Southwood estate, Newgale

Perfect afternoon to checkout the NT Southwood estate at Newgale, I did the Maidenhall-Trefane farm-Folkestone moor route, starting from Newgale and making a circuit by joining the coast path just above Nolton. 2 male Yellowhammers seen with calls heard on 3 more occasions, Lesser whitethroat and Grasshopper warbler the pick, with a few Whitethroat and a single Sedge warbler and a Red kite drifted across the fields made for a pleasant stroll.

Preselis

Interesting day out and about around the Preselis with Paul. Started with a good look around Brynberian Moor. 4 Whinchat in song with 2 visiting likely nest sites. Small groups of Lesser redpoll buzzing around as seems to be usual here. A single Swift. No cuckoos today.

Ty Rhyg next, a few family groups of vocal Crossbills feeding in Scots pine and spruce, with one group of c10 individuals including a couple of bright red males and some rather drab younger birds. A pair of Red kite cavorting overhead, one bird dropped what looked like a prey item that plummeted down. Good spot for Garden warblers with a few birds in song and good to compare with Blackcaps who are typically in the more wooded areas. A few weeks ago I spotted a drake Teal quietly sitting amongst the reeds on one of the small ponds - well looks like he's a dad, with a female Teal and 5 tiny ducklings. 

With the weather brightening a little we had a final stop at Puncheston, Garden warblers here and the only Cuckoo of the day over towards Trecwn side. Quite a few Marsh fritillary on the wing, estimate 20 individuals in the fairly small section we covered was great to see.

Siskin aggro

Interesting to note how intolerant the male siskin (back this morning) is of other species on the feeder. He breaks off feeding to use threatening behaviour - wing-fluttering, beak open, even with his mouth full - towards members of the tit family. Even the great tit, normally second only to nuthatch in the pecking order, seems quite cowed by this. Not so the nuthatch, it's the siskin's turn to be intimidated as the nuthatch gives him a hard stare. 

Presumably this is post-breeding dispersal?

Gann

A good number of small waders on this morning's high tide.  At least 70 Dunlin contained the colour-ringed/flagged bird, 15 Ringed Plover, 4 Sanderling and 2 Turnstone.  A Sandwich Tern flew in to the bay, called several times, and flew out again.  2 Chough, my first here for ages, also flew in across the bay but settled to feed on the grassy spit next to the coast path.  The 2CY Mediterranean Gull was snoozing on Cormorant Island and the Dublin-ringed Oystercatcher (yellow X4) was still present amongst a group of 50 or so.

Skokholm Twitch

A great trip out to the island was rewarded with very breif, beind-bushes views of the Moltoni's Warbler. Everyone managed quick views, but it was not the most coperative bird. Nevertheless, It was fantastic to get on the island, an amazing place that I'm looking forward to coming back to. 

While on the wat to leave, a few people breifly saw the Icterine Warbler at the Well, but all I managed was two Sedge Warbers! Oh well. 

On the way back, we stopped at the Gann where there were about fifty Dunlin and twenty Ringed Plover, and another group of about fifty small waders flew in as we were leaving, but we coulden't pick out the hoped for Sanderling.

Garden siskins

 An infrequent visitor to the garden, the last on 05.04.2021. Today - a pair! They fed hard for an hour. 

Skokholm

The Moltoni's Warbler and an Icterine Warbler were both present today. 

Bullfinch

From Peter Law: A male bullfinch resplendent in the sunshine, calling and showing well in the tall hedgerows along the lanes of Walton West this afternoon.

Cuckoo

A male cuckoo called for a solid 5 minutes from a tree in the copse close to our house at Orlandon Kilns this morning at 5:45.  This is the first time since we have lived here (19 years) that we have had a cuckoo close by. Sometimes we get a fly-by up the valley and one year, a bird stayed around the marsh for a day but this has always been in April when the birds are heading north.  Was this bird a very late northerly migrant, or was he going back south again? Who knows! Anyway, really nice to hear. 

Update: Cuckoo calling again this evening but the last I heard of it was ever distant cuckoos as it flew away, apparently westwards.

Rosemary Royle

Gann

A nice selection of waders this evening: 5 Sanderling, 24 Dunlin (including a colour-flagged/ringed bird - details awaited), 16 Ringed Plover, 2 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit.  The 2CY Mediterranean Gull lingers, and Black-headed Gull has increased to 4 (all 2CY).  2 Little Egret and a single Grey Heron.

One Shelduck pair has 4 young, a reduction from the 7 that first appeared last week.  Fingers crossed for them!

Castlemartin coast - cliff-nesting swifts

Several swifts were busy collecting nest material along the coast this afternoon. They were flying close to the cliff face, or just a few metres above it, picking up small amounts of aerial material (e.g. bits of grass or gull body feathers) in the breezy updraft conditions. One particular bird, carrying a white feather, gave an initial impression of having a white patch on its underparts! 

Most of the nest material being caught in the updraft appeared to be small body feather fragments

Hopefully they will have a successful season this year, last spring the weather was poor much of the time

Several house martins were busy nest-building in crevices under a small arch on an offshore stack. A small colony of 30-40 razorbills that breed in other crevices on the stack appear to have had a very poor breeding season. This is most likely due to neighbours from hell (ravens) that have nested and reared 3-4 young close by. They appear to have regularly dined on razorbill eggs, so much so that it was difficult to spot many visibly active breeding crevices today; most had been vacated.  

Hook Estuary

There is still a sprinkling of waders moving through the estuary at Hook. Close to high tide today a Whimbrel and a Black-tailed Godwit were foraging as the mud disappeared beneath the water. At Fowborough Point, 8 Ringed Plovers and 14 Dunlin, many in their summer finery, prepared to roost at the water's edge.  Of the non-migrants, a single Little Egret and 3 pairs of Shelduck were active. A 4th Shelduck pair, exploring the flooding salt marsh at the mouth of Sprinkle Pill, comprised a 'real' bird and what I presume is the hybrid reported previously, over the winter, from Llangwm and once from here.

What an odd bird.

 

St David's Head

 At lunchtime today, a Hooded Crow flew over the valley at St David's Head, westwards towards the head  itself.

Testing the boundaries of 'record shots'.

Skokholm

 The male Moltoni's Warbler was singing today. 

Caslemartin peninsula - seabirds

This morning, with the help of Paul Culyer (NRW) we started the annual breeding seabird census along the Castlemartin peninsula, spending a few hours counting auks etc in the Elegug Stacks area and later at Stackpole Head. Guillemot numbers are looking pretty good and the colony on the top of the stack is is very dense in places. Counting these from photos will be slow but interesting as usual! Until we manage to do some additional counts from the sea, it is still too early to estimate the size of population. Gull numbers seem down again though, as do fulmar numbers.

A guillemot with yellow/orange bill and feet, noted by Chris Taylor a short while ago, is still present on the edge of one of the count zones on the north side of the main stack.  

Every year there are sad examples of birds helplessly hanging (dying or already dead) from the cliff, entangled in fishing line, and today was no exception! 

Yet another example of the impacts of fishing litter in the marine environment!

Not much space between the birds in this small part of the colony

A red kite flew along the coast from the east and circled round a few times over the auk colony, hoping for the chance of an easy meal perhaps before it headed off back east again. 

Yesterday there were three sanderlings in transition to breeding plumage at Bluckspool beach, but there was no sign of an unexpected great grey shrike reported to us yesterday by Mick Brown, who had seen one near Bluckspool during a guided-walk through the area on Sunday. In an area the size of Castlemartin though, it could be anywhere!  

    

More Junco

Just a couple more photos of Sunday's star attraction. It spent it's time between looking for seeds on the ground and perching in bushes and trees around the garden. A happy little soul, when in the trees it frequently sang. Here it is belting out it's latest number.

 

Woodchat shrike, Castlemartin

Spent lunchtime with the Woodchat shrike, who performed excellently in the sunshine. Constantly on the move either chasing bees or being chased by the resident Stonechats and Whitethroats. Still in the same spot that Mike indicated previously SR 92760 96101, the trampled verges gave it's likely location away. That's two twitches in a few days following the weekends Junco excitement.

 

Green Woodpeckers

From John Whitehurst (Monday): Two adult Green Woodpeckers, possibly a pair, Haverfordwest Golf Course.

Skokholm

The 'Subalpine' Warbler reappeared today in an area away from where it was previously seen (after hiding for three days). Pleasingly it called twice, with the distinctive Wren-like call of a Moltoni's Warbler, before again melting into the Nettles, not to be seen again. This fits the moult pattern previously noted and will no doubt be confirmed using DNA in due course. It will be a first for Wales. We will keep an eye on both the weather and the likelihood of a successful twitch. 

Willow Warbler feeding Great Tit young

From Rosemary Royle: Yesterday evening we watched a Willow Warbler regularly entering a Great tit nest with small items of food and feeding the Great Tit young. The Willow Warber nest is very close by and we can only think it is getting distracted by the loud begging calls of the Great Tits. We shall wait to see how things develop!

For more background and pictures follow this link: 

Willow Warbler feeding Great Tit young

Here is a picture of the Wllow Warbler just about to enter the Great Tit nest box with food. 

Junco update - access on Monday

The owner of the property, Giddanmu, has kindly agreed that birders may visit his garden to view the bird, provided they make themselves known to him when they arrive.

When you arrive at the gate at the top of the private drive,  (orange circle on the map) open the gate and drive down the road, closing the gate behind you.  There is limited parking in the area marked in blue. Do not obstruct the driveway to the adjacent red-bricked house. If this parking area is full, you might ask the owner of Giddamu if you might park in front of the house.

The bird has mainly been seen in the top corner of the garden, circled in red. This is best viewed from just to the left of the open barn, or from above the barn. There is plenty of seed around from the flower meadow seeding which has recently taken place.

You may come across Tom, the gardener, who first reported the bird to Peter Royle yesterday

Please respect Mr Morton’s generosity in allowing access to his property.

Note that at 11:37 there was a negative report on Birdguides.

Greenfinch

From John Whitehurst: Not quite up to Junco level but a singing male Greenfinch in Crundale yesterday and today.

Junco

 Just like to say a note of thanks to Peter & Steve for arranging access to the bird, and I think I can speak for Pembs birders to say a big thank you to the owner of the property for allowing us to see a really special bird.

Dark eyed Junco

Nice to have a twitch on my doorstep! showed well for us (Pete, Krystal & Andy) Not forgetting a big thankyou to the owner of the property for allowing everyone access.

 

Junco - a bit more info

See map below. The bird is in the vicinity of the blue outline, bottom left. To get there you need to get to the junction at the SW of St Ishmaels where the church is signposted (red outline). Turn right (SW) here, with signs for Trewarren Farm then carry on through the farm yard and on down the road. At the gate carry straight on. Parking is at the gate. Then walk down to the house. The post code SA62 3TJ should get you there. 

Dark-eyed Junco at St Ishmaels

 This smart bird has just been identified at a private house near St Ishmaels - see map:-

No idea how to place an arrow here but its at Giddanmu which is the farthest left of the houses on the map on the edge of the Gann - access from the top of the road down to Monk Haven (turn right there) but limited parking space.  The owner is happy to let people in today and will see if the bird hangs about after that. there will be someone at the gate and in the garden from 1400hrs onwards to provide directions and update the blog if it disappears - last seen around 1100hrs but no-one watching at the moment.

Brynberian Moor

Another look a little further east of the previous visits turned up another Whinchat who popped up and took objection to a cuckoo I was watching, at least 2 male cuckoo and a female, with cuckooing, and excitable gawking, ever present - won't be too long before they depart for another year, so nice to make the most of them while we are fortunate to have them around. 6m and a female Reed bunting - often in the same areas favoured by Whinchat here, so can be a useful pointer. A few Lesser redpoll, buzzing around and moving between the taller gorse patches. 

Castlemartin Coast

As usual during May, when the young rooks have fledged, many family parties have moved to the coastal grasslands to feed during the day. Like choughs, rooks are also exploiting ants and other invertebrates in the numerous yellow meadow anthills along the Castlemartin coast. Skylarks, wheatears and other species also use many of these mounds as raised singing perches along the coastal plateau.

Walking along the Castlemartin coast this morning, just watching the various cliff-nesting birds, made me wonder about how many coastal zones in the county support three species of hirundine plus swift breeding in the sea-cliffs? 

Numbers are not particularly large, but today house martins were actively nest-building at a couple of sea-cliff locations; a couple of pairs of swallows were breeding in natural sea caves and arches where this species has nested for many years; sand martins were busy at two small colonies in a couple of actively-eroding lower softer, sandy-cliff areas. Swifts were also entering nest-crevices on some of the larger limestone cliffs. Up until the 1990s, starlings also used to breed in these sea-cliffs too, but sadly none do so now.  

Woodchat Shrike.

 Woodchat Shrike, Still on road to stack rocks Castlemartin range.

Skokholm

 A late Brambling this morning.

(Rich Brown)

Skokholm

 A female Serin today.

Flimston Woodchat

The woodchat shrike was showing well at 11.30, in precisely the spot indicated on Mike's map on Wednesday. It was either eating or impaling something on the brambles: a pair of linnets were hovering never more than a metre away. Like Bob I remember the 1995 bird in this very area. 

Hawfinches

From Mike & Sharon Lawrence: We check your website every day and thought you might like to know that we just had a pair of Hawfinches in our garden in Fishguard. Never seen one before! Beautiful birds. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera to hand.

Skomer

 Double shrike day today after the Red-backed Shrike found yesterday was still around today and a Woodchat Shrike was found this morning. Nice to hear the Woodchat Shrike singing this afternoon. 

Dale Airfield & Marloes

A quick search of the gorse around the airfield failed to give up another Pembs shrike but a good selection of commoner birds were present. 4 singing skylarks a wheatear and 3 whitethroats the highlights. More Linnets and Rooks than you could shake a stick at and many Herring, LBB Gulls and corvids playing leapfrog behind a tractor ploughing the stony field. Later, at Marloes Mere just after 8pm, an adult male Marsh Harrier explored the mere for a minute or so before drifting across the fields towards Dale/The Gann. 

Marloes Peninsula

Fairly quiet. A group of 20 Chough were heading towards the Deer Park or Skomer around 8'ish, presumably to roost, also a pair by Rainy Rock and a single bird moving between Marloes Sands and Gateholm. The swans were showing off their 4 cygnets. Single male Shoveler and a Shelduck. 3 Coot on nests. Just 2 male Wheatear. Young Raven begging parent for a snack and then seen hammering at a rotten fence post. A male Yellowhammer at Hasguard Cross.