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

Wales 2012

9/06/12And thats was that!
Another week in Pembrokeshire had been and gone, with only two days birding! The rather atrocious weather leaving much of the rest of the weekend useless for that purpose, although lots of time was spent with my girlfriend, Out and about with her, and with family, so the weather didnt affect things too much!

The usual RED KITE count taken place on the way back was in better weather, with it being sunny most of the way! (Sods law!) but we were left shocked at the MASSIVE floods around the river adjacent to the road coming into Llandovery, Massive area's had been covered by flood water and looked amazing. If only we had stopped for a scan :(

The c20 mile radious of Llandovery agian was the hotspot. And we reached a total of 27+, Which was nearing the highest total iver ever had!

We paused in Llandovery where i got a few photo's of the Kites as they soared over chimneytops in the town centre!
I also had a very nice ham salad baguette from the cafe opposite the 'castle car park'.
I returned home about 3, and i was only the patch soon after!
MB

The Gann- Waders!!

4/06/12

Having completed our visit to our second site of the day, we then moved to another site nearby, one that i have never visited before, but one which often crops up with a few decent birds. I had 'scouted' the area on Google Maps (What an amazing tool) and was quite exited at the possibilites as 'The Gann' could produce, the habitat looked very good, and was only a small compact site, ideal for a quick visit!

The main reason for the visit to was to try and pick out some waders, however my hopes wernt exactly high as most waders would be back on breeding territory now.

Immidiatly upon arrival, a large flock of 48 Oystercather lazilly rested on the island within the pools. Infact, the largest flock of OYC ive seen!

There was a nice mix of plumages within the flock, ranging from 1st summers, non breeding adults, and breeding adults.

However, i was soon distracted by a multitude of Curlew calls as a flcok of 30 Waders took flight from rocks in the bay after being disturbed by walkers.

Closer and closer they flew, and i quickly latched onto 2 smaller waders within the flock. Still closer they flew, and as they neered, i was able to get a decent look at the smaller birds. Upturned bills, wedge up the back. RED!

BAR-TAILED GODWITS!

Awsome, immidiatly the stop in was worth it, and i enjoyed crippling in flight views of these waders, one which is fairly hard to get on a year to year basis with my lack of coastal birding, hoping from an inland straggler.

The birds moved closer, and i was able to get a couple of snaps of the flock as it flew around, over and over, trying to land on the pools, but comtinually being disturbed by further walkers.

A few WHIMBREL were also in the flock, one of which is highlighted in the photo below.

And here is a size comparison between a Curlew, and one of the Barwits (Presumably a female)

In total, 6 WHIMBREL were in the bay area of the Gann, flying to and fro between the Sea and the small river estury, calling frequently, which allerted us to their presence as they flew past.

It was only now however, that we noticed that the pebbly beach in front of us had a small gathering of small waders on it!

There certainly was more waders about than i was expecting!

A DUNLIN took close company with a pair of RINGED PLOVER (My first for the year!), which shown incredibally well on the shoreline. Infact, the closest views ive had without being in a hide!

The gathering preformed brilliantly, and allowed for some photos and videos.

 I particuarly like the two above photos due to the 'mirroring' pose of the birds and the differential focus on the birds!

It was great just to be able to sit on the beach, watching these birds with the calling of Herring Gulls and the Sea lapping up the shore. Welcome to the seaside ladies and gents!

I tried to get a photo with a breaker wave coming in behind the bird, and this is all i managed!

The seaweed on the shore obviously held lots of food for them, as they spent much of their time picking from among it. Presumably feeding up on way to return to breeding territory.

The Summer plumaged DUNLIN kept very close company to the Ringed Plovers, and this too, allowed for some great views!

Again, i like this photo, and personally think its one of the best Dunlin photos ive taken!

And a bit of short video footage.

All in all, a very nice visit, and a great little spot to check out, another place to add to my list of places to go next year!

MB

Marloes Mere- Ibis takeover

4/06/12

After a seemingly eternal drive from Strumble Head to the small village of Marloes, we soon pulled into the car park, On arrival in the National Trust car park, we paid our fee and headed down to the 'barbed wire gate' which has been mentioned hundreds of times as i check about news of a flock of special birds which had been present for months!

On the way down though, we were met by this rather appealing (grusome?) image of a cluster of 'The Lackey' moth catapillars, which certainly made for a change. I was actually quite appealed to these, their bright colours obviously to warn off predators!

Continuing on, walking through a rather picturesque landscape, we soon came to the 'barbed wire gate', and after a quick scan around, our quiry was located, a flock of 3 GLOSSY IBIS!

As can be seen from the photo, they wernt exactly very showy while we were there, and the birds often only gave glimpses amongst the tussoks. Rather a dissapointment considering the views/Photos/Video that Jason K from Shenstone Birder had a few weeks previously (Here)

 These birds have been giving me constant nightmares since april, and i was glad to have seen them. They (twice) flew over to Ireland to visit Tacumsluin (Or however its spelt) and gave me fears they wouldnt come back, but the week before we were due to go over to wales, the birds returned, and as can be seen, Stuck around a little longer for me! So thankyou Glossy Ibis's.

The flock consisted of 3 birds, a very colourful adult, which was absolutly stunning! Another adult, although slightly duller (and alot less showy), and an immature type, which still had white spotting on its head, and less of a 'glossy' look.

My first 'real' view out in the open (ish) was of this aformentioned immature bird.

But my main goal was to try to get soemething on that really glossy bird, and slowly but surely, it slowly (and i do mean very slowly!) worked it way through the tussoks to give great scope views. Annoyingly though, the tussocks were the downfall of all my photos, and i could never correctly focus on the bird as it always focused on tussoks in front of the bird, however, here are my attempts.

We then decided to move away from the bird for abit, as they were making very slow progress towards us. We headed up to the hide, where we sat for a while, A few Shoveler and a Gadwall were on the mere.
Time passed, and we didnt pick out anything, so walked back towards the Gate, noting a Common Blue Buttefly on the way. I looked up and noticed a Gannet flying over north! I shouted it out to my dad, and it was only then that i remembered that we were only a few hundered metres from the sea here.

Arriving back with the Glossy Ibis's, we noted that the colourful bird had walked in closer, and i started snapping away again!

The bird's were right bastards tbh, and only very briefly walked out between the tussoks, further hindering my chances of a decent photo. However, after a decent amount of time. one of the birds appeared in full view, at reasonable range, and i just blast fired photos, just in the vain hope of getting one decent photo. 

YEP! It still didnt work! So with us now being very Knat bitten, and suffering from mild sunstroke, we decided to retreat.
However, a quick video of the adult bird was needed!
Awsomeness.
Great bird!


These final 2 were proberbly the best photos i got though, but again, there are many 'faults' with them (No1 being too dark as my camera slipped from my lens when i took the photo, leading to slight vignetting around the bird, and No 2 the obvious downside being its facing away, despite it being the sharpest photo)

Anyway, they were great birds to see. With them being in summer plumage, and having only seen one bird previously (The 1w bird at Grimley) it made a nice learning trip (even though one wasnt needed for such a stunning, unmistakable bird)

However, that still wasnt enough, and we then switched to another nearby site.....

MB

Wales 2012

The yearly week holiday to the gorgeous country of Pembrokeshire was upon us!

I look foward to our yearly visit here, it is a rare opporotunity to get away from midland birding and see something different, and the place is just so stunning!
I usally get out to a few places out birding, my favorite on the 'list' being the Stackpole Head area, one with sheer cliffs and a stunning beach, and a good few decent birds. We also got out to a few 'rarity' hotspots and did abit of watching there, although being early june, we wernt going to get many migrants.

This year, im going to seperate locations apart from each other, so instead of doing a blog post on a day, i will instead do it on a site. This will make it a little easier for me at the formatting stage.

But to start off. the annual 'Big Red kite count'.
2/06/12
On our journey from North Worcestershire to Pembrokeshire, i counted 31 RED KITE in the skies above us, every single one after the welsh border, with the highest concentration being in the 20 mile radius surrounding Llandovery, which has always been the area i see the most.

MB

Wales- The End

4/06/11

On the journey back from wales, the weather was alot more 'Raptor friendly' and this perfect weather resulted in auite a few raptors.

From Pembrokeshire to The border with England i counted 26 Red Kite, My 2nd highest count ever.

This eclpised the 11+ Buzzard that i had, but tbh, after we left wales i started texting, and so probs missed all the buzzards.

However a Highlight from the journey was a stunning female GOSHAWK seen In a pinewood around Centrel Wales.

A Hobby, and so far my only Hobby of the year, was seen In herefordshire somewhere.

And thats it No more Wales for another year :'(

But some amazing birds to come.

MB

Bits N bobs

1/06/11

As where we was staying is close to a military base and a training area, we oftern had flypasts from many military Aircraft, this Sea King flew over while i was photographing Swallows.

And here are the Aformented Swallows.

But it was on the 1st that i noticed that a Pied Wagtail (female) was colour ringed, i tried for ages to read the rings but the views were always inadequet to Id the colours, so when in the morning on the 1st the bird dropped down onto the lawn to feed i took many snaps of the bird, the rings were:

(From top down)

Right Leg- Red then Bto ring

Left Leg- Red, Yellow, Yellow

This bird was seen everyday on site.

Later in the day we checked out a few spots where i visited last year

Carew Castle

We hadnt got out of the car before i picked up a wagtail scuttiling on the car park, a Look at the bird revealed it to be a Male White Wagtail, i Took a few photos of the bird, then wlaked down to the tidal pool.

Which was Dead, only 2 Distant Shelduck out on the Mudflats on the Estury side.

So as we were close, we decided to Drop into Lawrenny, where last year we had a Great Egret, this year we wernt so lucky, But 2 Of their Little Cousions were stalking the banks, there was a good scattering of Shelduck and Gulls and it was while scanning the Flats i picked up a small flock of Waders.

Consisting of 15 Birds, it was headlined by 2 Turnstones, both of which were in summer plumage, A Sanderling run in a close second, which also was in summer plumage, a single Ringed Plover and 11 Dunlin.

MB

Stackpole Head- Wales

31/05/11

A visit to my welsh local patchm Stackpole Head was actually rather dissapointing as many of the usual breeding birds numbers were well down on previous years, and all bird species bar Rock Pipit had decreased.

And there was plent of Rock Pipit about, with around 20c Scuttering around the cliff tops, including many Juv type birds. with patience, the Pipits came quite close.

This photo just seems to show the dissapearence of many of the seabirds, this ledge usually is completly covered with Guillemots, but this year only a few were here, and that also includes the birds flying off the cliff, with far less feeding offshore or flying to further distances out, it just seemed less 'Busy'/

And only 3 Wheatear were present, including one male, which is also a low figure..

Fulmars has dropped in numbers slightly with only about 10 birds noted.

A peregrine flew in off the sea from the other side of the bay, and caused abit of chaos.

But a real treat was to see this Tornado Jumpjet wheeling above us and practising bombing runs over Castlemorton Range

A Gannet was feeding close in on the return walk back to the car, and it was while this bird was flying around that i picked up 3 Whimbrels Flying in from the south calling as they went, they flew over the path and north towards pembroke town, i think they may have landed on the estury there, but that is entirely speculation.

Highlights:

10c Fulmar

13+ Gannet

3 Shag

1 Peregrine

4 OYC

3 Whimbrel

2+ Kittiwake

100c Guillemot

30c Razorbill

20c Rock Pipit

3 Wheatear

2 Chough

MB