St Govan's Head and Angle Bay

We had to be at St Govan’s Head this morning for some filming (the first time we had been there for more than 3 months). We took an opportunity to visit Angle Bay this afternoon on our return. Having seen a swallow over the Western Cleddau valley yesterday afternoon we were half-expecting to see good numbers of hirundines on the move today but didn’t see any on the peninsula this morning. Migrant-wise it was quiet at St Govan’s, but a flock of 28 choughs, plus a couple of pairs in their usual breeding territories, provided reasonable compensation.

At Angle Bay there was a mixed roost of about 70 oystercatchers, 12 bar-tailed godwits, c.20 knot , a small number of dunlin and a flock of 28 wigeon swimming offshore. In addition to a few common, herring, LBB and GBB gulls, there was a good candidate for a herring gull of the subspecies L. a. argentatus on the beach (a fine adult with dirty yellowish tarsi) but it didn’t stay long. 

Further around the bay and at the village end there were another 22 dunlin, 15 redshanks, small numbers of curlew and about 30 shelduck. Closer to the Point House, two small flocks of pale-bellied brent geese were resting on the shore totalling 41 birds. Some had moved off unfortunately by the time we got close enough to view them properly. 

Part of a flock of 22 geese that were still present loafing on the water near Angle Point