We like to go out for my birthday and this year, I thought it might be a good idea to visit a few sites and see as much as possible in one morning. So, starting at Castlemartin Course first thing, ~150
Teal, a pair of
Pintail, a flock of 34
Golden Plover over, a
Black-tailed Godwit, three
Snipe, an adult male and two dark
Marsh Harrier, a
Red Kite, a
Kestrel, three
Chiffchaff and three singing
Cetti's Warbler.
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Black-tailed Godwit showing nicely.
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| The male Marsh Harrier. The two dark birds were in the sky at the same time. |
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| Nice to see so many Skylarks, with a few more obliging birds. |
At Angle Bay from Kilpaison, fairly quiet, with 24
Brent Goose and a flock of 54
Common Gull. I searched fairly thoroughly for the Slavonian Grebes but was unsuccessful.
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| All bar one of the Brent Geese were light-bellied. |
We then came around to the Gann, which held five
Sheduck, a fairly large flock of 58
Wigeon upstream, three
Greenshank, a
Mediterranian Gull, thirty
Common Gull, a
Great Crested Grebe offshore, two
Shag on the pool roosting with Cormorants, a
Grey Heron, a
Red Kite, and three
Buzzard together.
Next stop Marloes Mere, where a male
Blackcap was in the willows down the path to the (closed) Oriole Hide. Also ten
Shovler, five
Gadwall, 14
Wigeon. male and female
Tufted Duck, a calling
Water Rail, three
Little Grebe and four
Chiffchaff.
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| Tufted Ducks. |
Finally, we stopped in Martin's Haven, where offshore toward Skomer there were hundreds of auks, including Puffins, Razorbills, and Guillemots. Also seven Fulmar, eight Gannet, and a pair of Chough. Best of all, it was lovely to spend some time with three Wheatear, two males and a female, below Wooltack Point.
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| This singing male Wheatear showed very nicely. |
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| The female Wheatear. |
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One of the male Wheatears had a notably orange-ish breast.
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