Derek's Feathers

A percetage guess would be juv Pheasant, lot's of them about.
Grey partridge? Have any been seen in pembs? I have seen several Redleg types (several birds that is, not types!)
I think the feathers are too big for Quail.

Strumble (31 July 2010)

Time: 0600 - 1300
Weather: Sunny spells.
Wind: WNW (F3-4)

Balearic Shearwater - 3
Arctic Skua - 1 (1P)
Mediterranean Gull - 3 (2 1stW, 1 Ad)
Common Scoter - 24 (5F, 19M)
Puffin - 7
Comic Tern - 4
Grey Heron - 1

teifi waders & .....

Early yesterday(Friday) morning, Green Sandpiper & Snipe flying around the Marsh.
After the rain ceased a look for waders at midnight HT found no waders on Patch, - any there would have been uncomfortable with the Rat running around the end.
Poppit was slightly more productive ! with 2 juvenile Dunlin, & 1 Common Sandpiper which was flushed from the saltmarsh at the Webley by a swimming Otter, as far as the stepping stones into the sand dunes.

Yesterday morning we did a 2nd ringing session in the Marsh this week, aimed particularly at Reed Buntings, the intention being taking part in a BTO RAS project on adult survival.
A total of 31 new Reed Buntings so far (2 ad & 29 juv).
Also 63 new Reed Warblers as well (17 ad & 46 juv).
(Teifi RG)

Strumble / Fishguard Harbour 17.30 - 19.15

Practically nil visibility at Strumble but still managed 4 Sandwich Terns , a Juv Med. Gull & a calling Whimbrel before i left on account of i couldn't see the water .
In the harbour 9 Med. Gulls 2 Ad , 1 each 1st & 2nd Sum & 5 Juvs. The highlight though 155 Oystercatchers , the majority roosting in the far right corner at the Flagpoles which were then flushed into the air for a short while by a Juv Heron which came in. Quite a spectacular sight & sound !

Newgale

There were c200 gulls feeding in the surf at low tide this afternoon, predominantly Black-headed, a large proportion of which were juvenile moving to 1st winter, with some Herring and a couple of adult Mediterranean Gulls. One Med Gull was just beginning its moult out of summer plumage, the other was in winter dress. Several Gannets were feeding very near to the tide line. The amount of food available in the surf must have been considerable in view of the energy expended by the gulls lifting from the water every 2 or 3 seconds to avoid breaking waves; many food items appeared relatively large, possibly small crustaceans or fry, and others small, as little effort was needed to swallow them, probably zooplankton.

A lone Whimbrel flew south over the sea.

Angle Area

At Kilpaison this morning as the tide dropped 3 Sanderling, 3 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin. Not exactly an influx but definitely an improvement as waders have been rather scarce at this site.
Round at Angle Harbour I missed out on the good numbers of Med Gulls which Clive saw (see post below) but there were 3 adults left amongst the c.75 Black Headed Gulls. Also there 1 Whimbrel, and 2 Sandwich Terns flew in with a brief appearance.

Angle Harbour

At Angle Harbour this morning, 11 Mediterranean Gulls (10 ads + 1 juv), 3 Little Egrets and a Black-tailed Godwit.

Pembroke Upper Millpond 29th July 2000

15 little Egrets roosting on trees
2 black tailed Godwits
18 Greenshank
2 Green sandpipers
Water rail

Strumble 1600 to 1900 hrs

A quiet watch with a light N wind backing SW. Twelve Common Scoter, of which 4 were female, passed by and a 2nd Winter Common Gull was feeding with kittiwakes in front of the lookout. Manxie passage was light but constant and there were again good numbers of auks on the water, mainly Guillemot. A Grey Heron went west and then back east, and 12 Chough, the most I have seen at Strumble this year so far, came from the left past the lookout, with three peeling off to feed on the grass not many feet from where I was sitting. All 12 appeared to be adults and I could see no rings. An excited and voluble flock of c60 Swallows, adults and juveniles, along with several House Martin, flew around the lookout for about 30 minutes. Only 3 Porpoise were seen.

Oystercatchers

98 Oystercatchers on the roost at Goodwick flagpoles + 2 Sandwich Terns & the usual Med Gulls at high tide this am.
At Newport another 30 Oc on the estuary but only 2 on the roost. 2 Med Gulls & 2 Common Sands.

Quail or Grey Partridge?

A probable Peregrine/Sparrowhawk kill - the usual pile of plucked feathers. What are they though? I came across these at Sandy Haven, where Quail were heard singing a few weeks ago.

Fishguard Harbour

And in addition to Adrian's earlier sightings: two Sandwich Terns by the Flagpoles this evening.

Strumble Head / Fishguard Harbour

Had 2 sessions at Strumble today :
Whimbrel 1
Heron 1
Commic Tern 3
Common Scoter 3
Puffin 9
Arctic Skua 2
Balearic Shearwater 1
Med. Gull 1

In the Harbour this evening 11 Med. Gulls 7 Juvs , 1 1st Sum , 1 2nd Sum & 2 Adults , one of the adults Red colour ringed with white lettering PHY1 , probably the same bird Karen had a few days ago & an old friend of Fishguards with previous visits here in 08 & 09.
Fgd Birdgroup

Med Gull addiction

All the previous postings of Meds made me realise I needed a fix! So I took myself off to the Gann for some medication - Hey Presto! in off the sea, 1 adult Med (slightly frayed) being followed by a juvenile, I watched them as they kept on going on towards Philbeach farm eventually disappearing.
Beyond the footbridge there was another - a juvenile, in with some 15 B/Headeds (of which 4 were also juvs).
Also - 6 Herons, inc 1 juv. 6 Little Egrets.
Next, Sandy Haven - 3 Greenshank, 1 Little Egret. The roosting gulls were put up by a dog.
Finally, Monkhaven - 1 male Kestrel, flew off towards the Gann & 1 Hummingbird Hawk moth.
Happy Days. Roll on the Autumn!

Landshipping Quay

Just after high tide this morning 31 common Redshanks and 4 Common Sandpiper.
No Dunlin!

Broadhaven

2 juvenile Med gulls on the beach this morning.
(Paul G)

Greenshank

Greenshank, 12 on the Upper Mill Pond, no other returning waders yet.
(John H)

Angle

Seven ad summer Med Gulls, rapidly losing their black hoods, at Angle Harbour this morning together with c.50 Black Headed Gulls. Also 1 Black Tailed Godwit, a few Curlew and 3 Little Egrets.
At Kilpaison earlier with the tide dropping quite a few Curlew over in the roost on the far side of the bay but no small waders at all. A juvenile Kittiwake on the beach quite unusual for this location.

Pen Anglas

2 Whimbrel flew west past the point at 18:15.

Strumble 17.30 - 20.00

Arctic Skua 1
Common Scoter 58
Puffin 3
Med. Gull 4 ( 1Juv , 2 2nd Sum & 1 Ad. )

Large no. of Porpoises again probably in excess of 100.

The two mystery birds at the Gann turned out to be ....

...... juvenile Dunlin! I am slightly embarrassed to post this but my attention was drawn to two waders by other members of the group of people who were exploring the Gann looking for Otter signs. "Oh Rosemary will know what they are" they said. First instinct, juvenile Dunlin, but then the doubts set in - they looked very long bodied with short necks and a horizontal posture, they were feeding amongst the stones at the edge of the pools (not on the beach) and I thought I might be able to see a white rump. I sent Peter back home for the camera and the bird book and of course they were juvenile Dunlin.

I am posting this because it is the only way I can communicate the id to the other interested people who were watching - embarassing though it may be!

Rosemary

re.Reed Warbler

minor correction; Reed warbler P216372 was ringed by Alastair Wilson (now warden of Hermaness) but as a trainee then, the name on the form would come up as Tony!
Alastair should be ringing red-throat's this week!

Strumble 17.00 - 19.00

Wind S/W but very light. A much better than anticipated short session:
9 Common Tern
2 Little Tern
5 Puffin
5 Med. Gull ( 2 Ad & 3 Juv. )
2 Sandwich Tern
1 Dunlin
5 Common Scoter ( All males )

Large numbers of Porpoises feeding in tide race this evening i estimate possibly 40 to 50 different animals.

Newgale

Despite the beach being relatively busy, there were around 150 gulls resting on the sand at around 1200hrs today. Largely Herring and Black-headed, with good numbers of juveniles among the adults. A single summer plumage adult Med Gull flew north along the tide-line and small numbers of Gannets were fishing offshore.

Blackwits, Llangwm

From Graham Brace - There was a single Black-tailed Godwit at the Cunnigar in Llangwm early Thursday morning and this morning (Sunday) there was a group of six, resplendant in full summer garb, feeding on the water's edge at Llangwm Ferry.

Newport Sat am

2 Little Egrets, 3 Redshanks & a Dunlin &, praise be, 3 Med Gulls, an ad & 2 2nd S. Perhaps the Goodwick birds are beginning to overflow.
A v brief passing look at Fishguard yesterday at highish tide easily saw half a dozen Meds of all ages at the foot of the inner breakwater & the flagpoles & 4 Sandwich terns on the groynes.

Reed Warblers --- Teifi

We have just finished our CES visit 9 this morning, with some interesting Reed Warbler numbers & history of 1 particular Reed Warbler!
61 Reed Warblers, our daily highest number, of the 50 new birds 41 juveniles- as expected.
A couple of the adults already showing visible signs of fat, getting ready to move having finished breeding.
One of these P216372,---------what a history!!
Ringed on 24/07/2000, as an adult by Tony Cross on the Teifi.-- we did actually catch this bird last night, 1 day off ten years to the day, at least an 11 year old bird!! Presumably one of our breeders, as caught on the 20/6 last year too.

Green Sandpiper flew over whilst ringing, also 2 Whimbrel, 3 Common Sandpipers, & 1 Dunlin were the interesting waders to be found at low tide.
Little Egrets up to 6 together now, only 1 adult.
(Teifi RG)

GC Grebe etc

Re the post about GC Grebes at the Gann - it is odd that you never see them on the pools as there are plenty of fish. Often there are birds in the bay in the winter but rarely on the pools.

Not to be out-done we had a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in the garden yesteday afternoon - it seems like there are a lot about. And one fresh Painted Lady - looked like it had grown up here rather than being a migrant. And a few Commas - not something you often see.

I agree with Graham about the really interesting tracking of young Gannets - its amazing where they got to, and all different.

Rosemary

Great Crested Grebe

At the pickle-ridge pools this afternoon, first time I have seen a GCG at the Gann, at least I think it is!

Strumble

Watch from 1345 to 1800 hrs in a very light northerly wind. A quiet afternoon with 15 Common Scoter, 3 female among them, and a single adult summer plumage Med Gull. A male Shelduck passed flying East towards Cardigan Island: a relatively uncommon autumn bird for Strumble. But for real rarity value how about a report from a visiting lady and her family of a sealion near the lighthouse! This reminds me of an assurance given to me a couple of years ago by a visitor that the bank of low cloud on the horizon was, in fact, America: he could not be persuaded otherwise. You see it's not just the birds you get at Strumble.

Gap-year Gannets

Thanks Greg and Lisa for the eye-opening lead on satellite-tracked Gannets from Grassholm. It would appear that Gannets I've seen at sea off Norway in the month of July could, like 57645 and me, have been visitors from Pembrokeshire. Surprising who you meet abroad is'nt it?

Pelagic

Sea conditions on the Sea Trust Pelagic yesterday were somewhat rougher than expected but we still managed to get out a fair way beyond the Smalls. On the way we called in at Skokholm where there were plenty of Puffins but few Guillemots and Razorbills. We saw 2 Common Dolphins on the way out to Grassholm which was the usual, spectacular, hive of activity with thousands of birds on and over the surrounding waters as well as the huge numbers on the island itself.
Towards the Smalls we picked up a pod of 20 plus Common Dolphins which rode the bow wave for a while before losing interest and dropping away - a wonderful encounter.
Further out there were large groups of Manx Shearwaters and plenty of Puffins, just a couple of Fulmars and one Storm Petrel. A Bonxie put on a great display as it pursued a Herring Gull quite close to the boat.
We headed back against a choppy sea but with the Celtic Wildcat hacking along at 17 knots it was an exhilarating ride with one short pause as a small pod of Dolphins appeared briefly.
Click photos for larger images.

Skomer

Its really interesting the differences between Skomer & Skokholm - Lesser Black-backs are having an amazing year on here, there's thousands of them! Every year we ring 500ish chicks, this year it only took 3 days - & only 1 of those was a full day. In 2008 after 5 full days searching I gave up having only ringed 16 chicks!

Herring Gulls look to have done well, but they always seem to do better than Lessers

Kittiwakes look like they've done quite well, but some colonies are really suffering from Great Black-back predation - they're really smart & leave them alone until they're just about ready to fledge before starting to eat them! I saw a female Peregrine pluck a big chick off a nest a couple of days ago as well & give it to it's chick.

Same as on Skokholm our Razorbills & Guillemots have virtually all gone in the last couple of days and there's amazing numbers of Puffins around in the evenings.

Migrant wise not much happening, we hardly get any waders on here - did see a Whimbrel yesterday, and been seeing 1 or 2 Hummingbird Hawk-moths most days for the last week or so

Skokholm

Just loads of Puffins around last night - absolutely spectacular but the Guilli's and Razors have all gone now. Seem to be plenty of Herring Gull chicks around too but rather few LBB chicks fledged.

Got another load of materials onto the island last night so only about four or five more to go this year and the next one is likely to be monday evening from 4ish. Any offers of help to John Walmsley on 01646 636995 as he is organising this one.

Loads of juv chiffchaffs around in the willows at home and we have just found a Spotted Flycatcher breeding in the garden - secretive birds.

hummer

We had our first hummingbird hawk moth of the year feeding on honeysuckle yesterday afternoon.

Pen Anglas

2 juvenile Peregrines floating in the updraught together from 17:30 to 17:45 and a Little Egret flew into the bay at 14:15.

Teifi & Newport

Oystercatchers;-
A tip off from Wendy watching from Patch, sure enough c350+ Oystercatchers roosting opposite St. Dogmael's Quay, also, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, c30 Dunlin, 4 Redshank.
c4 Little Egrets, & 1 Common Sandpiper around too.
1 Adult Sandwich Tern, roosting on the tide-line on Poppit with the massing Black-headed Gulls. Juvenile Bh Gulls have arrived in numbers this last couple of days.

Newport;-
1 Kingfisher, 1 Common Sandpiper, 15 Curlew, 11 Oystercatcher at 8:00 pm .
(Karen)

Strumble Head 17.00 - 18.00 / Flagpoles 18.30

Strumble Head :
A highly unseasonal Grey Phalarope flew East to West jinking along the tide race at approx 17.30 , 22 Common Scoter through as well.

At the Harbour 7 Med. Gulls , 2 Juvs , 1 1st Sum , 3 2nd Sum & an Adult.

63 Oystercatchers in the roost & 11 Whimbrel went over .

Teifi -- waders .....& ...

Early this morning;-
Around the estuary, at high tide, 15 Sanderling, 1 Ringed Plover, 23 Dunlin, 4 Common Sandpipers, 4 Little Egrets.

Newport;-
c15 Common Scoter flying west this morning across the bay. Also 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Little Egret.
(Karen)

Pink Sharwaters!

I gather that around 20 Manxies have now been colour washed with a pink dye to try and find out something about their feeding and dispersal distribution to add further insight to the electronic tagging. One has already been seen last week amongst the many thousands which pass near Lands End - and by an ex Skokholm warden - Jean Lawman who is an avid seawatcher..

On the Skokholm front too - there have now been three weeks of work parties on the island this year and a great deal of work has been done to be followed by four more weeks coming up from 7th August. All these are more or less full but we are keen to involve more local people helping - especially with the deliveries of building materials to the island. We have done four trips with around 16 tons of stuff but there is still 14 tons of sand and aggregate at Dale ready to go and a load of scaffolding and roofing timbers to go across in another ten days or so.

Can anyone help tonight??? Leaving Neyland at 4pm. Please ring me if you can - 01646 636754 or 07812 982884

Thanks

Teifi.......& Fresh. West

This evening;-
Around the estuary, 2 stunning summer plumage Knot, 44 Sanderling, c10 Dunlin, 4 Redshank.
3 Common Sandpipers at Jewsons.

This afternoon, some counts from a John Davis visit, he had come South to avoid the rain!
105 Oystercatcher, 60 Curlew, 72 Mute Swan (a Teifi record? 68 the previous).
3 Black-tailed Godwits opposite the Quay.

Freshwater West;-
Yesterday, 11 sum. plum. Sanderling dropped in on the beach.
(Paddy)

Newgale

A flock of 15 Sanderling on the beach this evening, feeding and bathing at the water's edge. They were very tame, passing only a few feet from me.

Flagpoles 19.30 21st july.

11 Med. Gulls this evening: 3 Juvs , 3 1st Sum , 3 2nd Sum & 2 Adults.

49 Oystercatcher & a single Redshank.

Swifts

About 200, feeding above a rape seed field next to the track that goes from the St Ishmaels / Sandyhaven lane, to Great Castle Head, this afternoon.

Newport Wed am

An impressive 65 Oystercatchers. Otherwise 3 Dunlin in the Samphire, 2 Redshanks & several Curlews. The final adult Shelduck seems to have left the remaining 5 fledglings. The juv Little Egret still there.

Finches.......

Janet out finishing some tetrad-bashing in the North this morning(Near Pantgwyn Quarry), found a barley field, with some of last years rape growing through.
c1000 Linnets & Goldfinches feeding, also 1 Stock Dove.

Something good in Fuchsias.....

....that converts the thing on the left, into a thing of beauty on the right.

Teifi, Newport-- waders

After last night's numbers, early HT & start 5:30);-
Patch;-1 Turnstone, 24 Dunlin, 22 !! Common Sandpipers.
Jewsons;- 1 Common Sandpiper, & 1 Little Egret.
St. Dogmaels Quay;- 5 Common Sandpipers, 7 Redshank, & 3 Foxes opposite,-- no doubt have the taste for juvenile Shelduck, (Shelduck have done well though)
Poppit Sands;-
The majority the Bh Gulls & Curlew here at this undisturbed time, also 2 further Common Sandpipers. Grasshopper Warbler singing by the Lifeboat Station.

Newport, 07:00;-
9 Redshank, 5 Curlew, 2 Common Sandpipers, 5 juv. Shelduck.
(Karen)

Waders ...to ..........Med's

Teifi, this evening;-
A large arrival of waders, from the Railings, one flock c125 Dunlin, all breeding plumage adults.
A second flock, comprising, c30 Sanderling, 1 Ringed Plover, c5 Dunlin, again all appearing to be breeding plumage birds.
2 Adult Sandwich Terns, also the 5 juvenile Little Egrets still.
Jewsons, 8 Common Sandpipers tonight.
(Wendy J, Rich D)

Fishguard;-
12 Med. Gulls, 3 x ad, 3 x 1yr, 3 x 2yr, 3 x juv.
Also 1 very nice to see Greenshank.
(Adrian)

Angle harbour

Small influx of Little Egrets over the past day or two at Angle Harbour, with one on the weekend increasing to four today, also an adult s/p Mediterranean Gull there this morning.

Skomer

Seen about 20 Willow Warblers today, the first day there's been any migrants around & a Common Sand in North Haven this evening

Newport, & the Teifi

Newport;-
This evening, 1 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin, 2 Curlew, & 1 L. Egret, all from the Boat Club. 2 Redshank from the iron bridge.
(Karen)

Teifi;-
5 juvenile Little Egrets from St. Dogmael's Quay. 7 Common Sandpipers at Jewsons.
(Wendy)
9pm Jewsons, Common Sandpipers now 11.

woody diary

Further to earlier posts about Gt-spots in our garden, there were 3 males present today, one recognisibly "dirty".
I have only seen 2 juvs at a time, however that obviously does not mean there are only 2 about, & only 1 female at any one time, but more? Maybe!
Thinking further 1 "dirty" female appeared a while ago, just seen the once, is she related to the "dirty" male, perhaps nested in a muckier hole? Yes, more questions than answers!

Sub adult gannet tracking

In an extension to their on going work on tracking adult gannets on Grassholm, Dr Steve Votier and his team from Uni of Plymouth, have this year once again deployed satellite trackers on sub adult gannets. 12 of these devices were deployed nearly 2 weeks ago and the birds progress can be followed on

http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=497

The map on the front page shows all tracks. Click on the bird “name” (i.e. tag number) to select individuals. Various options then allow you to view large formats of the maps etc.

North Pembs

This morning, Newport;-
6 Redshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 Little Egret, & 1 Curlew.
(Karen)

Yesterday;-
Fishguard Flagpoles;-
Adult Med. Gull white 38H4 present amongst the other Med's during the afternoon & evening.
Teifi;-
Patch, 2 Sanderling, 2 Common Sandpipers, 6 Ringed Plover, 4 Dunlin.
Jewsons, 6 Common Sandpipers, & 1 Common Gull.

Atlas-bashing in Llys-y-fran area in the murk

Finer weather at home tempted me to do a TTV in the Llys-y-Fran area on Sunday afternoon. Having arrived, I had to wait for mist and drizzle to clear first but was able to see at least 2 broods of Gt Crested Grebes on the reservoir (pairs with 1 and 3 young respectively - the noisy near full grown young were still being fed).

I was also rewarded with views of a hobby - a nice surprise! A few evenings ago Annie recorded another quail calling in a tetrad across in nearby SM92 10 km sq. Atlas-bashing in new spots often seems to produce some nice surprises.

Peregrine Fest

Fantastic views of 2 Peregrines just south of Gateholm this evening, calling loudly, hanging in the strong south-westerly, perhaps trying to tempt youngsters into the air? Another flew strongly north-west as we neared Haverfordwest Racecourse on the way home.

Flagpoles 18.30 ( & Ferry End )

23 Med. Gulls this evening :
9 Juv
4 1st Sum
4 2nd Sum
6 Adults

Teifi

In front of the Webley after high tide, 1 adult colour ringed Med gull (green 440). Also a 2nd yr and a juvenile Med, 1 Sandwich Tern, 1 Redshank and 2 Common Sandpipers.

Seabirds - Castlemartin Coast and Elegug Stacks

A Friday evening visit to check the Elegug Stacks, revealed only a handful of guillemots (including a few unfledged yng) still present on the stacks. All razorbills have gone now. The declining kittiwake population seems likely to fledge some young again this year, which is encouraging. There were only 11 at 6 nests but at least some of these are nearly ready to go!

Offshore, many thousand of manxies were heading west towards Skomer etc. A large number were close inshore due to fresh S-SW winds. At this time of year, if conditions are right, the Castlemartin peninsula (particularly St Govan's Hd) can really be an excellent location to observe, at fairly reasonable range, huge westerly movements of shearwaters etc from around 1700 hrs onwards until sunset.

It seems to me that herring gulls have had a very mixed (generally reduced) breeding success along the south coast this year. At well-studied sub-colonies along the Castlemartin Coast, particularly at Stackpole, definitely fewer young than usual have fledged this summer. At one particular location infanticide was observed on more than one occasion in June. At at least two nests watched, young in the nest (constantly begging parents for food) were simply strangled and killed by one of the parents, while the other parent looked on seemingly totally unaware or disinterested in the gruesome behaviour of its mate!

I wonder if there were localised food shortages during a very warm dry weather spell? Last weekend along the north Pembs coast, observed brood-size of large near-fledged to fledged young between Fishguard and Newport seemed quite good and normal? I wonder what the well-studied Island gull populations have produced this year?

Fishguard Med. Gulls.........&...

Fishguard this evening, Mediterranean Gulls;-
Stena side, 7 juv, 2 1sum, 2 2sum.
Flagpoles, 2 juv, 2 1sum, 2 2sum, 1 ad.
A total of 18 birds, 9 juveniles easily the maximum so far.

Strumble for an hour, 3 Common Scoter, 1 Puffin, 2 Curlew.
Teifi waders, 3 Common Sandpipers at Jewsons, c80 Curlew opp. St. Dogmael's Quay.
(Fishguard BG)

Strumble Head (17 Jul 10)

Time: 0600 - 1100
Weather: Sunny spells, bright.
Wind: W (F5) early am then SW (F4) late am.

Common Scoter - 87 (11F, 76M)
Puffin - 24
Dunlin - 1
Whimbrel - 2
Chough - 7

Flagpoles 11.00 17th July.

Juv , 1st Sum & 2nd Sum Med. Gulls. Summer plumaged Black Tailed Godwit.

No Words Needed !

Sea Trust Pelagics

Sea Trust is running a number of Boat trips from Neyland in July, August and September this year. Although these trips are primarily aimed at seeing and surveying  Dolphins and other cetaceans they are also a great opportunity to see a variety of seabirds and the Pembrokeshire Coast and Islands. The next two trips are on Thursday 22 and Thursday 29 July full details of all the trips can be seen by clicking here
Click here for photos from Sea Trust trips.

Grasshopper Warbler Marloes

1, now singing just below the pool, at the top of the gully that leads to the beach.

Strumble - 16 Jul 10

Watch from 0730 to 1445hrs. After a southerly gales overnight, there were repeated squalls at first, clearing at around 0930hrs. Wind initially WSW 4 to 6, then WNW for a while before returning to WSW. There was a slow and fragmented movement of Manxies, going both East and West with numbers quite low. Common Scoter passage numbered 35, 5 of which were female. There were 2 Puffins and a single Storm Petrel.

For Cliff: Porpoises were active right across the tide race and for most of the time I was present. Interestingly, a couple of, I assume, females were gently and frequently surfacing side by side with a very small calf between them. I remember seeing the same thing at Wooltack Point a few years ago: a new born calf perhaps?

West Angle

Five adult s/p Mediterranean Gulls on the beach at West Angle this morning.

Manxies

I saw one manx shearwater about a mile south of Sumburgh Head a bit over a week ago & it was important enough to be noted on their blog, so yes, I do think we who can visit Strumble on a regular basis tend to take the thousands for granted.

Med. Gulls to the Teifi

Strumble;-
For 1 hour this evening, a nil report on Adrian's Strumble Spreadsheet.
Manxies passing at c10-20,000 per hour, though passage tonight variable in this wind(southerly-ish)
We are regularly asked if we see Manx Shearwaters !!
We are now recording passing numbers..........we haven't been as a rule, because we take manxies during their breeding season, and porpoises for granted. Attention being paid to both species by 4 Dutch birders in the look-out this evening.
I guess they don't see many of either species at home?..............as a good number of other visitors to Strumble.

Fishguard Harbour;-
Med. Gulls tonight, 3 juv, 3 1sum, 1 2sum.
Last night, 2 juv, 3 1sum, 2 2sum.
(Fishguard BG)

Teifi, 9pm;-
Passing birds in for shelter, roosting in front of The Webley, 1 adult Common Gull, 1 2nd summer Med. Gull, and most delightful to see, 4 adult and 1 very juvenile Sandwich Tern.

Crossbills - Ramsey

2 common crossbills calling over Ramsey harbour yesterday, heading south (found by Steve Votier). These are the 4th and 5th records for the island and the first since 1997

Landshipping Quay

Good to see Waders returning to the estuary i.e. 6 Common Redshank, 2 Common Sandpiper,
4 Curlew, 6 Little Egret and 20+ Dunlin.

Family groups

There are certainly some species for whom the term "family group" does not apply.

Bryan Nelson, writing about the gannet fledgeling, says "Its parents do NOT accompany it and so it is thrown entirely on its own resources. If any adult DOES feed it at sea, this can be only an exceptional piece of luck. [it is so fat that] is has fuel for perhaps 1-2 weeks . . . . . " When the young gannet has lost enough fat and is strong enough to fly, it may latch on to any passing adults and fly with south them. Thus making what looks like a family group, but really isn't.

So, often ringing data is required to build up the picture of which species do, and which don't, travel in family groups.

With regard to great spotted woodpeckers, I observed a similar situation to Mark when in Scotland a couple of years ago. After several days, two adult males were seen together, confirming that there were two family groups involved - with a total of five youngsters - at the feeding stations. The family with three youngsters appeared to be dominant at one of the feeding stations. At the other, further from the trees, it seemed to be a case of whoever was there first was dominant.

Annie

West Angle

Two adult Mediterranean Gulls on the beach at West Angle first thing this morning.

Also, I have attached another pic of the birds engaged in bonding reinforcement last weekend, the quality of the pic isn't great, but the behaviour is self evident. This display beaviour, combined with the constant contact calling between the mother and the juv, left me in no doubt at all that this was a family group. Colleagues in S Spain have told me that our LBB Gulls often arrive on their beaches in family groups, and I have often seen terns migrating in family groups (not to mention auks of course), so I am afraid that I can't subscribe to the view that we can't refer to 'family groups' without ringing evidence.

Herring Gull Blue ELW

Was ringed at a Gloucestershire landfill site in Feb 09, spent the next 6 months at the Gloucester landfill, being seen on numerous occaisions till Sept, The Newport sighting was the first away from Gloucestershire.
And it was a 2nd summer - so much for my gull ageing skills.

Newport Tues

This morning the Shelduck brood + mother at the bridge. 25 Oystercatchers & 3 Dunlin. This evening an ad Med Gull, a juv Little Egret, 4 Curlews, 4 Common Sandpipers at the bridge & blue ring, red letters, 3rd s Herring Gull ELW, presumably a Gloucester landfill ringing.

N Pembs last weekend and migrant gull families

I tend to agree with Clive that it seems likely that the Med Gulls described may have included a family party. In early July gull families with recently fledged juvs are beginning to move around. Such similar behaviour is sometimes evident in Black-headed Gulls on the move. Over the years I have seen various adults with juvs, behaving quite similarly at this time of year (juvs begging for food from one or the other parent and adults doing typical bonding routines). Noted such a pair and two juvs doing exactly this on the edge of Lower Town Fishguard last Sunday.

Another question of course is where are they coming from? As these were not ringed then we can only surmise but their behaviour tends to suggest families are involved.

In N Pembs (Fishguard to Newport) last Sunday it was good to see fledged peregrines (x2 yng at least) at one location and fledged kestrels (x3) at another (all juvs perched and waiting for food to be brought back) (kestrel info passed on to Paddy Jenks). Nice also to see a sparrowhawk drop into trees with food at another location on route - young not yet fledged.

Along the coastal walk it was a good day for bird families all round including: fledged lesser whitethroats (adults feeding juvs); at least one sedge warbler family, numerous juv chiffs and several bright yellow young willow warblers; families of treecreepers, bullfinches, spotted flycatchers, etc. Hasn't it been a brilliant year for small passerines etc - many juv birds around now - numerous whitethroats, linnets, chaffinches, goldfinches etc, etc. In one tetrad Annie recorded quail on Sunday so all in all it was a good days tetrad-bashing.

Fea's Petrel - nr. Grassholm

Heading out for fieldwork on Grassholm on11/7, Steve Votier (Uni of Plymouth) spotted this presumed Fea's petrel (it was slightly larger than nearby Manx shearwaters and also showed a strikingly deep bill) approaching the boat. It eventually cruised within 5 metres of the vessel and James Grecian (PhD student) managed to dig out his compact camera and take this record shot. They stayed with the bird for 5-10 minutes The bird was within a mile of Grassholm and slowly made it's way SW. Needless to say I wasn't on board.....but Lisa was!

Bosherston Otter

Entertainment by Otters was on 'the menu' for today at Bosherston

Ferry odd!

A last minute decision to do a ferry survey due to the arrival of a work experience placement, Jessica Cross produced a mixed bag and some near misses Cetaceanwise (see Whales in Wales blog) but also a couple of really surprising birds. First as we left Rosslare Harbour yesterday evening a superb summer plumaged Black Throated Diver which flew across our bows heading North. The second was what we first mistook for a dead Gannet but then realised it was a dead Little Egbert, (GHR will confirm correct spelling!) about five miles off Strumble this morning.

Strumble 12 Jul 10

A quiet but interesting three hour watch (1500 to 1800 hrs) with, not the northerly promised by the Met Office, but a light ENE breeze. There were 12 Common Scoter (of which 3 were female), a couple of Med Gulls (one adult in summer plumage and one first summer bird) and a single Puffin.

There were hardly any Manxies and those that did pass were coming from the north and rounding the lighthouse at some distance. As the tide started to fill, small groups of Kittiwake came in, joining the Med Gulls, some small rafts of Auks and a few Black Headed on the edge of the tide race.

A fisherman on Mackerel Rock, who had caught nothing up until this time, started to reel in large mackerel at every cast. The Kittiwakes became vocal and were joined by others until there were around a hundred present, several in badly worn plumage, not dip feeding for zoo-plankton as you often see, but plunge feeding frantically for fry obviously driven up by the mackerel. They were joined in this by the Med Gulls, Auks and Blacked Headed Gulls and by several Manxies obviously drawn to the fuss. This lasted for about 20 minutes after which the birds simply sat on the water preening and digesting. Interestingly, although there were several Gannet about, none were feeding, and I only saw one porpoise.

I have rarely seen as many Six-Spot Burnet moths as were present on the area in front of the Lookout yesterday. They were joined by a couple of Small Skippers.

Swifts

Approx 40 Swifts circling high above the Caerfai Road in St Davids yesterday.

News from the North.........& South

Strumble this evening;-
26 Common Scoter, & 1 Puffin.
Fishguard Harbour;-
Only 3 Med. Gulls -- most roosting points under water during this very high evening tide.
Oystercatchers, up to 50 -- twice the usual count.
The Teifi;-
From The Webley tonight;-
No Med. Gulls !! Of 110 Black-headed Gulls, 10 juveniles.
Last night, around the Teifi, 1 summer plumage Black-tailed Godwit, c50+ Curlew, 4 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Egrets, & 20 juvenile Shelduck.

CES ringing during the last 2 days;-
The Teifi -- 2 juvenile Kingfishers,
Ty rhyg -- 2 juvenile Willow Tits, -- making 11 (I think) juvenile Willow Tits ringed at Ty rhyg during the last month. 1 Crossbill over.

Pembroke Upper Mill Pond;-
Juvenile Kingfishers present here too.

Assumption

It's too easy to assume, but without ringing I'm sure we all do it. We have had m, f, & at least 2 juv Great-sp-woodies as regular garden visitors, so assumption is "a family".
Today that is complicated by the appearance of 2 adult males at the same time which raises more questions than it answers!

Mediterranean Gulls at Angle Harbour this weekend

On Saturday and Sunday, there were at least 7 Med Gulls at Angle Harbour, including three adults, one 2nd summer, one 1st summer moulting into 2nd winter, one 1st winter, and one juv (pic above). Of these, two of the adults and the juv were clearly a family, with the two adults engaging in post breeding bonding display (pics above) during a spell of synchronised spinning on the water while calling to each other, before the female retuned to accompany the juv again.

Angle

At Kilpaison this morning with the tide just dropping 7 Dunlin showing that the return wader passage has started there. I also called in briefly yesterday when there were c.30 Oystercatchers and 20 Curlew.
No Med Gulls either at Kilpaison or Angle Harbour.

Marloes

Grasshoper warblers still singing & visible - predictibly, it stopped reeling & went to ground as my camera appeared. Also 5 Chough over.

At sea

A report via Greg (Ramsey) of a Fea's Petrel seen and photographed at sea betwen Ramsey and Grassholm at c19:30 this evening flying south-west.
Greg hopes to be able to post the photos on Tuesday.

The best we could do past Strumble this evening, 9 Common Scoter and 5 Puffins (18:00-19:30)
(Fishguard BG)

Fishguard Harbour........Med's....etc

The Harbour;-
A quick comment re - Rich's Posting below,
Royal Navy ships are in the Port and visiting, obviously there is enhanced security.
I'm sure adult Black Gulliemots 2 around today, 3 yesterday, and the Med. Gulls, 2 x juv, 2 x 1s, 6 x 2s, 2 x ad this evening(8pm) will still be around in a few days when the ships have moved on.

Goodwick (11 Jul 10)

8 Mediterranean Gulls showing in the harbour on the port side of the inner breakwater this morning. (2 Ad, 4 2nd Sum, 1 1st Sum, 1 Juv).

** Note that anybody birding here with a camera beware! I was photographing the gulls standing in the middle of the beach below the sealife centre as the tide was falling this morning and was intercepted by the Port Police. They wanted to know what I was doing with a large lens close to the port! I had to show them my pictures and give them my name, date of birth and address!

Groppers

The 2 Grasshopper warblers at Marloes still singing this morning, the one at Green mire (the white cottage halfway down the footpath to the beach) is very tame - it was singing from the top of a fence post 4 metres away from me for 10 mins or more, while I tried( unsuccessfully) to video it on my mobile. Great stuff. Tomorrow, scope & camera.

Newport Sun am

What a difference 5 miles makes. At Newport this morning just 1 Med Gull - a juv. The first MG I've seen this summer. And I've still not seen a juv BH Gull.
Also 3 Curlews, a Redshank & 21 Oystercatchers.
The Shelduck brood has stabilised at 6 since the beginning of the month, down from an original 10.

Caught in the act

Both Jays and Pheasants are currently attacking my unripe apples - I have never seen that before.

What with voles eating the beetroot, rabbits eating the lettuce and now this, its tough being a vegetable gardener in the Pembrokeshire countryside!

Rosemary

Med Fest

Blown away by wdigbirder's 20 Meds, that's got to be a July record for Pembs? Nice pics too. I went to the Gann early evening without any knowledge of this sighting, so although my 3 (ad, 2nd summ, 1st summ) pale into insignificance, I'm sure they are still my first multiple July sighting at the Gann in 22 years of watching. How many are scattered about the County as we speak? Also 3 Dunlin, a 1st summ Common Gull and 13 Black-headed Gulls (just 1 juv). Worth checking gulls now - in recent days Laughing Gull in Ireland, Bonaparte's in Lincs, and a scattering of mid-summer Ring-bills.

Med Fest ! - Fishguard Harbour 18.30 10th July

20 Med. Gulls in the Harbour earlier this evening , 3 x Ad. , 6 x 2nd Sum , 9 x 1st Sum & 2 juvs. Here's a few with a juv Black Headed Gull & i can't get enough of the 2nd sum birds , they're cracking !

Grasshopper warblers

2, singing at Marloes this morning, one close to Green Mire cottage, the 2nd close to the YHA buildings - the same place as I heard in the week.

Manxies... to Med's...and a Bonxie

On the way to Strumble c18:00 a look at the Flagpoles revealed c5 Med. Gulls (full age / count later) and a Sandwich Tern.
Strumble;-
18:00-19:30, good numbers of Manx Shearwaters, mostly close. A series of calculations came up with birds passing at a rate of c72000 per hour, perhaps slowing down slightly? when we left. Presumably birds moving back from feeding, to the islands, all intending to go ashore as almost no moon at the moment and young to feed.
19:05, 1 faded Bonxie flying East against the tide of manxies, also 8 Puffins amongst the usual Pembs breeding species seen.
The 1st juvenile Med. Gull of the season flying East too, not surprisngly found later in the harbour!
Fishguard Harbour:-
20:00, 13 Med. Gulls, comprising 1 juvenile, 7 1st years, 3 2nd years, & 2 adults.
1 of the adults the only ringed bird. (Med. Gull counts like this bringing back memories of 2005/2006 when up to 27 at the evening roost here)
(Fishguard Bird Group)

Strumble 18.00 - 19.30 8th July

Quite an interesting short seawatch , 1000's of Manxies in rafts loafing around & feeding but generally not making any effort to go anywhere .One of the rafts was breifly interupted by a passing Bonxie which appeared to take one of the Manxies or something smaller. Shortly after that another heavy Skua came through & caused some havoc in the Manx , not quite as big as the Bonxie , this was identified as a Pomarine an immature bird probably 2nd year.
Not to be outdone 5+ Risso's Dolphin came through from West to East & appeared to go into Fishguard Bay , a quick call to the Walrus & i met him at the turning circle at Harbour Village Wdig , but we couldn't locate the dolphins from there. There were though quite a few rafts of Manx in Fishguard Bay & even a few birds in the entrance to the Harbour.

Flagpoles 20.45 - 6 Med. Gulls 3 x 1st Sum , 3 x 2nd Sum.

Teifi -- waders

Last night;-
6 Common Sandpipers and 5 Redshank, on the Pembs side.

Med Gulls

4+ around Pen Anglas all afternoon, at least one adult, at least two second summers and at least one first summer, losing count of the possible number of different individuals involved...

More Swifts

About 150, feeding over the fields on one of the back lanes between St Ishmaels & Hasguard Cross this afternoon. Having seen about 20 in the past 2 years, that should keep me going for 15 years!

Med Gulls

3-4 off Pen Anglas, an adult still in full summer plumage and a second summer from 17:15 to 17:45, a first summer over east at 17:45 and a second summer past west at 20:00.

Grasshopper Warbler

Grasshopper warbler singing close to the YHA at Marloes this afternoon.
Thanks to messers Lewis & Gowney for the Longhorn I.D., I must buy that book that Lyndon once recommended - "The Collins guide to everything....."

Teifi

Around the estuary yesterday evening;-
3 Common Sandpipers and 1 Redshank at Jewsons.
The c18 juvenile Shelduck appear in their usual creches. Black-headed gulls, a few more juveniles present among c60 around. At least 10+ juvenile Grey Herons.
c30 Curlews & c50 Oystercatchers........numbers building now.

Hybrids

This finch has turned up in a Pembroke garden,

(Jane Fryer).

Talking to Jon Green, on hybrids, he mentioned that the Dutch have published a paper on a hybrid Little /Cattle Egret almost certainly bred in Holland.......a nice one to confuse.......

Derek's Beetle

Is a variety of Longhorn Beetle, this one (Strangalia Maculata) doesn't seem to have an English name. The Larvae live in rotting deciduous tree stumps.

Collins Guide to Insects by Michael Chinery

Derek's beetle

To answer Derek G it is a longhorn beetle called Leptura maculata although it used to be called Stangnalia melanura. Ought to be called Wasp Beetle but that common name goes to a much less significant looking beast Clytus ariestis and I don't think L. maculata has a sensible name. I think they are very impressive. I normally see them on Hogweed flower heads. Has a status of local in UK. WWBIC would be interested in your record.
Nigel Ajax Lewis

Pen Anglas

I had a first summer Med Gull just off the end of the point from 13:00 to 13:15 and a second summer flew past east at 14:30.

Swifts

I havn`t seen seen more than a handful of Swifts this year, so was quite surprised to see about 50 feeding above the Old Hakin road junction at Milford Haven today.
Does anyone have any idea what this 25mm long alien is? On the garden wall yesterday.

Flagpoles 17.00 6th July.

5 Med Gulls , 3 x 2nd Sum & 2 x 1st Sum from flagpoles carpark also 1st Sum Common Gull.

"Wild Wales"

This is just a little message to say that the series ‘Wild Wales’ is due to air for a second time on the BBC this Sunday (after its original screening on BBC One Wales this May). The three part series produced by Aden Productions and presented by Iolo Williams features some of the best wildlife and landscapes Wales has to offer. The first episode, ‘The Beautiful South’, will be shown this Sunday, the 11th of July, on BBC Two at 6pm and will be available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The same episode will be repeated on Monday the 12th of July at 7pm on BBC Two, however this showing will only be available in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The remaining two episodes ‘The Heart of Wales’ and ‘The Rugged North West’ will air on the following Sundays and Mondays (6pm and 7pm respectively).
We hope you enjoy the series and hope that those of you that were unfortunate enough to miss it the first time round are able to catch it this time, particularly if you helped us along the way.
Happy viewing and best wishes,
Sally Snow
Aden Productions

Crossbills -- Dinas

7 Flew over Dinas Cross this morning.
(Steve B)

swifts

In a very long car journey yesterday (Aberdeen to Crymych) I saw more swifts in one day than I have seen all year. Several "flocks" (30+) over specific fields that presumably had plenty of insects over them.
This evening 6 were over Crymych, which is not a great number for what is an 'old' village!

City news

Maybe the Chough breeding story is not entirerly all gloom. A pair have been seen feeding 3 young at Porth-y-rhaw, just down the valley from Nine Wells a couple of times this week. Also in the valley the Little Grebes have 4 young on the upper pond. Here's one of the little beauties.

Nesting Swifts -- Efailwen

Following on from the nest box posts;-
While chatting to our neighbour this morning a swift left one of the swift boxes we put up three years ago on our gable-end adjacent to a natural hole in the stone work that has been used in the recent past. The neighbour reports that they have been coming and going and they have been watching them through the window of their house.
(Pris)

fishy shears

Up and about early this morn in hope of seeing some dolphins in Fishguard Harbour but no joy. Birdwise the interesting thing were little squadrons of Manxies entering the harbour and foraging. Apart from grounded lost juveniles in the autumn, I have never seen a Manxie in the harbour before, but these were definately there by intention, searching for food and feeding!

The accompanying image, whilst no competition winner, is a reasonable record shot if you click on it.

Teifi

Shelduck;-
Creches / broods, of 11 & 2 at Jewsons. 5 opp. St.Dogmaels Quay.
Wader numbers increasing!
Redshank now 2, Common Sandpipers up to 4.
c60 Black-headed Gulls around the estuary tonight.

Flagpoles 4th July

Now up to 4 Med. Gulls present 3 x 2nd Sum & 1 1st Sum.

Re. the Pink Manxie , Thanks for the rapid response from Dave Boyle on Skomer , will keep a lookout for them over the next few weeks.

Pink stained Manxie

The pink stained Manxie came from Skomer!

The Oxford lot who are doing all sorts of Manxie tracking were hoping to dye a load of non-breeders to see if they could be picked up by the Seawatch SW team at Gwennap Head later in the summer.

Only 17 have been dyed so far but there's been teething problems with the solution strength so if it was still bright pink it was probably only dyed last night!

Strumble 4th July , Pink Stained Manxie !

A short watch at Strumble this morning produced 15 Common Scoter & variable no's of the local commoner species including a Manx Shearwater stained Pink on it's Breast & Belly area. Anybody got any information on this ? It didn't look like random pollution staining , more like something that would have a deliberate scientific purpose.

Flagpoles , the 2nd Sum & 1st Sum Meds still present at 11 a.m.

Robin feeding fledgling in horrible conditions in garden this morning.

Pen Anglas

I had a first summer Med Gull almost over the rocks along the point at 13:00, a juvenile Chough was being fed by two adults at 15:00 and a second summer Med Gull flew over east at 16:00.

Teifi - Saturday evening.

Jewsons;-
3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, c16 Black-headed Gulls.
Also 11 Juvenile Shelduck in the creche.
The Webley;-
48 Curlew, 1 Little Egret, 1 Sandwich Tern with 11 BH Gulls...inc 1 juvenile.
Priory Bridge;-
Another 31 BH Gulls.

Pen Anglas

I saw a second summer Med Gull fly west past the point at 14:00.

Llangym Pill

The Redshank numbers are on the increase with 29 feeding in Llangwm Pill this morning along with 2 Curlews. Black headed Gull numbers are pretty static with only 5 around this morning.
(Graham Brace)

Teifi -- waders

Last night;-
From the Webley, at high tide, 22 Curlew, & 1 lost looking Redshank. No Black-headed Gulls either, 37 present including 1 juvenile the previous evening (tues).
Also Jon had a Greenshank Tuesday evening - heard from St. Dogmael's Quay.