news from a neighbouring county

It would seem that for most Pembrokeshire birders, crossing the county boundary into Carmarthenshire is a formidable task, and best attempted at a minimum speed of 60mph with enough momentum to carry them safely out the other side and down the M4. But it does have a few really good sites well worth a visit occasionally. The bit of Carms that I've spent most time in is the Taf estuary and Ginst point where I've done Webs counts for the last six years. Usually in January there are 10,000 to 15,000 Golden Plovers but after the cold snap this year they have all gone. Lapwings too are thin on the ground with only 200 instead of 1200+. Egrets are also down from 20 or so to 2.
It's a really good site to see pintail with regularly 100+ and at the moment duck numbers in general are higher than usual, especially shelduck. Other interesting birds seen recently were Spotted Redshank, Jack Snipe, Firecrest, Spoonbill, Red Kite, Merlin, Peregrine, Kingfisher, Water Rail, Common Sandpiper and at least 15,000 Scoters at Pendine.