tetrad-bashing in SN04/14

Annie and I spent the best part of a glorious day doing TTVs and trying to add spp to tetrads lacking records. Highlights included a red kite hunting not far from where we saw one in the winter TTV; 3 fledged raven families; peregrines breeding in a traditional location. The male was bringing in plenty of food - two good meals in 1.5 hrs included at least one razorbill from one of the thriving seabird colonies in SN04 and SN14. These comprise good numbers of auks (razorbills and guillemots), several pairs of shag, 20-30 pairs of fulmar and all three gulls noted in 4-5 tetrads.

House martins are nesting in the cliffs at various places. Choughs seemed relatively scarce; a pair was feeding near one nest site but none noted at 2-3 other usual nest locations. Stonechats on the coast seemed to be doing reasonably well - at least 10 pairs had fledged young in 3 tetrads. Whitethroats, meadow pipits and linnets were very numerous - all feeding young.

Several pairs of skylarks were present but sadly many are about to loose their nests to the silage mowers moving with considerable and depressing speed through some of their nesting fields!

Noted lesser whitethroats in two tetrads. I agree with Steve, I think there are more around this year - noted in almost every tetrad with suitable habitat (thick hedges/dense scrub patches) visited. They are almost certainly nesting near our house at Martletwy, noted regularly here for a few weeks or more this year.

Yesterday, butterflies were also note-worthy. Green hairstreaks were quite numerous in gorse areas along the coast; there were quite good numbers of wall brown, common blue and hundreds of whites - mainly green-veined and large whites - many coming in off the sea (immigrants?). An unexpected butterfly was a fine male Brimstone in the Cebwr area. This species breeds in N Pembs (around Tefi marshes for example) but needs buckthorn or alder buckthorn, none obvious on the coast, so was this a wanderer from elsewhere in N Pembs or an immigrant?

A few curlew were moving up the coast and the only wheatears seen (5) were probably all Greenland race, based on size and colour.