Other notable birds included 30+ wheatears (mostly in pairs and several near known/typical nest site locations); most males were displaying. There were at least 20 chiffchaffs in Frainslake valley - most were near the coast on the edge of low swamp/wetland - suggesting that they had only recently arrived. There was also a ring ouzel feeding in the dune grassland on the edge of Brownslade Burrows, feeding on soil inverts in the short turf along side a chough. The photo below is cropped from an image taken 100 metres plus from the bird with only a medium telephoto lens.
A flock of 35 golden plovers also feeding nearby were all in full summer plumage as were 7 more feeding alongside the coastal track near Pen-y-holt Bay. Other species included kestrel (male hunting on Linney Head and a female just to the east); a merlin (perched in a low bush inland from Pen-y-holt); and at least 25 grey plovers at the Furzenips with a similar number of dunlin plus a few sanderling and ringed plovers. Ravens were on nests at two sites. Small numbers of teal (c. 15) and mallard (8) were on Frainslake Millpond as were 2 pairs of little grebe in adult plumage (males trilling).
In all, it was a beautiful sunny and relatively warm day. Three peacock butterflies were seen on the wing along the coast and a few marsh fritillary spring larval webs were found with caterpillars basking in the sun.
