American GP

Still at the Gann this evening, close to where the river meets the sea at low tide, quite distant, hard to see against the Kelp.

Grassholm - new satellite colony

Sash - thanks for posting about the new sub-colony on Grassholm. Do you mean the one above the South Gut (where we land)? If so this formed 2 years ago but good to hear it is still progressing - or by 'south tump' or are you referring to a different one? If so it would be great to see some photos if you got any? They can be emailed to me at ramsey.island@rspb.org,uk - thanks, Greg

Ramsey and St Davids

Apologies for lack of postings of late, had a few technical issues accessing this blog - back on track now it seems! Quick Ramsey catch up - 8 pairs of breeding chough plus 1 non breeding territorial pair, 2 pairs SEO, 3 pairs of little owl, min 8 pairs of house martin (but likely to increase), 1 pair each of spotted flycatcher, chiffchaff and woodpigeon adding to the Ramsey 'woodland suite'! Other breeding data to come

Red kites have been seen almost daily for the past 8 weeks, initially taking advantage of lambing afterbirth and now a glut of dead rabbits as RVHD kicks in (max flock of kite 20)

In other news - Sarah Beynon's father had a turtle dove in his garden in St Davids yesterday (29/5)

Celtic Deep & Grassholm

We went out to the Celtic Deep yesterday to carry out a release of shearwaters as part of the Oxford Navigation Group's ongoing research into how these wonderful birds navigate when out of sight of land.

Calm water made for good conditions for spotting birds and wildlife. Cetacean highlights were at least one adult Minke Whale (quite probably two) and a calf, around 16 miles SW of Skomer, plus a pod of dolphins nearer Grassholm.

We saw at least 8 Storm Petrels, most of which were fairly distant and making their way somewhere else pretty directly, but one of which fed closer to the boat.

Fantastic views of Manxies, with rafts of birds scattered around.

And the most bizarre sight was a Razorbill which decided to fly back and forth across our bow (whilst we were going at c.18kts) for well over 5 minutes!

On Grassholm, the most interesting thing was what appears to be a new satellite breeding site for Gannets and Guillemots directly above South Tumb. Only around 60 Gannets, many of which may be loafers, but definitely some new nests away from the main colony.

Skokholm

Siberian Chiffchaff still at the Obs.

American Golden Plover - still at The Gann

The American Golden Plover was still showing reasonably well until Paul G and I left around 8pm. It was favouring the seaward side of the stream below the footbridge before moving to the upstreamside as tide increased. A couple of Black-tailed godwits and a Ruff on the pools. Paul picked up a Cettis calling from near Crabhall. (Pete H heard one on Saturday).

American Golden Plover

Update from Dave Evans - The American Golden Plover was on the pebble spit by the (underwater) boardwalk across the river, preening and resting, until 1040 hrs when it flew off with c.20 Dunlin, circled a few times, and disappeared at height beyond Mullock Bridge.

Siskins

Four Siskins turned up in our St.Davids garden today, precisely a year to the day since they last visited. Just hope they can avoid the attentions of our local Sparrow Hawks. Looks like the Mistle Thrushes are again breeding in our cemetery.

American Golden Plover - The Gann

From Andy Bookless - The American Golden Plover was on a little spit just upstream from the wooden boardwalk at 6.30 am this morning before flying a couple of hundred metres further upstream. 

American Golden Plover / Turtle Dove

Still at the Gann, at first upstream then flew down to the beach at the end of the ridgeway.
Turtle Dove again in the road at Mullock farm, I couldn`t slow down too much as I had a following car too close behind me.

Skokholm

No sign of the Bluethroat but an interesting Chiffchaff (on the Skok blog in a couple of minutes).

American GP

Still present around 5pm. A gentleman  who'd driven from Bexley Heath had located it way out off Musslewick, he had it mind to wait for the tide to push it up the beach, however looking at the weather now he's probably on his way back to Kent....

Star Spangled Leggy Lovely

The adult summer American Golden Plover still at the Gann early afternoon.  It was feeding on the mud c.300m upstream of the wooden boardwalk across the river on the west bank with a Grey Plover.  It showed well (looking across the river) albeit with a cautious approach. At 1.28pm they both flew downstream and out into the bay - by then the tide was well out.  Best to try and get the bird on a rising tide probably, say about 2 hours before high tide?  Big thanks to Derek for finding it - I'm struggling to think of a smarter wader that I have seen.  Begs the question if it is the same bird that stopped off at Angle Bay last spring?  2 consecutive spring records at sites quite close to each other after a very long gap back to our last record...

American Golden Plover

Still at the Gann at 625 this morning (Rob Jones). Go see this spangly beauty folks!!

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone

American Golden Plover - The Gann

Thanks for the quick call Derek, and lucky I was nearby. By the time Pete H arrived the tide was full in and it had moved to the pebble bank on the other side of the stepping stones (SM813071) with the Oystercatchers and a Grey plover.

American Golden Plover at the Gann.

Took a late evening stroll to the Gann, scanned through the Dunlin / RP`s, then the Grey Plover & then......

Sometime ago, Dave was telling me about single "Golden Plovers" with big eye stripes - something crossed my mind (not the greatest of journeys I know!) - so I rang him & he went through the Collins guide with me on the phone & came to the conclusion that it was an AGP. I rang Brian who was at Marloes Mere, he turned up 5mins later & came to the same conclusion.

I must thank Dave & Brian for their help in confirming my suspicions about this big tick for me & a really good find for the Gann

Cattle Egret - Bosherston

Highlight of a day out down south was the Cattle Egret at Bosherston at 815am, flying around above the 8-arch bridge but didn't see which way it headed as foliage in the way.  Nice to hear both Reed and Cetti's Warblers at Castlemartin Corse, and a fine male Redstart at Blackpool Mill (with John Parker).

Skokholm

A cracking male Bluethroat was ringed this morning. It seems likely that it isn't a svecica but the jury is out on where it might have originated.

The Gann

The Dunlin / Ringed Plover flock still present, wheeling around displaced by the spring tide, also 2 (3?) Grey Plover still in Winter garb. Whimbrel calling.

Great White egret - Millin Pill

From Andy Bookless - This Great White Egret was feeding at Millin Pill between about 11.30 am and midday today, along with three Grey Heron, before it flew off in the direction of the Western Cleddau.

Skokholm

Blue-headed Wagtail today along with a few common migrants.

Cattle egret, still Stackpole Court/Bosherston

The Cattle egret appeared at 7pm, in the same spot Richard describes. The attention of a couple of Crows shifted it from the very top branches to a somewhat lower less obvious spot.

The Gann

A flock of c35 mostly Dunlin - with a few RP's - 8 Whimbrel, 2 BH Gulls, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Herons & the long staying Teal.

Reds and Yellows

Wednesday sightings from David Meanwell - Three red kites together over Bower Farm Little Haven today at 1.30pm

Also spotted a pair of Yellowhammers on the verge at Lambston at 4.30pm

Elegug Stacks - this evening

A glorious end to the day at Elegug Stacks where, with a large party of students from University of South Wales practicing their seabird ID, we watched  a feeding flock of several hundred gulls just offshore (various species, including a couple of hundred kittiwakes).

The kittiwakes in particular were clearly finding a good food source several cm below the surface, making numerous shallow plunges - often with just their wing-tips showing above the water surface.

It's not particularly unusual to see flocks of kittiwakes feeding just offshore here at this time of year - presumably they include Skomer birds, or perhaps are from or further afield? Quite a few of them were non-breeding 2nd calendar birds or older, including one that seemed to have more or less adult plumage yet no obvious black wing-tips or any black in the wings at all.

It's sad that the once thriving breeding population here (at one time 500-600 nesting pairs) is now down to no more than 3-4 pairs, with annual declines during the last couple of decades. The tiny remnant breeding population (the last one on the Pembs mainland coast) looks likely to finally go extinct this year!

On the stacks though, the auk population seems to be thriving. Several guillemots and razorbills were bringing in fish for their chicks this evening.

It was also nice to see a marsh fritillary butterfly not too far from the cliff edge here. With the good spell of warm sunny weather, its likely that there will be many more marsh frits on the wing here by the Bank Holiday weekend.

House Martins / Swifts

About 45 over St Brides bay this evening, the most I've seen for some time, years in fact. That got me thinking about Swifts, I've seen less & less of them over the past few years with only five so far this Spring, no doubt lots of factors impacting their  apparent decline.

Stackpole/Bosherston Cattle Egret

Yesterday's cattle egret was roosting this evening (I watched it 2015-45) in a large ash tree by the rushy bay opposite (slightly south of) the Boathouse hide - best observed from one of the stone fishing points S of the Boathouse. Point'n'shoot only but......

                                                          Location shot (white pinprick!)

It has been spending the days (probably for a while now) with cattle on Stackpole Home Farm. As it's a huge farm with 1000 head of dairy cattle it could be anywhere, viewing opportunities only from roads or tracks depending on where it is. Chris James the farmer observed it two weeks ago and took this picture as the bird was flying away

So a big thank-you to Strinda Davies and friend for my first UK cattle egret!

Cuckoos - St Dogmaels

This afternoon, while out working in my St Dogmaels garden, I thought I heard a Cuckoo.

Since we've got Song Thrushes in the area that think they're Water Rails, Greenshanks and Nuthatches, I was a bit sceptical, but a few seconds later two Cuckoos flew over from the south, one of them calling repeatedly, and headed across the Teifi estuary towards Ceredigion.

First garden tick in quite a long time!

Cattle Egret? Bosherston

This received today, sounds very interesting.

Good morning,

I wish to report an Egret sighting on the Eastern Arm of  Bosherston Lily Ponds late yesterday evening (Mon 22nd May) at approx. 9.30pm,  which may possibly have been a Cattle Egret.

Location: bird was viewed, by two people and through binoculars only, roosting high in tree opposite the hide below Stackpole Court (Boat House?), about a quarter  of the way along the  shore towards the Eight-Arch Bridge.

Description: clearly an Egret, with hunched posture, definite yellow bill, some warm buff colour on the chest and bulky, not streamlined, appearance to the top of head (no obvious crest). Not able to detect leg colour when bird was preening.  

My friend was able to film it on her cam-corder, albeit at considerable distance away. Even so, yellow bill is clearly evident.

Unable to phone the three people listed on the Pembs Bird Club site as no mobile reception where we are staying, at Stackpole. 

Regards,

Ms. Strinda Davies, Chair of Glamorgan Bird Club

Spotted Flycatcher - St Davids

Gupton Farm and Castlemartin Corse

My first painted lady and hummingbird hawk moth of the year.

Otherwise it's been a very quiet spring at the Corse - all the normal small birds but the site has been very dry. Grasshopper warbler singing today.

Skok

As it's all gone a bit quiet on the migrant front, here's our first ever Short-eared Owl nest.

St Davids area

From Jerry Moore - A red kite near Lleithyr Farm (St. Davids/Whitesands) - Saturday p.m.

A lesser whitethroat rattling away near Rhodiad (N side Dowrog common) - Fri/Sat/Sun.

5 chough - St Davids head - Sat.

A pair of canada geese on one of the skerries in Pwll Deri - (Ynys y Ddinas). They flew off but looked like they were prospecting.

Skokholm

Summer plumaged Great Northern Diver and an Arctic Skua today.

Turtle Dove

One flew up from the road in front of me as I was driving between St Ishmaels Nurseries & the Trewarren farm entrance yesterday around 4:45pm

Skokholm

These stunning days haven't been great for migrants. Spotted Redshank over today was notable.

St Davids

A few Spotted Flycatchers yesterday but nothing much around the St Davids peninsula today except that the Little Owl which has been around is now two and they are breeding in the area. There used to be maybe 5 pairs around these parts (Jonathan B) but none for years - until now. Good news.

The Teifi

Two Whimbrel and a late Spring record for the Teifi of Common Sandpiper today. Other interesting counts for late May on the Teifi include 40 Oystercatchers, c40 Shelduck plus breeders and the first  juveniles should appear any day. Black-headed Gull numbers are usually down to single figures by mid- May, up to 40 is the usual count this week.
On the Reserve, a Water Rail is still calling, and a Redstart appears to be holding territory.
Several broods of Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks Song Thrushes and Long-tailed Tits about.

Red Kite - Marloes Mere

A Red Kite had an interesting flight over Marloes Mere and adjacent fields. He was being chased as he was carrying some creature but after three of four minutes he had to let go and dropped his catch.
(Mike B)

A sleepy, summery Gann

60 Oystercatchers were sat down near Crabhall, half of them asleep, there were three Little Egrets asleep in a tree, even the Cormorant on the island was sat down, and a Grey Heron was doing the same - not something you often see. 12 Mute Swans (a record?) were prodding around in a desultory way in the river. The only signs of activity came from the breeding birds - swallows zipping down to collect mud, a frantic singing Sedge Warbler near the car park and a Cetti's Warbler singing from somewhere near the island. The grassy areas were covered with flowers - Thrift, Bird's foot Trefoil and lots of Kidney Vetch. The gorse was in bloom and in the relatively still air the butterscotch scent was delicious. No waders at all, until two Curlews called in for a while.

Bosherston

3 Goosander fishing above the 8-arch bridge at lunchtime. Lots of hirundines near Broad Haven South and 3 Chough.

Call for Curlews

Curlews in trouble: It has been many years since curlews were known to have bred on the Pembrokeshire mainland - Skomer Island currently being our only confirmed breeding location for them. Mid-winter WeBs counts on the Cleddau estuary (between November and February) suggest that numbers of this familiar bird are also declining there! 

Mary Colwell, who last year walked from western Ireland to eastern England to highlight the plight of the Eurasian Curlew, is planning a conference to bring together all those with an interest in the species' conservation in Wales, and she is hoping that birders and local bird clubs across Wales will get involved. 

The event is planned for 24 January 2018 at a venue to be announced later. Read more here, and get in touch with Mary if you'd like to be involved. 

Red-footed falcon - Friday

Some lovely images of the Red-footed falcon from Peter White, who was visiting from the Bristol area, Derek and I bumped into Peter and shared some excellent views of the falcon with him.

Bee-eater Abercastle

Andrew Allport visiting from Yorkshire sent in this report:

There was a single Bee-eater over Abercastle this morning at 9.15 am very briefly with a large group of hirundines over the village and appeared to be following the coast, departing along the coast to the east.

Presumably the same as the one seen at Strumble (8 miles away) later in the morning.

Bee-eater

http://strumbleheadseawatching.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/strumble-head-14-may-17-bee-eater.html?m=1

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone

Bee-eater, Strumble

Bee-eater reported over lookout, Strumble around 11am.
(per Rare Birds)

The Teifi

Our wader numbers have dropped dramatically since 100+small waders still on Thursday. This evening 2 Whimbrel and 7 Sanderling and earlier 7 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover and the 2 Bar-tailed Godwits. The Knot have moved on....
18 Black-headed Gulls seems a good number for mid-May, and we have 20+ non-breeding Shelduck plus the breeding birds.

On the reserve one of the male hybrid Pochard/Tufted Ducks is resident on Mallard Pond and we appear to have good numbers of Reed Buntings this year. Following news from Rich B on Skokholm yesterday of a small fall of Sedge Warblers, we also had a peak this morning with 25 new and 1 French ringed Sedge Warbler. This Spring our Sedge Warbler total is now c120 compared with 563 last Spring.

Marloes - Deer Park

Usual walk this morning, some signs of movement. 4-5 Willow warblers along the hedgerows, Grasshopper warbler and Spotted flycatcher near Martins Haven. 2 grey geese flying east (probably Greylags but high and silhouetted). Whimbrel calling from field but out of sight. Canada geese with 4 gosling. Kestrel on Deer Park. Possible Marsh harrier reported in hide log book from a few days ago.

Red-footed falcon

The Red-footed falcon was still present until 9 this morning but no news since. (per Bird Guides)

If Carling did Falcon......

Since a young boy many years ago I have always wanted to see a Red Footed Falcon, something mystical about them that fired my imagination with that Orange orbital eye & Grey sombre cloak like plumage & feet that were on fire....
First I have to thank the anonymous finder who satisfied a boyhood desire in the best way possible, a stunning male that allowed myself & Brian to approach carefully & allow us to  take many photos - as a few other birders have too - not of the same quality maybe but hugely satisfying all the same

Brian taking a good long look. One of those defining moments in a particular interest

and a few more

Following an early morning visit in the 'gloom' I couldn't resist another look this evening with Derek, we passed you Graham on the way.

More Red-footed Falcon

 

Thanks

Thanks bloggers and RFF, this old crock managed to make contact with the superb falcon. Just like the many I've seen in Turkey, where it may have come from, but at Strumble that is very special. Does that mean that Rose-coloured Starling and Black-headed Bunting may follow?

Red-footed Falcon

Still present to 11:40 at least.

Red-footed Falcon still present

A report from Paul G that the Red-footed Falcon is still present at Strumble Head this morning.

Red-footed Falcon

Wow.  2 new Pembrokeshire birds for me in 4 days!  Glad I took the snap decision, on vague news, to try for it with Paul G.  Great to see a few Pembs birders I haven't seen for a while.  The bird was feeding from wires beyond the last cottages, before the sharp right bend, about 1/4 mile before the lighthouse, regularly dropping down into the recently sown field on the right.  A few pics from me to supplement Mike's pics.  Big thanks to the mystery birder who found it (presumably a visitor), who shared the news which allowed us to see it.  Presumably the bird seen by Sally Evans at Plumstone yesterday?

Red-footed Falcon Strumble

This extremely obliging male Red-footed Falcon showing well for a band of locals this evening. An amazing experience.