It was possible to do seabird colony counts along the whole of the Castlemartin peninsula (Linney Head to Stackpole Head) in June this year. Land-based counts were undertaken with help from Paul Culyer (NRW Stackpole) and sea-based counts were possible with help from Mark Burton (NRW Skomer Marine Reserve).
The main species here, guillemot, is doing well
although perhaps there are signs that the population is plateauing, following
increases over the last few decades. Most of the young auks have fledged now but there
were still reasonable numbers of adults present over the weekend and some
chicks still hadn’t fledged just yet.
There were just under 19,000 guillemots counted in June 2021; most of these at Elegug Stacks
Numbers of adults have thinned out a lot in the past week
A few sand martins have been seen feeding along the coast in the last week or so between Penally and Castlemartin. Some of these were probably birds passing along the coast already on migration, although the ones at Castlemartin could have been from the small local colony nearby.
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| Despite the light drizzle, there were plenty of small insects to be caught |
The local linnet population seems to have bred well this summer. Flocks of mainly juvenile birds are now starting to build up, attracted to numerous seed-sources on the coast. Yesterday a flock of at least 3-400 was feeding on various maritime grass and herb seeds (such as sea-beet and thrift) near Linney Head.
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| Just a few of the 3-400 in this flock. Post juvenile moult is clearly in full swing, with some birds having replaced their tertial feathers |
Most of the chough families appear to have disbursed from their breeding areas, although a late to fledge juv. was still present with the adults near Stack Rocks yesterday and this evening.