Marloes Peninsular

I am rather intrigued by Derek's 2+1 theory for the Glossies. On Saturday evening I watched 2 birds go to roost towards the centre of the Mere, and then found the third bird still feeding to the left of the Britton Hide. And on Sunday evening I watched a single bird fly to feed on the grass slope to the East of the Mere but no sign of the other two.

It really has been a lovely education watching these birds: they have a flight silhouette that I now know to be utterly unmistakable (incredibly thin) and a distinctive vocabulary of grunts and croaks so unlike what we get used to on the Mere. I really think a lot of credit is due to Dave Astins, who predicted on the Blog so accurately back in autumn of last year that the Mere looked in god condition for Glossies, and to Derek, who has persevered with these lovely birds.

They have also been a super excuse for regular walks to and around the Mere. It has more water than I can remember for this time of year, which augurs well for the summer. In the meantime there are huge hatches of midges in the evenings, which make the track past the YHA a bit hazardous for breathing but great for Chiffchaffs (and more warblers to come, I hope). There is a very regular pair of Sparrowhawks in the area, and on calmer evenings there is often a Short-eared Owl. These probably come visiting from Skomer, but a few years back we had a pair until May in our garden, suggesting that some of the younger birds may move around quite a lot.

Onthe Deer Park yesterday we had several singing Chiffchaffs, a single Swallow and two male Wheatears displaying in areas where they have bred in previous years. On the Gann there was a lovely summer plumage Greenshank