Good morning folks...
With the tide half out there was much bird activity in Llangwm Pill yesterday afternoon...31 shelduck, 24 mallard, 40+teal, 4 mute swans (two adults, 2 youngsters), 3 curlew, 25+ redshank, 3 greenshank, 1 common sandpiper, approx 60 lapwing,1 cormorant , 30 noisy black headed gulls and 3 herring gulls. Our hybrid duck
(ruddy shelduck/common shelduck cross?) which has been resident here
since 15th November was also present. It seems to have been adopted by
the growing flock of shelduck and every day is seen feeding happily
among them. The highlight was the arrival of a female peregrine
which circled the PIll for two minutes putting up most of the lapwing
and a large flock of starlings which had been scavenging in the seaweed
on the northern side. It was eventually seen off by a herring gull and
it flew off in a northerly direction. By contrast the tideline from
Ferry Bay to Ferry Point, normally crowded with lapwing, dunlin and
gulls was devoid of birds apart from 1 curlew and a handful of
redshanks. I saw 3 snipe diving
into the spartina at Ferry Bay indicating that there were probably a lot
more already taking cover there. On occasions over the last week there
have been, at times, around 250 lapwings and 200 dunlins along this
tideline.
Graham Brace