On our way up to meet Jane Hodges at Cemaes Head last evening, to look for roosting choughs there, we called in at the Iron Bridge, Newport in late afternoon. The tide was still fairly low, but it was nice to see 6 greenshanks (including a probable family party of 3 resting together) and others feeding, e.g. on ragworms in the shallow water. One of the greenshanks was feeding almost avocet-style, sweeping its open bill from side to side in the water.
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| This bird was clearly finding plenty to eat but would aggressively chase off rivals |
Other waders included 3 common sandpipers and a very obliging little ringed plover on the upstream side of the bridge. It was also nice to watch a red kite drinking on the river shore and a kingfisher perched near the wall. 400 or so Canada geese that had been resting in a nearby field made their presence known in their usual noisy and inimitable way.
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| A most obliging bird |
Later, up at Cemaes Head, it was nice to see at least 13 choughs resting and preening prior to going to roost, these included a couple of local pairs. While we were waiting for the choughs to head off to roost a swift flew over, feeding with some swallows just before dusk near the old Coastguard look-out building. On our way back along a footpath to our cars, the evening was rounded off by a fine barn owl and a an almost certain greater horseshoe bat that flew close to where we had parked up at Cippyn - a nice end to a pleasant afternoon and evening.