It is very sad news indeed about Hywel his contribution to birding in Ceredigion is immeasurable. I remember him well from the early days of kite protection in Wales, well at least early in terms of people of our age group! We sat together as 'nest watchers' on the old kite committee back in the early 1980's. He was a quiet modest man and he will be sorely missed.
On a lighter note I paid a visit to the Clettwr at Treddol today in an attempt to get a good photo of a dipper. I saw one bird there by the footbridge but the little devil was camera shy! Anyway I did get a couple of shots of it feeding in the river which I will put on here if its any good when I get a chance to look at the photos. I then took a spin down to Ynyslas where I walked to the point. There were about 4 sanderling feeding in a creek as well as a ringed plover. It was very quiet out at sea. No sign of the Snow Buntings but there was a small group of Linnets on the shore. A peregrine was preening on the shingle spit and then flew up towards the Leri area where it kept a watchful eye for its next meal. There were 6 Mute Swans present on the mudflats. I then did some sea-watching by the lifeboat station at Borth. 3 Atlantic Grey Seals were feeding close to the shore which attracted a few gulls so it turned into a mini feeding frenzy. There were a number of auks present too (Guillemots). There were about 20 Red-throated divers, 3 Great Crested Grebes, and a few Common Scoters.