Marloes Mere

From John Whitehurst: After a pleasant morning with the many birds at the Gann the early afternoon at Marloes Mere gave spectacular views of huge flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover. Hunkering down in the sedges the Lapwing were filling nearly every low island and two tight groups of Golden Plover crammed together on two of the larger ones. Every now and again they would take to the air, the only raptor noted being a Sparrowhawk which didn’t seem to be the culprit, and put on a wonderful twisting and turning display in glorious sunshine with the Golden Plover often soaring high above the more flappy Lapwing. In the end an estimate of possibly 2000 Lapwing and 1500 Golden Plover was made. Certainly an earlier thought of at least a 1000 of each was well short of the mark.

Castlemartin Corse

The stock dove flock is still there. Otherwise very quiet, no ducks, a buzzard the only raptor. Three pairs of stonechats along the track, their summer finery yet to be revealed - these the resident pair at the hide. 

Newport Bay

 4 Turnstone, 1 Curlew, 1 Grey Plover, 1RT Diver and 3 GC Grebe.

Llys-y-fran

Despite near perfect viewing conditions, flat calm and overcast, it was a disappointing roost this evening. With good numbers of BH gulls on the water by 4pm it looked like it would follow the usual pattern but a bit of a no show from the LBBs, barely 500 when the light finally went. Pick was what looked like the Caspian gull from recent visits, a single Yellow-legged gull and 5 Mediterranean gulls (3 adult, 2 2cy). 4 GC grebe and 3 Goldeneye (1m). Nice to see Steve B and Jon G.

Down South

A rare foray away from the Dale peninsula today for Lisa and I.  Checked a few gull spots out along the haven without any success.  At Bosherston, compared to years gone by a dearth of ducks.  Just 2 Tufted Duck, no Gadwall, no Teal, no Wigeon, 10 Goosander (including a pair mating), 3 Chiffchaff and 3 Snipe.

 A quick look at Angle Bay (Rhoscrowther / eastern end), highlight was 106 Pintail, mightily impressive!  A good scattering of waders and 18 Brent Geese, 2 of which were 2CY dark-bellied birds.  3 Great-crested Grebe out in the bay.

Martin’s Haven and Trehill Farm fields

As both Brian and Derek have said, some great flocks of wintering birds here at present.

The density of the Skylark flock(s) is remarkable, especially since there are dozens more birds scattered across the fields.

I counted c.850 Golden Plover, and several hundred more Lapwing. The plovers had just settled down on a field of fodder beet when a Peregrine cruised over, and they all flushed. The Peregrine took no notice, but the plovers flew high, and then started slowly cork-screwing down in wide spirals, calling - a wonderful sight and sound.

The other birds that are really noticeable on the fields are Snipe: at least a dozen on the Car Park field last night (despite it having such hard ground!), and multiples of that just off the Coast Path from Martin’s Haven back towards Marloes Sands. There were also good numbers on the islets of Marloes Mere yesterday. 

Marloes, Trehill Fields

Had the last couple of hours checking the mere and surrounding fields from the road by Trehill Farm. Lapwing in most fields, with many 100s of birds settling to roost on the mere giving their forlorn calls. Skylarks the most obvious passerine with a single flock of 658. A Sparrowhawk, a Merlin and just before dark a Peregrine having a go but not the hoped for Harrier or SE owl, looked the perfect conditions and beautiful light. Derek stopped to tell me of the Goldies down at Martin's Haven which I was oblivious of at this end until a whimpering, shimmering flock of 100 flashed over at head height at dusk. 3 silhouetted diving duck in the north irrigation pond when I got back to the car (presumably the Tufties). The only other sighting was a single distant Andy Sims.

Golden Plover

Many hundreds this evening at Martin`s  Haven circling high above West Hook, good to meet Sash enjoying the spectacle, though there were too many for me to count properly. I left Sash to do the maths!

Big Garden Birdwatch drama

Normally the sparrowhawk (which passes through the garden on a daily basis) is in and out in a nanosecond, but this great tit's foot caught in the bottom of the seed feeder and stuck firmly. The sparrowhawk hung there for a full minute, time for me to grab the camera. Eventually it gave up and flew off. I donned gloves and went out to remove the great tit, which was dead, its foot still firmly stuck.

Whitesands - Purple Sandpipers

From  Robert & Jenny Briggs: Six purple sandpipers on the end of the Ram’s Nose at high tide this morning.

Llys-y-fran

Similar pattern to recent visits with a good number of smaller gulls on the water on our arrival with the bulk of the LBBs coming in at dusk, with the feeling there were more yet to arrive. The gulls frustratingly stacked tight to the far side up towards the small western bay, so challenging to sort out what was here. Best was the biscuity Glaucous gull at 5:10pm and a Caspian gull. 6 Mediterranean gulls (5 adult and a 3cy) and at least 4 Yellow-legged gulls. 5-6 GC grebe and 3 drake Goldeneye. With Paul, Mike Hayes and Andy Bookless. Rosebush earlier: 5 Tufted duck (3m), c12 Mallard, Coot and a GC grebe.

Kilpaison, Pembs dock.

 Kilpaison this morning.

60 Dunlin, 51 Oystercatchers, 7 Curlew, 18 Brent Geese.

Cosheston pill.

24 Redshank, 16 Black tailed Godwits.

Front St,

16 Redshank, 3 Oystercatchers.

Haverfordwest

Yesterday in my suburban Haverfordwest garden five Bullfinch (two male) were present for a short while.

Llys y Fran

 Whilst completing a WEBS count this afternoon 10 Whooper swans flew over flying fairly low in a NE direction. 5 Goldeneye, 4 Great crested grebe, 2 Little grebe and 2 wigeon. 100+ Canada Geese and 3 Greylag. One of the Glaucous gulls was present by 3pm before the main influx of gulls came into roost.

Corse, Gupton, those Stock doves...

A glorious morning on the Corse, skylarks singing, ravens courting....

There are 90 stock doves in that flock (see my Sunday post and 5 December). I counted the flock from flight photo, some of them settled on wires, the rest on the ground. 

The 3CY♀ marsh harrier was quartering the reedbed, and a female sparrowhawk settled obligingly on a fence post. She has a prominent white patch on the back of her head. 

4 ravens, 2 chough, masses of singing skylarks, 1 Cetti's, ducks and snipe as last week. 

Gann

The Eider still present today and my first Grey Heron of the year.

Llys-y-fran

Only a couple of 100 BH gulls and same of Herring gull when I arrived just after 4pm, these were soon joined by a wave of BH gulls coming down the reservoir, giving a good count of 1,800 at 4:30pm. It was looking like another sparse roost with an absence of LBBs until they started to trickle in from the east at 4:45pm with a really big influx of 1,000s of LBBs at 5:15pm. 2 Glaucous gulls roosted again  (1st gull appeared at 4:50pm and the 2nd watched flying in at 5pm). Interestingly both appeared pale (maybe a trick of the light as we've had a more dusky headed bird, or there may be 3 birds involved). Only 2 adult Med gulls and 3 adult Yellow-legged gulls. 6 GC grebe and pair Goldeneye.

Sprinkle Pill

 At about 11am, two Whooper Swans flew down the valley and across the estuary to Landshipping. A single Black-tailed Godwit stood amongst the flock of Golden Plovers. 

Bird Group visit to Fishguard

Report from Chris Taylor. Great to see young and old at the Pembrokeshire Bird Group walk today. 

We started at the Fishguard flagpoles, followed by a walk out along the sea wall and returned to the cafe for a warm up. Bird highlights being a stunning male Eider, a distant kingfisher and some Mediterranean Gulls, Great Northern diver, Kittiwake and guillemot. Also Common dolphins.

Next walk will be at Southwood Farm, near Newgale in March. Date TBC.

Chris Taylor

Bird group events coordinator.

Ps

If anyone has an area they want to share please get in touch, all organisation/risk assessments/first aid will be dealt with so you can just enjoy sharing your special bird sites.

Christ@pembrokeshirecoast.org.uk

Marloes Mere

 The WEBS count this morning was pretty quiet on the duck front but 618 Lapwing in the surrounding fields with maybe more in the fields just north of the road was a pretty good count but the 300 or so Golden Plover we saw there a couple of days ago were hiding well.

In the fields just west of Trehill the farmer has sown a nitrogen fixing crop which is absolutely alive with finches - impressive flocks on the move all the time around the sheep too - at a guess at least 1,000 birds and could be many more.  Needs a good look to see what species (from a distance Chaffinch and Linnets at least) and permission from the farmer to get down the fields towards the west end of the Mere

The week at Gupton and the Corse

Three visits to the Corse this past week, Saturday for WEBS, including to the upstream section below Castlemartin Church. Biggest surprise was that the flock of 50+ stock doves on the Gupton fields, reported by Bob on 5 December following our winter farmland bird count, is still present, I saw them on Thursday and yesterday. They even perched briefly on the wires, but are extremely wary. Plenty of linnets still at Gupton around the farmyard, but in a mobile mixed flock with chaffinch and goldfinch making it impossible to tell how many of each - roughly 1000 birds in the ratio 70:20:10. I looked for greenfinch and brambling but couldn't find any. The sparrowhawk(s) put in regular appearances.

Mainly linnets

Down on the Corse the usual marsh harrier was making brief flights. Alan Merrett suggested there may be two. Around 80 teal, 50 shoveler, 4 mallard and a couple of female wigeon represented a good duck count, but the huge flocks of lapwing and golden plover in the upstream section had moved on as the water levels have dropped. There were still around 200 lapwing among the sheep in the root crop on the Kilpaison side. Two greylags dropped in noisily near they hide - they could well be a breeding pair, there's been a pair around all summer for the last couple of years but I haven't established breeding. 

Llys-y-fran

Many more gulls tonight, despite a long-boat race in progress when I first arrived at 3:30pm. The early gulls just pushed tighter to the far side as the two crews and safety boat passed. Some hurried counts were 3,000 gulls in total at 4:30pm probably an even split with BH gulls, LBB and Herring gulls, with many LBBs coming in at 4:40pm. 6,000 plus at 5:10pm (1,500 BH gulls, 2,000+ adult LBB, remainder Herring gulls and unidentified juveniles) with more LBB still arriving. The roost split into 2 groups with the majority of the BH gulls and smaller gulls settling towards the dam and the larger gulls up beyond the small western inlet with the two yellow buoys. Light was much better as well for picking out shades of grey. The 2 Glaucous gulls appeared at 4:45pm, the paler bird dropped in among the BH gulls, the sootier individual in with the Herring gulls. The large first winter gull with the dipped-in-ink bill appeared again this evening, probably Argentatus though it does give Glaucous vibes (Viking gull?). 10 GBB (4 adult, 5 2cy, 1 3cy), 6 Yellow-legged gulls (at least 3 adult,  2 3cy and a 2cy), 6 Med gulls (5 adult, 1 2cy). 110 Canadas was the most for a while, they've been absent on some visits. 4 GC grebe.

Rosebush reservoir: All the duck were towards the far bank near the dam. C20 Mallard, 15 Teal, 9 Tufted duck (6m), 2 pair Wigeon, single GC grebe.

St Davids

From Sandra Young. 500 golden plover and approx  150 lapwing and lots of rabbits seen in a field on the St Davids Whitesands Road. Opposite road near Trefeiddan. Over 150 lapwing seen next to field with caravans at Leithr farm.

Cosheston Pill WeBS

A surprise male Tufted Duck with Mallards was the highlight. Two Shovelers were likewise my first here. See my list on Birdtrack here.

Hook

 A walk around the peninsular at low tide yesterday. Birds were pretty well spread out around mud flats. Highlights: 500+ Dunlin opposite Millin Pill. 16 Great Crested Grebes, 15 of which were from around the confluence of the Cleddaus down to Sprinkle Pill. 2 Grey Plover on the mud north of Fowborough Point, the first I've seen here since October. c400 Canada geese in the field to the south of the mouth to Sprinkle Pill. 

Llys-y-fran

Gulls took an age to come in, many not appearing until it was almost dark, I dare say the fine weather and whiff of slurry had something to do with it. A lot of the gulls were bathing vigorously, presumably to rid themselves of the slurry from the fields they've been feeding in and going back to the same fields even past dusk. Unusually the majority of those on the water were Herring gulls - have the LBBs already headed off to their breeding quarters or were they feeding somewhere?  No Yellow-legged gulls, presumably these stick with the LBBs wherever those are. 3 Mediterranean gulls (2 adults and a 2cy). Pick of the limited gull roost was an adult Caspian (quite a small gull, so presumably a female) and a juv Glaucous gull at 4:40pm. 4 GC grebe, 2 Little grebe and a pair Goldeneye.

Extraordinary Great Spotted Woodpecker

 British Great Spotted Woodpeckers rarely move very far.  Of over 3360 ringed birds later found or retrapped only 5 birds have ever moved over 100km and the longest was from Kent to Wiltshire, just 194km.  Well that record has just been beaten by a young female ringed in December 2020 at Mullock found predated in a garden in Godalming, Surrey 321Km away on 13th September 2022.  There are just 2 foreign recoveries - one which hopped across the channel and a Norwegion bird which was found in Shetland (ship assisted?). Amazing stuff which got BTO staff very excited.

We often catch these at our ringing sites and also retrap them regularly.  This bird was retrapped in January 2021 but never again so by then it was probably on its exploration of southern Britain. 

Gann

3 excellent additions to my 'green' Patchwork Challenge 2023 today.  2 Whooper Swan were on the lagoon first thing this morning but had departed by the time we got out for a walk mid morning.  In the bay a drake Red-breasted Merganser alongside the long-staying Eider and a Great-crested Grebe.  On our walk back to the house a Carrion Crown put up a Woodcock from scrub near the Crabhall reedbed!  The 2023 patch list is now 77 species for a total of 91 points.

We've had up to 14 Cormorant on the lagoon recently, mostly using their usual island to dry off and rest.  Today there were 5, and they all proved to be sinensis when I had a closer look with the 'scope.

Lots of waders at low tide included 3 Grey Plover, 8 Turnstone, 15 Dunlin and 13 Ringed Plover.

This Buzzard gave excellent views by the car park

Kilpaison, Angle harbour.

 At Kilpaison today,

27 Dunlin, 17 Ringed Plover, 25 Oystercatchers, 5 Redshank.

At Angle harbour,

37 Black tailed Godwits, 13 Curlew, 26 Oystercatchers, 120+ Dunlin, 22 Ringed Plover, 11 Redshank, 18 Shelduck, 23 Brent Geese, 19 Turnstone, 14 Snipe.

Marloes Mere

News from Frances Kerr. 3 Tufted duck, 3 Chough and around 300 Lapwing on the mere.

Black-necked grebe, Angle

From Harry Grubb.

Angle this afternoon. Black-necked grebe close in between the Old Point House and the spit.  Lots of other birds about too esp black-tailed godwit.

Mid-Pembs Wildlife Trust and Pembrokeshire Bird Group at Fishguard Northern Breakwater

Dave Ramsey reports

Many thanks to Stena Line for allowing access to this site, and conditions were perfect with excellent visibility. On the northern side we had spectacular views of cetacean and Gannet feeding frenzy hundreds of birds diving, Dolphin  and Porpoise breaching and acrobatics.

 

Thanks to Dave Butler and Mick Brown for the photos. Other species present were a flock of 40 ish Dunlin, Turnstone, Curlew, GBB Gull, Kittiwake, LBB Gull, BH Gull, H Gull, 3 Ringed plover, Razorbill, Guillemot, 6 Great Northern divers and 1 possible Black guillemot, Peregrine falcon, Shag, Cormorant and Rock pipit.

Gann

Another decent gathering of small gulls this afternoon as the tide dropped out.  Surprised to see the 2CY Little Gull pop up again, easy to pick out at the front of the flock but disappears completely within.

At least 70 Mediterranean Gull again, 7 rings read (4 white, 2 red, 1 yellow), the only one additional to the past few days red PYT8 which was here in December 2020.  Be interesting to hear where it has been since then.

The Eider and Great Northern Diver still out in the bay.

How little is a Little Gull? Really little.

Newport estuary

 Water pipit 1 behind sailing club

Greenshank 1

Redshank 20

Curlew 100

Oystercatcher 10

Mediterranean gull 2

Common gull 80

Red kite 1

Sprinkle Pill

Yesterday, as I arrived at the pill mouth a Peregrine was putting up the mass of waders and wildfowl. All the usual suspects were there and in good numbers; 87 Shelduck, 15 Shoveler and 25 Common Gulls reasonably high for this site. Disturbance in neighbouring fields pushed a flock of geese into the bay - 396 Canada and one Greylag in total. Thankfully, there was no sign of dead or diseased birds this visit. 

Gann

A slow start but the gull numbers built as the afternoon wore on.  Around 40 Mediterranean Gull included 5 white ringed birds (3AA0, 3FN2, 3NNN, 3NF9, 3VTR - all recorded here before), red ringed ZHT4 (Czech Republic) and yellow ATHT (Germany) both of which have also been seen here before).  Yesterday's yellow ASUJ has actually been seen here before, but the ring was renewed in 2022 - formerly ALHE.

A smart Firecrest in the scrub along the footpath just north of the car park. 

Carew Millpond

 Several Common gulls and a Mediterranean gull in the mix this morning

With humble acknowledgements........

After posting my pics of the Gulls at the Gann,  Eagle eyed (Gull eyed?) Brian ID`d a Little Gull  halfway down on the left. Dave`s Little Gull was a 2CY bird  so it appears there were two there today. 

Rosebush reservoir and Llys-y-fran (2 Glaucous gulls)

Rosebush: bit quiet 5 Tufted duck (4m), single female Goldeneye, Coot and a Little grebe.

Llys-y-fran: the early roost formed up beyond the bird hide, not very often that happens, but it did give Paul and I the opportunity for better views than we would have normally and in comfort. The gulls soon moved down towards the usual roosting area north of the eastern inlet, before eventually concentrating towards the dam at dusk. Something was unsettling them, we didn't see what but the amount of disturbance suggested Peregrines may have something to do with it. Highlight was 2 juv Glaucous gulls who appeared at 4:40, one was a darker bird, first time we've had multiple Glaucous gulls here. As is often the case many of the gulls had left it late to come in, so yet again it was a race against the fading light to check the roost. Otherwise at least 3 adult Yellow-legged gulls, 7 Meds (5 adult, a 3cy and a 2cy), 6 GBB (3 adult, 2 2cy and 3cy). Pair Goldeneye and 5-6 GC grebe with a pair showing signs of courtship.

The Gann, continued..

Following on from Dave`s post,  we were some  hundred metres apart this afternoon scanning the gull flock, however we both managed to read a couple of Med Gull rings - Yellow AZUS & White 3557.. The female Eider was close inshore  allowing for some good pics. On the way back  to the car park a Buzzard landed n the beach heckled by a couple of Crows. could this have been the  unseen culprit that caused the Gulls to take flight a couple of times?

Gann

This week has been a mixed bag in terms of gull numbers, some days very few, other days much better.  Today, as the tide dropped out, it was the turn of the smaller gulls to be present in numbers - hardly any large gulls at all.  Highlight was a 2CY Little Gull in amongst a large mixed flock of Black-headed / Common / Mediterranean Gulls.

A minimum of 70 Mediterranean Gull included 3 with white rings (2 successfully read, both from Belgium, both recorded here before), and 1 yellow (German, new for the Gann, at least for me - ASUJ).  Also a red-ringed Black-headed Gull but it was too windy to be sure of the combination (looked like ZBK1 but doesn't match any scheme I can find on cr-birding).

The female Eider still present and showing well.

Caspian Gull X290

Bit of a surprise this morning to find adult Caspian Gull with yellow ring X290 at the Gann. Originally found by the late Sam Baxter at the Nevern Estuary (first County record) in July 2017, having already visited Ceredigion, before appearing at the Gann in November 2020 and 2021, then at Frainslake in December 2021, before appearing again today.

Also 2 Brent Geese, a Great Northern Diver, and the Eider. (Dave and Lisa with Alys Perry and Luke Marriner)

Cattle Egret.

 One at Westfield Pill first thing this morning.

The Teifi

At least 2 Firecrests on the reserve and good to hear Cetti's singing - they seem to suffer here when have very cold spells. On the river from the view point, 5 Goosander (2m) and a male Goldeneye, though sometimes a pair. The wintering Common Sandpiper as usual below St. Dogmael's car park on the river. The Quay at St Dogmael's is the best viewing for the larger waders, 1200-1400 Lapwing but few Golden Plover, up to 3 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank, 85 Redshank, 60 Curlew with 40 Shelduck. The Webley is best for the small waders, a steady 140-160 Dunlin, c30 Ringed Plover. 

Nothing in the river mouth though Gull numbers are building up in the estuary, 1600 Herring Gulls and 600 Common Gulls of interest. Geese have been missing, today small flocks were passing back presumably from further up the flooded Teifi valley. By dusk 54 Barnacle and 300 Canada Geese had returned, more to arrive ... The valley is nicely saturated or flooded and the Little Egrets have mainly left the estuary are are happily feeding  up river at AberCych. (near breeding sites ??)

Gann - Glaucous Gull

A 3CY Glaucous Gull on the beach amongst a good number of gulls this lunchtime. At least 32 Mediterranean Gull (30 ad, 1 3CY, 1 2CY) also present, as well as a 2CY colour-ringed Herring Gull from Bristol.  The Eider still in the bay and the Water Pipit seen up the river by Jack.

Otter at the Gann

I couldn't find the Water Pipit that Dave had reported yesterday during an hour at the Gann between 9 am and 10 am this morning. However, I was more than compensated by being able to spend some time watching an Otter swimming in the river just above the footbridge. Sadly, I don't have any decent photos to share, although I did take some record shots. The female Eider was present in the Bay very close to the shore, as were two Great crested Grebes not very far out.

Gann

The Water Pipit still around the river area above the footbridge, but mobile.  Also the female Eider still in the bay, quite close to shore (although the tide was out). (Dave & Lisa)

Castlemartin Corse

Inland end this morning, below Castlemartin Church. A huge flock of 2000 lapwing and 800 golden plover (counted on the ground with scope, in tens!) plus 19 greylags and around 100 black-headed gulls with one common gull and one great black-backed. And a little egret. Three teal flew up from a wet ditch but no other wildfowl. No raptors, but a red kite over Axton Hill on the way home. 

Whoopers

Two Whooper Swan at St David's Airfield yesterday (Sandra Young).

Higgons Well

The first visit of the year produced three patch-year ticks.

Three Little Grebes on the estuary, a flock of eighteen Stock Doves over, and four Reed Buntings including at least three at the bird feeders by the entrance. 

Also, a flock of about 150 Lapwings landed below Uzmaston, seven Curlew, and single Snipe, Greenshank, and Red Kite.

I have only ever seen a single Lapwing here before.

Possible Avian Flu in Canada Geese

Also at Sprinkle Pill mouth this afternoon, I was alarmed and sad to see 1 dead and 1 sick Canada Goose. Although not confirmed as resulting from avian flu, the actions of the sick bird were similar to those I've seen in videos of geese reported to have HPAI. This prompted me to find out (with Bob's help) what the latest reporting procedures are for dead/ill birds. I share in case others find other cases - with the hope that we don't. 

The official route is to phone a DEFRA helpline 03459 33 55 77. That said, two affected geese do not pass DEFRA's minimum reporting threshold for this route (there are different thresholds depending on the type of bird). Unofficially, BTO are also collecting data on all dead/sick birds through their latest update to the Birdtrack app. Reporting a dead/sick bird is one of 3 options on the 'homepage' to this app and the process to report by this route is pretty straightforward.

 

Broad Haven

Viewing this afternoon from the usual north end viewpoint, 2 Black-throated Divers, 7 Common Scooters. No sign of the Velvet Scooters. An interesting conversation with Lyndon Lomax.  

Water Pipit

Following Richard's record below, I also had a Water Pipit today at the Gann, upstream of the footbridge. A site tick for me after 34 years birding here!  Also the Eider still present, along with 4 Grey Plover and 9 Turnstone.

Nolton

Offshore from Ricket's Head this afternoon single Black-throated and Great Northern Divers, which were very tricky to pick out. Surprisingly no Red-throated Divers. About 30 Common Scoters in two groups.

Sprinkle Pill this afternoon.

An hour or so as the rising tide approached it's high point. Large flocks of Lapwing (c 2000+), Golden Plover (c 1500+) and Dunlin (600+) on the mud flats at the pill mouth. At least 6 Shovelers amongst the Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and Shelduck. A single Great Crested Grebe offshore. 

Unusual sightings on the walk in - 9 Snipe in a group at the water's edge in Sprinkle Pill and a Stonechat prospecting in the fields.

                                                     9 unusually visible snipe 

                                               Only the second Stonechat I've seen here

                                               Waders disturbed by something unseen

                                         Shoveler also disturbed into doing a quick circuit

                           A good photo for a festive 'spot the Dunlin' challenge (at least 3)