Out in the Castlemartin Range today it was nice to see c.50 sand martins back at a usual colony area at the Furzenips. There were at least 20 or more house martins too, probably passing through, although some might have been returning summer residents at the Furzenips. Here there are also usually several cliff-nesting pairs - sand martins on the eroding softer cliff-top and house martins in rocky crevices/small overhangs below. We wonder if the two species breed close together elsewhere in natural sites on the Pembs coast.
Of 14 ringed plovers (with a couple of dunlin) on the beach this morning, 2 pairs
appeared to be settling into a usual breeding spot, although the beach profile is
much steeper than last year with more limited potentially suitable breeding habitat
present.
This morning there was a small
passage of curlews plus a dozen or so whimbrels in separate small groups heading
up the coast.
Lots of whitethroats are back on territory in usual patches
of scrub, plus large numbers of linnets across the Range. Kestrels are also back
at a usual breeding location, where a mating pair was observed a couple of weeks ago.
Most of the resident pairs of chough seem to be well settled
and breeding, although a few (likely new/younger pairs) are still giving us the
run-around. Also, the same along other parts of the southern Limestone coast where some pairs had still not settled earlier
in the week.
In the south of the county, we also noted a grasshopper
warbler singing in some good breeding habitat at Cors Penally mid-week. Another grasshopper warbler was at Templeton Airfield, along with willow warblers and yellowhammers in their usual breeding habitat.