring - see pic - but unfortunately not readable.
There are no rights of way near the fields in which the birds feed and in respect to the people on the property, which is a busy working cattle farm, I cannot give the precise location. The best way to see the birds is to watch them flying to roost - details in post below.