Skomer- Puffins and Owls

1/06/17
I try to visit one of the Pembrokeshire islands every year. It is always great to leave the mainland and visit the seabird colonies out on the cliffs of these remote havens. Being based around an hour away from Martins Haven, an early start is needed to get anywhere near the front of the queue for tickets.
Arriving around 45 minutes before the lodge to buy tickets opens, we arrived to one of the largest queues I have seen at that time in the morning. This resulted in us not being booked until the 11am boat.

The Deer park is always worth a scout around, and with a fair bit of time to kill, a full circuit was walked, giving some of the first views of the rafts of seabirds offshore and flying Choughs. A strong SW wind was howling across the headland, the start of a storm arriving the following night, which made it difficult to stand upright on occasions!

The winds however died later in the morning, leaving a smooth crossing to North Haven on Skomer, to be greeted by the usual hoards of Puffins on the water and cliffs around us. Following the introductory talk, most of the boat bolted towards The Wick, well known as one of the better spots on the island to watch its most famous resident. Being a creature of habitat however, I walked northwards from the farmhouse, through the north valley bushes. Sedge Warblers boldly sang and a Blackbird warbled quietly from deep within.
As we walked further, Meadow Pipits parachuting into the trackside vegetation as we approached the Garland stone, where sandwiches were eaten as we took in the seabirds offshore. A few Manx Shearwater were fairly unusual to see so close to shore in the middle of the day, however scanning didn't reveal any cetaceans.

We continued along the north coast, passing breeding Oystercatcher and GBBG nests before heading down along the west coast, past Skomer head and down towards the Wick, where the Puffin flocks were turned up to maximum....

It has been interesting to compare numbers from year to year, and this year certainly seemed to be  good one, with very large numbers present here. It seemed as if many of the birds were at home and many were feeding newly hatched chicks, resulting in regular visits to their nestholes. At the top of the Wick viewpoint, the numbers along the clifftop in front were staggering, even more so considering many were only a few feet away! Despite this though, it is always worth remembering the sobering point that Puffin populations have declined dramatically over the last few decades and all is not well with our seabird populations. 

With the wind being fairly strong, I didn't take many photos (digi-scoping+ wind = failure) so instead I spent a while watching the behaviour of the Puffins. A lot of territorial battles and pair bonding were taking place, with lots of bill clattering  and squabbles taking place.

With the stunning view down the cliffs and a carpet of Puffins at the front, the view is spectacular. This photo sums it up quite well, taken on a 'point and shoot' camera, showing just how close the action is. The Puffins in this one remind me of a number of rock album covers.

Having seen a few photos on social media of a leucistic Puffin on the island, it made for quite a target to try to find it. With 27,000 Puffins on Skomer currently, it was not an easy task without insider knowledge. We were pointed in the right way, and after a short while, out popped a head from a burrow to our right. Strikingly white, we could see it was the leucisitic individual! With white all the way from its forehead, down its nape and across its ears, it certainly stands out from the crowd. After only a few seconds, the bird spun around and walked straight back down its burrow.

With our time coming to an end on the island, a walk back towards the interior of the island was taken to look for an Owl. With it now being around 4pm, it seemed a perfect time for a day hunting Owl to be out, and with a drop in the wind, our chances seemed good!

Walking back towards North Haven, a Short-eared Owl was hunting ahead. We continued to walk onward, before the bird disappeared. As we stood on the track, the Owl flew up and straight towards us, passing closely. Some of the best views I remember having of the species (a concussed electrocuted individual doesn't count....) .
After having watched it for a couple of minutes and with the bird still hunting in view, I scrambled to set up my scope and camera. A few seconds later, and it was again flying towards us, this time even closer.
The Owl passed within 20ft of us, with no-one else around. Bliss.

What a way to end another superb visit to a superb island!

Pembrokeshire- Autumn 2013

I have never been to Pembrokeshire in the Autumn before! So as you could expect, a week away was highly anticipated! We were staying in the freshwater east area and i spent much of the week searching the surrounding area.

Soon after arrival out our beach-side temporary home i was already picking up birds, with 4 Sanderling scurrying along the shoreline close to some fishermen. All of them being juvenile's and these were the first of many over the week. 5 GBBG were also on the sand with a Shag out in the bay.

The next morning i was itching to get out, so i was out at 6:30am, and was soon ammassing a healthy list of species, a 1st winter MEDITERRANEAN GULL spent some time on the Beach before flying off, as did a winter plumaged BAR-TAILED GODWIT and a single juvenile Sanderling.

As time progressed, and having had little luck on the cliffs (No seabirds moving other than Gannets) i moved back down onto the Beach, where a juvenile Sanderling was showing, which as the tide increased became more and more confiding. After a patient wait, this superb arctic wader approached within 15ft of where i was sat, giving superb and intimate views!

Nice view isnt it.

The Sanderling remained all day on the Beach, moving out on the tide then moving back in again. Another wader highlight was soon given when a WHIMBREL fly over calling, as did an Oystercatcher and eventually 2 CHOUGH were seen over the hillside.

The next morning i awoke with optimism again, and i was out searching the area from early on in the morning and i was rewarded with a superb range of species. By far the standout species was that of a superb SABINE'S GULL which hung around offshore for around 15 minuites with a large flock of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Gulls, with 11 SANDWICH TERN'S, 20 Fulmar, 5 MANX SHEARWATER and the same 1st winter MED GULL as yesterday! Hows about that for a bit of seawatching! There was a massive movement of Hirudines and easily 2000 Swallow, House and Sand Martin flew over, all going south and straight out to sea! Watching them skimming only a flew feet over the top of the headland before dropping down to sea level was breathtaking! A TREE PIPIT put on a similar preformance heading straight south calling. Actually on the headland it was quieter, with a single Stonechat, 2 Whitethroat and i flushed a GREY PARTRIDGE while walking through waist high foliage.

Here was the view from my self designated 'Seawatching spot'.

A brief watch later in the day around 12:30 revealed a dark morph ARCTIC SKUA was followed the coast heading SE.

A small flock of Gannets entered the bay, and i tried to take some digi-scoped flight shots,

Again, a nice early start had me out scouring the clifftops. The Hirudine passage was still going incredibly strong with 1000+ Swallows and about even numbers of House and Sand Martin at around 100 birds. 'Alba' Wagtails were also on the move, and 50 flew over, as did a measly 20 Meadow Pipit. In contrast to yesterday, there was very little seabird activity and an after an hour I gave up and scoured the gorse. I had closer views of the CHOUGH pair, but could not locate their feeding area. It was while doing this I heard the 'raspy' call of a Dunlin as one wizzed past over my head. Passerines were still a little hard to come by, but 2 Whitethroat and 2 Stonechat were found. Late in the day, 3 Sanderling came up on the tide, but didn't hang around for long!

 

11/09/13

A visit into Tenby town always produces Rock Pipits and I wasn't disappointed when I found 3 birds on the south beach.

 

12/09/13

Do you know those days where you really couldn't ask for much better? That one day where the slightest bit of dampness in the air and a little fog and every bush seems to have some sort of life in it. These next two days certainly lived up to that expectation, not because of the rarity of what was seen, but just for that feeling of interaction you get when you come face to face with a variety of migrants, that you know in just a few weeks would be flying across oceans, plains, deserts and countries to reach their wintering ground. That brief moment when you can almost feel that slight feeling of anxiety, that desperation to move onto pastures new.

Quickly I found 3 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER doing exactly as their name implies, flycatching off a wire fence along a hawthorn hedge only 50ft from the sea, obviously waiting for that moment to launch themselves off towards Cornwall of beyond. In the fields adjacent to this hedge, 5 WHEATEAR and at least 40 WHITE WAGTAIL were scurrying around, relentlessly searching for sustenance for its upcoming journey. Multiple Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Goldcrests, Constant streams of Linnet, Goldfinch, 'Alba' Wagtails and Meadow Pipits overhead.

A late evening jaunter on the beach was rewarded by a flythrough flock of 15 Dunlin.

 

13/09/13

If the previous day had been good, today was brilliant! 'Our' SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS were still hanging on, but had been joined by a 4th bird overnight, and the hedge was absolutely teeming. 5 Willow Warblers, 5 Chiffchaff, a Whitethroat and multiple Goldcrests were also flitting from the hedge to the wire fence, obviously a prime feeding spot. The adjacent horse paddock was similarly teeming, but with Wagtails, Pipits and Goldfinch. 30 White Wagtail remained, with small flocks of Meadow Pipits in the weeds (Although 150+ flew over) and 50 Goldfinch were feeding on Thistles.

A very good start and I quickly had itchy feet to search the rest of the coastline. A LESSER WHITETHROAT was feeding on Trewent Point, and I was briefly exited as I saw a black 'mask',blue head and a peach breast perched on the top of a hawthorn. Shrike flashed through my mind but a change of viewpoint revealed the head on bird to be a male WHEATEAR, 3 others (totalling 4) were present in more typical habitat.

 

 

6 Stonechats were found, but my personal highlight was when a bright orange autumn male REDSTART perched on a wire fence, only feet from the cliff face. Within a minute, the bird had flicked of and down the cliff face not to be seen again. Migration in Action!

 

And finally, after nearly 5 days, I finally located the CHOUGH feeding area, and I was treated to stunning views of the pair as they fed in a paddock!

 

 

On returning back to Freshwater East, 9 SANDWICH TERN were feeding in the bay and spent about 30 minutes doing so before flying off again. Small numbers of Gannets were also following a similar routine. Just to add to the total of 'Sarnies', much later in the day 2 more flew in and perched distantly on a Boyd.

The final day of the holiday was a brief stop at Saundersfoot, where another 3 SANDWICH TERNS were feeding, with 40 Gannet, 2 Rock Pipit and a Grey Wagtail!

MB

Pembrokeshire -Part 2 - Seabirds and Waders

26/05/13

Aghh, it wouldnt be the yearly holiday within the whole week being forcasted as rain and wind, so, with the only day that was judged to be a decent day being the day after we arrived, we decided to head out and do our yearly 'mop up' of the Pembrokeshire specialties.

In fact, we had done the exact same route last year, starting at Strumble Head, before dropping into Fishguard Harbour, then shoot across county to the Marloes/ The Gann area.

Even before reaching our first destination, we saw a RED KITE fly low over the road just outside Goodwick, always a good start!

Arriving up on Strumble in glorious sunshine was greeted with gratitude, and we parked up with the stunning view out across the Sea. With the famous lighthouse to the left, and the equally famous 'Seawatching shelter' to the right.

As you would expect, our main objective was seabirds, and we were initially quite disappointed with the range present, with only Gannets and a few Kittiwake being the highlights. However, just prior to the passing of the Fishguard to Ireland ferry a large influx of Cetacean's offshore also brought a huge dose of new excitement! An estimated pod of 100 combined Common Bottle-nose Dolphins and Harbor Porpoise joined us, and that is always the precursor to seabirds!

And i was not wrong!

First we were joined by around 40 Kittiwake, as well as hundreds of other Large Gulls, and countless Gannets, with almost constant streams of Guillemot and Razorbill, and in quick pursuit was a single PUFFIN.

While scanning through the Gulls i noticed 2 birds flying east (or left), picking up a black hood, and large red bill. An alternating black and white primary pattern was also evident and i was soon calling out that 2 2nd summer MEDITERRANEAN GULLS were flying offshore!
The crazy fact about this though was not the fact that 2 Med Gulls were flying past, but that despite the half mile+ range the birds were flying at, you could hear them calling as they flew past, their loud 'YEAH' call puncturing the sound of Herring Gulls and the sea lapping onto the steep cliff below us.

Scanning through a pod of surfacing Dolphins, accompanied by diving Gannets, i scoped a few birds, to want of a better phrase, shearing low over the waves!

MANX SHEARWATER!

I love seeing these birds, so graceful in flight, and i am always completely awestruck that these birds spend practically their whole lives out at sea!

Onland, we were entertained by a pair of STONECHAT, which would often perch upon a barbed wire fence nearby, as i said in the last post, they are stunning birds!

A single CHOUGH flew past, which was hardly a satisfying view!

With most of the morning gone, we decided to move on, and dropped into Goodwick Harbour, where we happened to chance upon 2 SANDWICH TERN which were feeding within the breakwater. 15 Oystercatcher were feeding on the exposed mud, and a single female Wheatear was flitting along the walkway.

Another RED KITE was found just north of Haverfordwest airport hunting over roadside fields.

Our arrival at Marloes was full of anticipation, but sadly it failed to produce any of the hoped for birds, with the Glossy Ibis remaining hidden for the entire visit, so, with the birding day drawing to a close we drove the short distance to The Gann, one of my favorite birding spots in the county!

And i was soon rewarded with a stunning, incredibly late 1st summer GREAT-NORTHERN DIVER!

The bird was hunting in the bay, and after some time it actually came in fairly close to the shore, constantly feeding, and very hard to get a photo of!

A single WHIMBREL and BAR-TAILED GODWIT were in the wider bay area, and other waders were represented by 5 RINGED PLOVER, 30 OYC and 10 Dunlin!

The Diver however did end up starting to preen, and i had cracking views, including a few in which the bird would rear up out of the water and have a flap.

With the family now calling, it was time to leave, so i grabbed a few last pictures of the Diver and left.

I really love this little spot!

MB

Strumble Head and Goodwick Harbour, Wales 2012

4/06/12

As this was the only forcasted decent weather way of the week, we decided to make the most of it, and spent almost 9 hours 'in the field' at multiple locations around Pembrokeshire, Starting with Strumble Head, so i could get all the 'common' seabirds at once.
We had planned to visit Skomer today, and a very early get up by me (despite being violently ill the previous day) was insured in the hope of getting over, however, my dad got up late, and by the time we left, it was already too late, maybe next year. 4th time lucky!

The good thing with Strumble, is that you dont have to venture far from the car, you litterally park on the edge of a cliff face looking north into St Georges Channel, and being this far out from the 'main' landmass means seabirds pass at a scopeable distance, on sunny and bright days, very far off. and today was one of those 'very far off' days,
Immidiatly obvious was the ever present Gannets, with about c30 diving offshore, with many of them in a huge scrum above a pod of Dolphin and Porpoise. I dont get very much practise at cretations, so therefore my skills at id'ing them is extremly limited, however i was able to identify that about 10 Common Dolphin and 10 Harbour Porpoise were feeding offshore, as they often appeared at the top of the water and often broke the surface, however, it was a slight shame that the Dolphins never 'jumped' out of the water, which would have a made a good sight!

Eventually, a small flock of MANX SHEARWATER joined the meele of Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and proper 'seagulls'. However, all of these were very distant!
A little seawatching produced very little apart from the mentioned species, hopes of a skua never materialised,a nd despite favorable conditions later in the week, i didnt have any further time seawatching later in the week, which i now regret!
3 PUFFIN which flew past bears a remarkable similarity to a visit to the site last year,in which i also saw 3 Puffin fly past.
However, i was quickly distracted by 4 STONECHAT'S feeding in gorse just below the car park, giving stunning views down to 30ft, stonking views of a very interesting species, and one that i dont usually see in the home county of Worcestershire.
The female gave particularly good views, and i manadged this photo which i was quite proud off, well up there on my personal 'Favorite images' list.

The birds moved about almost constantly (as always with Chats), and with the wind, it made from some dificulties, however, i was happy enough to just sit and watch them, without the need for the scope.

Occasioanlly though, the birds would perch long enough for me to get some video footage.

Acompanying the female was also a stonking male, which similarly, gave absolutly stunning views, in almost perfect light, and with a backdrop of the sea, what could make a better photo?
(Apart from a better photographer!)

It was only when reviewing the photos later did i realise that the bird was grasping onto a wasp in its bill, a highly unlikely food source i would've thought?

The male, was a little lest restless than the female, and occasioanlly perched for longer periods of time than the female.

After a few hours around the lighthouse area of Strumble Head, we then dropped down into nearby Goodwick Harbour. On the drive down the steep hill entering the this picturesque harbour town i clocked onto a RED KITE circling above us, however, by the time we had stopped in the car park a few hundred metres away, the bird had dissapeared, and wasnt seen again.
A 1st summer MEDITERRANEAN GULL flew past, and out of the Harbour, which made for a Pemb's 'Tick', and again, this didnt come back and wasnt relocated. The tide was now rapidly receeding, and the newly exposed mud ment the flock of Oystercatchers were now moving in. Within a short period of time 15 OYC appeared.
In a walk along the breakwater, a single Common Blue Butterfly was noted, but very little else.

We then walked back to the car park, where for the 2nd year running, i enjoyed a superb Ice cream from the van that parks within the car park. Highly recomended if anyone is in the area, some of the best ice cream i've ever tasted!!
With the day having just passed Midday, we decided to move onwards, to Marloes Mere....
MB

Strumble Head

2/06/11

We had planned to visit Skomer Island today, but for the 2nd year running, we were unable to gte over there as they had already filled up the places by the time we were near, so we headed off to Strumble head, where we knew there was some good birding, we got the the centre of the head and it started climbing upwards, we parked in the Middle of think Fog and we had a quick walk of these upland Tracks, there were many Meadow Pipits, but very little else, a buzzard flew through, but the fog was tampering with the viewinf and you couldnt see anything.

A flitillary Sp butterly flew past, but flew into a Bull Paddock and i didnt persure it for obvious reasons, i have still to see any flitilleies (i know its spelt wrong :P)

The Pipits did show quite well though.

We then continued to the lighthouse for a seawatch which proved very rewarding, i had hoped for maybe a late skua as a bonxie had been seen a few days previous, but a skua sisnt fly past.

(I appoligise for the following pics, as you would expect on a seawatch, views were quite far away and photography almost impossible.

A few Kittiwakes were sitting offshore when we first arrived, and many Gannet were fishing, A Chough was calling and a Rock Pipit singing, that was when we picked up 4 Grey Seal popping up in the water.

A few Shags were also fishing offshore, but none really came close enough for a good photo.

A couple of Gannet came quite close.

And the lighthouse just as we arrived, as the fog started to evaporate.

But the highlight of the visit was what we had came to see,

Seabirds, and there was many of them.

Guillemot and Razorbill were flying past almost constantly, and further out, A flock of 50c MANX SHEARWATER were feeding, accompanyed by many Kittiwake, we spent the next 2-3 Hours scanning the sea, and after about 2 hours, the seabirds were joined by a flock/pod/ group of Harber Porpoise, and a couple of dolphin sp, and with these came alot more seabirds, Suddenly we were inundated with over 400!!! MANX SHEARWATER, and also around 50 Kittiwake, i presumed the Porpoise had brought with them lots of smaller fish, and other things Shearwaters, gulls and gannets like to eat, thus boosting the number of many birds that were following the food source.

In the Mayhem, i latched onto 3 Auks flying left (west), Through the scope, it was obvious that i was watching 3 PUFFINS, they actually came in quite close, where you could see their huge bills, however, they quickly wirred around the corner of the headland and was lost to view behind the lighthouse. After this it quietened down, and later we decided to leave.

Highlights;

400+ Manx Shearwater

3 Puffin

100c Guillemot

30c Razorbill

50c Kittiwake

80+ Gannet

1 Chough

1 Fulmar

6 Shag

3 Oyc

as well as sightings of Porpoise, seals and dolphins.

On the way back we stopped at Fishguard Harber where i had the most amazing Ice cream ever, and a Can of Coca cola, we walked up to a pumping station ( or something similar) in the Harber and saw 8 Oyc, There was also another Grey Seal Here.

MB

stackpole day 2

28/05/09

even though visibility out at sea was bad but with just 15 mins of seawatching(too restless to search the area) we had both 2 manx searwater and 2 sandwich terns.both are the second record ive ever had.both a biot distant though and little plumage detail could be seen through the fog.i must say though it was pritty much the same stuff as mentioned before.a flaged juvernile kitiwake flew past the head.

i have 4 highlights for this trip though the 2 mentioned above and 1 whinchat which gave close but brief views over the hike around the head,and 9 yes 9 chough.that was a proppa sight and got some quite good pics(well come on it is me your talking about)

the fulmars were perticulary photogenic and came verrrry close

the painted ladys i mentioned in the last post were still pasing through and we counted about the same number as last time

a random great black an one of the many beaches

and a rock pipit

over the whole 2 trips to the head we counted only 2 male wheatear and both were super flighty and we found one of their nests in a hole in the ground.i managed 1 video of the male

the pipits and larks were scurrying around my feet again and while doing this we stumbled upon a skylark nest which we were guided away from by the adult(m or f god knows)

the razorbills gave close views at a nest hole/ledge/crack thing.

a pair of choughs

highlights are

fulmar 15+

2 manxies

3 gannet

2 shag

3 oyc

6 g b b gull

15+kitiwake

2 sandwich tern

same totals as last time 4 guillemot and razorbill

9 skylark

15c rock pipit

4 meadow pipit

5 wheatear

1 whinchat

1 lesserthroat

9 chough

13 linnet

i didnt go birding again during the holiday spending most of my time playing footie or in the pub(not that good for a 14 year old to say that)it was a good holiday and i will do one last post showing the best pics and videos of the holiday.

im goin to make a small poll.

what do you think is the best bird i saw on the holiday.for me it is the ring ouzel on the way there.but its up to you

MB

sorry for the recent lack of posts,had a lot of school stuff to do.