More Purple Sands

Forgot to post it earlier but last weekend (23rd) came across 9 Purple Sandpipers on the very end of Monkstone Point. Another new location for these hard to find birds.

Having said that couldn't find any at Tenby Lifeboat station although at High tide they are harder to find anyway so I suspect they are different birds.

A north coast Dunlin

NT30524 ---
-- This Dunlin was caught on Patch this morning, presumably a wintering bird wintering on the Teifi? Interestingly this bird was ringed last winter, 2nd February 2010 by Paddy on the Nevern est. -- Whilst I was sunning myself with Wrybills in NZ.........what a difference........!
(Rich D)

Bosherston

A Bittern was still present at Bosherston this morning, again in the reedbed between Grassy Bridge and Broadhaven beach, also 27 Goosander near Eight-arch Bridge and a 1st winter male Scaup in the bay opposite the boathouse.

There was also a 1st winter male Scaup still present at Pembroke Millpond, and more than 50 Teal present on the edge of the Typha beds at Crygmarren.

Cetti's Warbler .....from Tring !!

Hi Rich,
I dont know if John has let you know yet but we have had the return back from the BTO regarding the cetti T147893 it was ringed as a 3j on 2nd of June 2007, at Marsworth near Tring.
(Paul W)

This Cetti's Warbler was caught at Kilpaison, on 16 October, and 21 November 2010.
A juvenile of 2007 presumably from the Tring area.........perhaps to join our breeding birds here?

Dale & Rosemoor

A brief look at Rosemoor pool (Walwyn's Castle) in the hope of Jack Snipe failed to find snipe of any kind at all due to the frozen conditions (but 2 Woodcock) . A Mute Swan with it's belly & legs frozen into the ice, but still alive and in reasonable condition, was a sad sight - let's just hope it thaws out very soon. 3 other Mute Swan here and around 20 Canada Geese, and a handful of Teal & Mallard on a small patch of ice free water.

At the Gann at high tide 2 Brent Geese, 10 Grey Plover, 18 Ringed Plover and 10 Dunlin. In the bay the Red-necked Grebe still present, and in the gull roost (mostly at Dale) a minimum of 15 Mediterannean Gulls (14 ads, 1 2ndW) in with another large roost of mainly Black-headed Gulls (swelled no doubt by stubbles being ploughed in at Point Farm). Out on the saltmarsh again no snipe, but 2 ReedBuntings, 4 Skylark, 3 Rock Pipit & 2 Meadow Pipit. (Dave A & Paul G)

Crundale

On our way back from Fishguard Harbour (Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe, Little Grebe and a large rat) this evening were driving along the Old School Lane behind Haverfordwest Airport when a Short-eared Owl flew over. A little way down the lane, just before it joins the B4329 Cardigan Road, a Jack Snipe flew out of the ditch and landed about 15 feet in front of the car, staying for about 3 minutes before flying off.

Tresinwen & Fishguard Harbour (30 Jan 11)

Red Kite (un-tagged) over the garden at 12noon. The Red Throated Diver and Slavonian Grebe on flag poles side of inner breakwater and a summer plumage Black Guillemot behind the ferry at circa 2pm.

Llys-y-Fran (29 Jan 11)

Black Necked Grebe still present today. Eventually showed well after it went on a 4 hour tour of the entire reservoir!

Red Kite over Crundale

Very nice to see a Red Kite over Crundale this afternoon.

Black Guillemot(s), Spotted Redshank,..&....

Fishguard Harbour;-
In additon to the Slavonian Grebe, an adult winter plumage Black Guillemot was seen a couple of times in the harbour over the course of the day, complementing the breeding plumage bird that has been seen recently.
Guilford Pill, Llangwm;-
The Spotted Redshank showing nicely just before high tide.
Broad Haven North;-
All three divers present, but the singles of Great Northern & Black-throated drifting north. Only c40 Common Scoter scattered about.
Camrose set-aside;-A quick recce to find the fields - a nice male Brambling amongst the mainly Chaffinch.
Plumstone;-1 male Hen Harrier appeared at 17:06, later 2 harriers were interacting before roosting.

Hen Harrier;-
Adult male at Carn Enoch, Mynydd Dinas yesterday mid- afternoon.
(Bethan Evans)

Gelliswick & beyond...

Had a look for the Green woodpecker this afternoon, but drew a blank. A nice ringed Med Gull at Gelliswick beach( 3J37 details sent) was very obliging.
A Ringtail Harrier over St Ishmaels was another good sighting.
Finished off at the Gann where I metDave - He went off to look at the extensive Gull roost at Dale hoping to find a Bonaparte`s, while I went home for tea....... hoping the phone didn`t ring!

Iceland Gull, Red-necked Grebe

Paul G had a juv/1stW Iceland Gull at Goultrop Roads late afternoon, following a small boat and on the water before heading off towards Skomer at 17.10.

I had a smart Red-necked Grebe off Black Rock, Dale, just before dusk, and at least 13 Mediterranean Gulls (12 ads, 1 2ndW) in the roost which stretched from Dale right across to the Gann, must have been over 1,000 birds, mostly Black-headed Gulls but with probably 150-200 Common Gulls in there too. At the Gann at least 4 Greenshank, 3 Barwits, a Knot, 6 Ringed Plover, 15 Dunlin, 15 Redshank and 30 Teal. In the bay 2 Great-crested Grebes, a distant small grebe which may have been the Slavonian, and at least 8 Goldeneye (the lagoon was 95% frozen).

Ty Rhyg

Walked the length of the forest at noon today. Very quite apart from two crossbills. When I reached the far side of the forest heard six siskins mobbing a bird that flew overhead in the sun
it looked like a huge wagtail, as soon as it landed I realied it was the Great grey shrike. It was at the top of a young tree about 20feet away and stayed there for 3-4 minutes.

Fishguard Harbour 29th Jan

From the Flagpoles a Slavonian Grebe at approx midday , the tame Red Throated Diver about half way up the inner breakwater. The 9 Dunlin , 6 Ringed Plover & the Grey Plover all still present.

Red necked Grebe

The Red necked Grebe was still in the bay at Cwm yr Eglwys this morning, a Woodcock was also seen close to the car park.

Firecrest -- Westfield Pill

A Firecrest this afternoon at Westfield Pill is the first I have seen since December 9th.
The Mandarin was also seen.
Regards, Allan.

Newport, 16.30.

11 Dunlin, 13 Ringed Plover, 6 Redshank, 145 Curlew, 1 Greenshank.

Harriers & Green Woodpecker(?)

2 Harriers this evening - 1 male Hen & Ringtail , at Marloes Mere around 4:30pm.

Also, a friend of mine who walks her dog in the Gelliswick woods area, told me of some other dog walkers, who had seen a Green Woodpecker there on Wednesday.

Plumstone / Treffgarne

Anyone going to see the Starlings or Harriers at Plumstone had better keep an eye open.........!

L051440........a reed warbler

Reed Warbler L051440;-

Nothing particularly unusual about it's movement -- it was ringed as a juvenile by John Hayes at the bottom of his garden (Pembroke Upper Mill Pond) on 17 July 2010.

On the 7 August 2010, 21 day's later it had moved to the Teifi, and caught by ourselves.......post juvenile northerly wanderings......

Trying to keep a tag on things

My friend and neighbour, Oliver John rang me yesterday morning to tell me a kite was working its way over the fields towards my house. He also added he had seen it quite frequently recently . Of course I missed it, it must have veered off course . This afternoon coming up the lane I had a kite fly over head and I managed to snap it as it flew over again. Not a brilliant pic' but it appears to have tags, can't make them out but at least I know to look out for it and tryand suss them!

Blackpool Mill

From the bridge 3 female goosanders, no photographs like Richard, but followed up by watching
a kingfisher catching a fish killing it on a stone and then swallowing it

Harriers at Plumstone

1 male and 2 Ringtail Hen Harriers came in to roost at Plumstone at dusk. All put on a good display before dropping into the heather. Also a Goshawk and a Peregrine. Thousands of Starlings too - always worth seeing.
Highlights from other sites visited today:
Amroth to Wisemans Bridge - 20 Red-breasted Mergansers, 10 Great-crested Grebes, 30 Red-throated Divers, 30 close Common Scoter but hundreds more visible out towards the horizon.
Pembroke river from Pennar - 24 Grey Plover, 12 Knot, 30 Black-tailed Godwit, c400 Dunlin and a Greenshank.
(Paul G and Wendy J)

Bosherston (Again) & Angle

 Two hours this morning at Bosherston in the biting east wind and the Bittern wasn't playing! Two Goosanders came close, however, and made a nice photo opportunity. Still plenty of Tufted and Pochard in the western arm together with a few Goldeneye.
A brief look at Angle Harbour - 15 Brents, 12 Shelduck, 8 Shoveller and 35 Dunlin. A brief look also (too damn cold & dull by now) at Kilpaison - 500+ Dunlin, 37 Bar Tailed Godwits the highlight and then on the way back up to the main road a Merlin perched on pretty much the same fencepost where I saw it on 30 December.

Red necked Grebe

The Red necked Grebe was again present in the bay at Cwm Yr Eglwys along with four Red throated Divers.

Pembroke Millpond

1st winter male Scaup still with Tufted Ducks near the roadbridge at Pembroke Millpond this lunchtime.

Black Guillemot

Late morning, a Black Guillemot was in Fishguard Harbour. It was halfway along the outer breakwater viewed from the fort. Also a Red-throated Diver in the harbour and at least 5 more out in the bay.

Bosherston

A 3 hour wait at the reed bed by Broadhaven beach was rewarded with a 3 second flight view of the Bittern which has been present in this small area of reeds for some time now. No pic but this Cormorant flew over showing it's breeding plumage white thigh patch.
20+ Tufted Duck, 11 Pochard and 8 Goldeneye down at the Church end of the Lakes and on the eastern arm 23 Goosander.

Newport Wed am

Very quiet. Couldn't find any small waders, duck numbers have dropped dramatically & even Redshank are fewer than expected.
Highlights - 2 Barwits (the ringed bird has gone) & the long stay Greenshank.

Plumstone Starlings

The Starling roost at Plumstone has been fantastic for the last few days - well worth a look.

Bosherston

There was a Bittern at Bosherston again this morning, in the reedbed near Broadhaven Beach, and a 1st winter male Scaup near the boathouse. No sign of the Ring-necked Duck.

2010 Bird Records

When did you see or hear your first Wood Warbler last year? Have you completed all your records for 2010?

Our County Recorders, Jon Green & Steve Berry, are waiting with feverish anticipation for the the last of the records for 2010 to be sent in so that they, together with the rest of the editorial team, can crack on with producing the Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2010. The deadline for submission of records is 31 January (2011!)

Please have a look at the new "Record Submission" link to the right which connects to a document explaining how and where to send in your records. Included is a section on use of the BTO's Birdtrack facility which if you haven't used it so far is well worth a look. It's simple to use and can help to cut down the work involved in compiling records.

Marloes and Dale

As well as Steve's report of the wonderful flock of Skylarks, other highlights for me over the weekend have included numerous sightings of Merlins (both males and females/immatures). Of course, it could have been two exceptionally active and wide-ranging individuals....

The Deer Park and Martin's Haven valley have been very quiet except for the odd small group of Chaffinches dropping in and a single male Stonechat, but Jack Sound had a nice flock of Black-headed Gulls that contained a single adult winter Mediterranean Gull.

Further afield, a single Golden Plover amongst Lapwings near Trehill Farm and a ringtail Hen Harrier by Little Marloes Farm. Up to 20 Snipe flushed across Dale Airfield.
On the Gann: a Slavonian Grebe amongst the large gull roost. The Whooper and Bewick's swans up near Kete were lovely to watch.

Skylarks

On fields near Martins Haven yesterday (Sunday) a flock of just over 300 Skylarks and somewhere nearby a flock of around 250 - 300 Lapwing (seen in flight but couldn't find them on the fields).

At Mullock in the late afternoon a Chiffchaff calling persistently.

On Marloes Mere still five Pochard, three Tufties, 24 Shoveler, c.90 Wigeon, 35 teal but only 1 Little Grebe and 7 Mallard. No Gadwall seen.

Orielton to Fishguard circuit

While most other folks appear to have headed south, I was heading up to the north of the county. En route, I called in at a number of sites - so will blog a summary of the birds seen that have not been reported earlier.

Yesterday - 13 Pale-bellied Brents at Kilpaison, Dipper on a stream near Tufton, Goshawk displaying at a site in the north of the county, Black Guillemot in s/p in Fishguard Harbour (off the end of the inner breakwater) and three Hen Harriers (male and two females seen in the air together) at the Dowrog roost.

Today - missed the Red-necked Grebe at Cwm-yr-Eglwys, but had two Slavonian Grebes (always close together) in the bay first thing this morning, also four Great Northern Divers at Newgale and three Red-throated Divers and 100+ Common Scoter at Broad Haven.

Away from the coast, I called into the sacrificial bird crop near Camrose - no sign of the Snow Bunting that was there before Christmas, but a flock of 200+ birds still using the site, comprising mostly Chaffinches and Linnets, but also several Bramblings and Reed Buntings, as well as five Stock Doves. Subsequently, there was a Red Kite at Sandyhill and a 1st winter male Scaup on the Millpond in Pembroke.

Ring-billed Gull, Red-necked & Black-necked Grebes, Crossbills

An afternoon out with Paul G:
Cwm-yr-eglwys: Red-necked Grebe (Wendy & Dyfed had also seen Slavonian) & 3 Red-throated Divers (& a number of Guillemots & Razorbills).
Glynaeron: a good number of Crossbills, probably 15-20 in total, at times very vociferous and included at least 3 juveniles, 2 of which were being fed by females so quite possibly bred here, given we've had Crossbills at this site for the last few months?
Llys-y-fran: a poor roost in terms of numbers (only around 400 gulls), but a fine adult Ring-billed Gull (presumably the same bird from recent winters), 3 Yellow-legged Gulls (1 adult, 2 1stW), the Black-necked Grebe & 15 Goosander (3 males).
Given the quality of Richard Stonier's Bosherston pics I'm loathe to post my digiscope efforts, but as no pics of these 3 species have appeared this winter I'm going to anyway! It was windy & distant (RN Grebe); the light was poor (Crossbill); distant(ish) & poor(ish) light (RB Gull).

tagged red kite

Drew's tagged kite black/blue L1 was ringed near Myddfai, Carmarthenshire on 5/7/2010 by Tony Cross. It was the largest of a brood of two (probably a female) and this is the first time that it has been recorded since fledging. The Welsh Kite Trust is always grateful to here of any sightings of tagged kites and taking a photo is one of the best ways to read the tags of a bird in flight, so many thanks for posting this.

Bosherston (23 Jan 11)

Return visit to Bosherston to try to get the Bittern in flight. (Tried yesterday but got distracted by the Ring Necked Duck(!)). 4 hour vigil (10am - 2pm) looking over the reedbed by the beach produced a flight at 1150 and another at 1210.

Today

Today's sightings, more later:-
Ring-necked Duck -- Bosherston
Bittern -- Bosherston
Slavonian Grebe -- Angle Bay

Glynaeron -- Crossbills

Commercial felling operations underway so no access to look for the reported shrike.
Crossbills performing well near the gate/road with a couple of noisy parties, a couple of males squabbling, and a family party with two well streaked immatures feeding on the cones, how old and from where ?

Strumble (22 Jan 11)

Barn Owl near Tai Bach this evening.

Bosherston (22 Jan 11)

Ring Necked Duck at Bosherston this afternoon between the green bridge and beach. Also 2 Bitterns briefly in flight over the reedbed by the beach.

Pembroke River

From Barry Potter - thanks to wendy j i got my slavonian grebe today a lifer for me. also present were 27 ringed plover 24 black tailed godwit 2 scaup 6 little grebe and 1 great crested grebe

Wing-tagged Red Kite

Drew Buckley saw this tagged Red Kite at Sentry Cross between Neyland & Milford Haven today, hopefully some history of this bird soon. I also took a short digiscope-video of the Ring-necked Duck at Bosherston 2 weeks ago - stick with it, you'll see it's head near the end!

Snow Buntings @ Traeth Llyfn

Inspired by Terry Allen's New Year's Eve post, which revealed a Snow Bunting & a Black Redstart on a remote headland between Abereiddy & Porthgain, I decided to take a look myself & thus it became a destination this afternoon for a walk with the family & dogs. I was not disappointed - 2 Snow Buntings were found right out on the headland at SM 799 323. They showed well, but my hopes were dashed of a competition winning digiscope photo by a Herring Gull & some sheep that flushed the birds across to the rocky islets of Cerrig Gwylan (Gull Stones)! They had also chosen a rock exposed to the NE breeze which didn't help either. Still, stunning birds and a stunning location. Makes me wonder how many birds like this are tucked away around our coast! It's a lovely, if muddy, walk from Abereiddy (about the same distance from Porthgain) and late afternoon the sunset looking s/w towards Ramsey & North Bishop is a joy (as is the peaceful emptiness of Traeth Llyfn if you can negotiate the fire-escape-esque steps down the cliff!). In the nearest field to the headland (winter stubble) a nice flock of c.200 Golden Plover and 30+ Lapwing so plenty of interst.

Teifi

From Patch;-

Whilst ringing a couple of presumably resident? Rock Pipits this morning as part of our study into our resident and migrant Rock Pipits, a few waders mobile between Patch and Poppit..

1 Grey Plover, 1 Sanderling, c100 Dunlin, c30 Ringed Plover.

Red-necked & Slavonian Grebe

The Red-necked Grebe actively diving again this morning off Cwm yr Eglwys. The Slavonian Grebe, mobile as before, favouring swimming off around the Head.
The Firecrest in the roadside hedgerow going down to the Cwm.

Also 8 Goosander on the River at Cilgerran Gorge.
(Steve B)

Red necked Grebe

A Red necked Grebe was present just off shore at Cwm yr Eglwys this afternoon,also three Woodcock were flushed accidentally they were all together just by the side of a hedgerow.

Black-necked Grebe -- Llys-y-fran Resr.

16:00-17:00
1 Black-necked Grebe, close to the bank.
Gull roost !
Now the fields are frozen again, have the gulls gone back to the coast? c300Black-headed Gulls, a sprinkling of Common Gulls and no more than 200 LBB Gulls with a few Herring Gulls.
To finish in the gloom, the seemingly bizarre synchronized swimming & diving of 5 Little Grebe as they rapidly moved in very tight formation across & through the water..........also 20 Goosander in the western arm.

News from the forests.......the Great Grey Shrike is reported to have moved to the Glynaeron clearfell...(from Ty rhyg)

Ducks and Divers

Highlights of a few sites visited today:
St Brides Bay from Newgale to Goultrop - 1 Black-throated Diver from Druidston, 4 Great Northern Divers, c30 Red-throated Divers and c60 Common Scoter.
Bicton ponds- 10 Pochard, 3 Shoveler and 20+ Tufted ducks.
Monkhaven - very quiet with no sign of any Chiffchaffs or Firecrests now.
Dale roads - 3 Red-throated Divers from the fort.
Kete - the 4 Whoopers and 2 Bewicks still present.
Marloes Mere - good numbers of Teal, Shoveler and Wigeon, 4 Pochard, 1Tufted duck and unusually for here, a juvenile Mute Swan. Also a Merlin and Sparrowhawk.
(Paul G and Wendy J)

Bosherston

A good assortment of wildfowl present near the boathouse this morning, including Goosanders, Gadwall, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Pochard and a 1st winter male Scaup (looking very similar to the birds present at the Millpond last week).

SM84 winter birds list - can you add species to this tetrad?

Enjoyed Richard's comments about his personal bird list for 2010 and comparisons with Graham's lists etc. Strumble Head (SM84) being referred to as an important place for spending some time to help swell the lists. Ironically, for the winter atlas this time round, SM84 is one of the poorer 10 km squares in terms of anticipated species diversity compared with the previous atlas. Thanks to Graham, Richard and others we do have the makings of a good list.

However, some species are missing and as there is only one tetrad to consider hopefully it should not be so difficult to add them to the list for SM84. Some should be relatively be easy, others could be much less so. If you add these in the next few weeks of the winter atlas recording period this would be great - either directly to the Atlas or via BirdTrack.

Species recorded in the previous winter atlas but so far missing this time round are:

Blue Tit, Brambling, Buzzard, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Curlew, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Linnet, Long-tailed Duck, Magpie, Mediterranean Gull, Peregrine, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Short-eated Owl, Skylark, Snow Bunting, Surf Scoter, Woodcock, Yellowhammer.

Could any of these still help make your own year list that bit more special?

Slavonian Grebes at Pembroke

Pembroke river from Pennar this afternoon - 2 Slavonian Grebes, 6 Great-crested Grebes, 2 ad female Scaup, 1 drake Pintail, 60 Black-tailed Godwits, 30 Knot, c400 Dunlin and 20 Grey Plover.

Pembroke Mill Pond - 2 1st winter male Scaup.
(Paul G)

Llys Y Fran

A lovely morning at Llys Y Fran - crisp, clear, sunshine and no humanoids! The BNGrebe was trying to hide in the Canada Goose flock whilst GCGrebes were scattered everywhere.

Bosherston this morning and Dowrog (yesterday)

Was fortunate enough to notice a Bittern assuming alarm posture (see pic) in the reedbed near Broadhaven Beach this morning, otherwise the usual wildfowl present, with Goosander and Gadwall most prominent.

Yesterday, at least two Hen Harriers (male and female) and a Short-eared Owl were at Dowrog Common late afternoon (the SEO was flying from 16:45, and the Harriers started arrive at c.17:05).

Also yesterday, the four Whooper Swans and two Bewick's Swans were still present at Kete.

Freshwater West

A flock of small ducks well off-shore this evening, on a flat calm sea, numbered at least 400, and most appeared to be Common Teal.
On the shore a mixed flock of Dunlin and Grey Plover, which were very restless and made counting difficult, contained up to 65 of the latter.

The Gann & Marloes

Very quiet at the Gann this morning with just a few Teal and 6 Goldeneye on the ponds. We could see 20+ Snipe - no doubt many more hidden from view. 2 Greenshank were nice and there was 1 Little Egret on the river bank.
At Marloes Mere we spent a few hours in the hide and again it was pretty quiet there. Perhaps 50 Wigeon and as many Teal together with a few Shoveller and a couple of Gadwall. A group of 200 or so Lapwing did pass over from the fields to the west and a few settled at the east end of the Mere. Raptorwise there was 1 Buzzard, a brief view of a Sparrowhawk and the ringtail Hen Harrier pictured which put in a couple of appearences, though frustratingly kept well away from the hide.
Richard Crossen & Morris North

Skomer (yesterday)

A short trip to Skomer with Chris and Rich D taking advantage of a boat taking a out a tractor mechanic.
Very quiet. The most numerous passerine was song thrush with 9 recorded and everything else in very low numbers eg only 4 starlings, 2 redwings 2 meadow pipits, 2 skylarks, 1 robin. Five species of raptors included at least 11 buzzards, and single peregrine, kestrel, merlin and sparrowhawk. Approx 65 Greater Black backs were easily the most numerous gull present, and the pools had c40 teal, 17 mallard, 3 shoveler, 5 moorhen and 2 water rails. A few (c250) guillemots were also seen but no razorbills. 120 canada geese were on Midland, and a red throated diver seen from the boat on the way back. Millions of rabbits seen and also a young seal pup near the landing point.

At the Deer Park, again very very quiet with only 2 chough and a song thrush the only passerines seen on the headland, though a trickle of small gulls passing through the sound:

black-headed gull 120
kittiwake 60
common gull 40
med gull 3

Year Listing in Pembrokeshire

Richard Dobbins has put together a short document on year listing following his 212 species seen in 2010. Click here to see the document which contains the guidelines to Pembrokeshire county listing and some year list highlights.

Please have a look and go birding.....

Please keep Pembrokeshire Birds for sightings, any correspondence on bird listing to add your totals or your comments please email Pembsbirds (see contact info to the right) or Rich Dobbins.

Freshwater West

As I was sitting in the car having coffee at Freshwater West around midday a Kestrel, hovering nearby, was suddenly attacked by a Peregrine but deftly sidestepped it. The Peregrine turned it's attention to a Rook then scattered all the Grey Plover on the rocks. Four Chough then came along and one posed on a fence post long enough for a photo. Not bad so far but things got even better.
I then went for a walk and spotted a Merlin sunning itself on a post near the stream which runs down to the beach. I shot back to the car, grabbed my camera and went back and by sneaking up behind a dune managed a few shots. What stunning little falcons Merlins are!

Castlemartin Corse

I put off doing the Webs count at Castlemartin Corse yesterday hoping for a brighter day but it turned out just as dull today. However, Morris North and I had an excellent count with really large numbers of birds on a very wet and flooded Corse. Highlight was 9 Ruff, normally a passage migrant in Pembrokeshire so 9 in the winter was a real treat. One bird was well marked with a white face and collar.
Raptors were scarcer than usual with just 2 Buzzards and one Merlin. Other bird numbers were - Lapwing 3,800, Golden Plover 550, Black Tailed Godwit 17, Curlew 120, Snipe 39, Ringed Plover 5 (a first for me on the Corse), Little Egret 1, Wigeon 600, Teal 156, Mallard 47, Gadwall 8, Pintail 5, Shoveller 20, Greylag Goose 6.
A quick look at Kilpaison early afternoon - 120 Dunlin, 16 Brents

Gann - Sunday 16th January (late afternoon)

Bar-tailed Godwit - 5
Great Crested Grebe - 3
Slavonian Grebe - 1

The local patch today.

Marloes Mere, 1 Ringtail Harrier, c150 Lapwing.

The Gann, 1 Kingfisher, 1 female Merlin, 1 adult Med gull, 8 Grey Plover, 3 Knot, 3 Barwits, 3 G/C/Grebes on the sea, a few Teal & c50 Wigeon.

Dowrog harriers

Happily the rain cleared for a bit of harrier counting today. I think there were two grey and two ringtails at Dowrog this evening. The males clearly dropping in on the roost. One of the ringtails may have headed for the airfield. Got some nice pics of one ringtail which was a female and seemed to be chasing the male off.. It also chased a Short-eared Owl. Couple of buzzards there and Woodcock on the road. Nice young female sparrowhawk at Nine Wells.

Newport Webs

Was going to postpone till tomorrow, but the afternoon cheered up. Highlight 227 Curlews - by far my max for here & a number not seen at a Webs count since the 1980s & early 90s. Otherwise very quiet. 25 Wigeon must be a Jan record low. The small flock of Barwits weren't there leaving just the limping one. The long stay Greenshank & a Black T Godwit were the other highlights.

Snow Bunting to Black-necked Grebe

Highlights of the Fishguard WeBs;-
Outer Breakwater, 1 Snow Bunting, 3 Purple Sandpipers.
Around the harbour, 3 Red-throated Divers, the 1 Grey Plover still, 6 Dunlin, & 4 Ringed Plover.

Llys-y-fran Resr - WeBs;-
1 Black-necked Grebe, 6 Goosander (1m) the highlights, gulls numbered c3000 this evening, with Lesser Black-backed returning after the cold up to c2200.

Green-winged Teal & Spotted Redshank

My Hook/Sprinkle Pill WeBS count did not begin well this afternoon, firstly the heavens opened just as I reached the first count point d/s of Little Milford, and I then proceeded to slip over on a wet rock and went down scope first into some nice mud! The first stretch along the W Cleddau to Fowborough was uneventful after this and relatively quiet birdwise. All that changed at the mouth of Sprinkle Pill where there were ducks and waders by the score and a great range too. Rarest goes to the drake Green-winged Teal (possibly the Gann bird from 25th December?) which was in one of the channels to the south of the main Sprinkle Pill channel (SM 997 107). There were so many birds, and so mobile, that it was difficult to count accurately. Highlights on the duck front included 59 Pintail, a Pochard, 8 Tufted Duck, 32 Shoveler, 350 Teal & 13o Wigeon (all minimum numbers) and on the wader front 625 Dunlin, 460 Lapwing, 11 Grey Plover, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 116 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 4 Golden Plover and 2 Ringed Plover. An adult Med Gull was also present. Total count was 2,187 birds of 30 species (for WeBS). An added distraction (for the birds) were two foxes asleep on the saltmarsh - one at least seemed to have made an effort to conceal itself, if it was hoping for a snack at high tide!

Finally, a quick look at Guildford Pill, Llangwm, revealed the single Spotted Redshank - the only one in the County this winter?