Silver-washed Fritillary

Definitely not an expert but I would suggest that the location makes it far more likely to have been a Dark Green Fritillary which you certainly do get up there. The Silver Washed is more of a broadleaved woodland fella who likes to flutter around and take his/her time, whereas the Dark Green prefers the coast and moorland and seems more motivated!
Either way, a beautiful butterfly.

PENDERI

Bob and I paid a visit to the cliffs at Penderi, south of Aberystwyth this afternoon. A few Cormorants were still on their nests and plenty of Herring Gulls and a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls had young. A male Kestrel stayed in the vicinity.
Of the numerous butterflies about, one in particular caught our attention and we think it was a Silver-washed Fritillary. Any comments from those much more expert than us?

More about Med Gulls

I have looked at some of the colour ringing/ringing details received over the last few years for Med gulls and, so far, we have details of birds ringed either as young or as adults at breeding colonies in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Poland and Hungary which were later seen in the county. The location of ringed black-headed gulls seen in the county seems to be slightly further east with records from Norway, Estonia, Lithuania with one from Belgium. In Birds of Wales, Hume (1976)states that at Blackpill, Glamorgan wintering med. gulls departed by end April, in April and May there was an influx of 1st year birds followed by a fresh arrival of adults and 2nd year birds from late June.On the Dyfi in most years there is a large influx of black-headed gulls from July onwards (certainly too many to be local birds) and it is interesting to speculate that these may have come from the Baltic states breeding colonies (and may have caught up the gull-billed tern seen in 2007, the closest breeding colonies for this species being in the Baltic sea region). Strangely though, Med. gulls seem to disdain the Dyfi area at this time of year with nowhere near the numbers recorded at favoured spots further south though there was a fine adult in breeding plumage with the black-headed gulls today and yesterday.

Russell Jones

Warden
Ynys-hir RSPB reserve
Gwarchodfa natur Ynys-hir

Med Gull

Although dwarfed by the flock of 17 recorded on saturday, there was 1 adult summer Med Gull on Borth beach yesterday! There were 3 Singing Reed Warblers along the bridle way behind the train station

Tom Wells

MEDITERRANEAN GULLS

Spurred on by Jon Turner's sightings, Bob and I went in search of some Med. Gulls. Starting at Llansantffraed, there were 3 adults, and 1 first and 1 second summer birds. Also back early from their breeding grounds, were 2 Common Gulls, hardly ever seen here much before late July.

At nearby Llanon, on the field mentioned by Jon, were an adult and 3 first summer Med. Gulls.

Up at Ty Gwyn Pool there appeared to quite a number of adults and younger birds but before we could count them a shot-gun blast caused all the birds there to take off, all returning except for the Med. Gulls. The Lapwings were easier to count whiule in the air; about 60. Also present, a Green Sandpiper and a Greenshank, more early return-passage waders.

These Med. Gulls are returning from their breeding areas, mainly from the continent and later, in July, we should start seeing some of this season's juvenile birds.

Many Med. Gull seen in Ceredigion have large colour rings and should anyone note the colour and the code letters or numbers on the ring, google EURING and send them the details. It acts as a clearing house for bird ring sightings and eventually the finder is sent a history of the bird in question.
eg for many years Green 31Y from Antwerp has turned up on the beach at Borth by the toilet block between July and January.
British ringed birds, from southern England, have yellow rings and are hardly ever if at all seen here. Birds from these countries have turned up: Belgium with green rings with code starting with 3 or white rings starting with 3 or E; France, green starting with R; Germany, green starting with A; and Poland, red starting with P.

Med Gulls at Llanon

Late news from Saturday evening: at sunset there were 17(!) adult summer plumage Med Gulls at Llanon (south beach car park) with the mixed gull flock on the ploughed/reseeded coastal field. There were also a number of immatures too, but too far away to count in the fading light. As someone else has commented, where are they coming from? Worth keeping an eye on this field.

Also one ad Med in the Black-head colony at Ty Gwyn pools earlier, where one of the Little ringed plover chicks was foraging along the pool edge very close to the roadside hide, rather to the concern of its parent!

Dyfi Osprey Project

We probably had our the best week yet at the Dyfi Osprey Project - birds showing well for most of the time every day and both ospreys have been diving into the lagoons at Cors Dyfi itself last Sunday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday we had THREE ospreys on the nest! A large female flew in for just over 24 hours upsetting our resident pair. She was un-ringed and has now gone, I wonder where she calls home?

Over 1,500 visitors this week - total now over 15,000 since we opened including the 73 we welcomed on our last nightjar walk of the summer Saturday night.

Birds seen this week include honey buzzard and a magnificent hobby that flew over Thursday morning in search of insects. Also grasshopper warblers singing all over the place.

Foel Fawr

Just back from a walk on Foel Fawr with one year old Buster-dog and two year old grandson Frank. They are great buddies and in some respects very similar! We saw Whinchats and Tree Pipits. Also saw Grey Wagtail on the Einion.

Ynyslas

There was a feeding frenzy off-shore to the South of Ynyslas turn car park at 8.30 this morning.
c 60 Gannet and possibly 1000 Manx Shearwater were concentrated in a fairly small area which also attracted a couple of Bottle-nose Dolphins.

Red Kites

A rewarding day was spent ringing and tagging kites in the Clarach watershed yesterday as part of the programme of the Welsh Kite Trust to monitor the population changes of our 'National Bird'. Out of the seven nests checked - 4 had 2 chicks, 2 had a single chick and 1 had failed. This productivity is pretty good, as in general, the success rate has been somewhat lower over other areas of Cardiganshire.

For further information on the work of the WKT please contact Tony Cross, Project Officer, The Welsh Kite Trust"Samaria", Nantmel, Llandrindod WellsPowys, LD1 6ENTel. +44 (0) 1597 825981 or visit the web-site http://www.welshkitetrust.org/

WHIMBREL

The Whimbrel seen flying south off Aberystwyth this morning by Harry Pepper was probably the first of the autumn passage of these birds, or as it is still only June, what some of use prefer to call 'return passage'!

Black Tailed Godwits

There were 6 Black tailed Godwits at Ty Gwyn pools this afternoon with excellent views from the far hide.(+ 3 turkeys!!). I saw 1 Little Ringed Plover but it was so hot in the hide nearest the road that I didn't stay long.
7 species of butterfly in the wood. Lots of Ringlets and Meadow Browns.

A Marsh Fritillary on a Lesser Butterfly Orchid in fields near my house was a rather special sighting. There were quite a number of Marsh fritillaries as well as a few Small Pearl Bordered. Altogether 11 different butterflies today. It seems like a good year.

Ynyslas

At Aberleri for the high tide this morning but I didn't hang around for very long. Jet-skis and power-boats were dashing along the river and there were fishermen on the bank. So I went to the turn car park from where I was able to see Gannets plunging into the sea and several hundred Manx Shearwaters. Also present were a couple of Dolphins, I guess the fishing was good!

Green Sandpiper

I was at Ty Gwyn Pools yesterday (26th June) viewing the Mediterranean Gulls and the Little Ringed Plover (I'm pleased to report that her two chicks continue to flourish). An unexpected surprise on the water's edge near the trees and also in flight was the appearance of a Green Sandpiper. Andre Morgan

Colour ringed Bar-tailed Godwit

Some of you may recall that back on the 25th May 2009 I saw a colour ringed Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) feeding amongst a group of Whimbrel on the beach at Ynyslas. The bird displayed adult non-breeding plumage. From enquiries made I have established that the Godwit was ringed on the West Frisian island of 'Terschelling' in the Wadden Sea area of the Northern Netherlands on the 17th May 2006. This was the first sighting of the bird outside the Netherlands. The ringing project on Bar-tailed Godwits as well as the Red Knot is being undertaken by the wader-group of the Department of Marine Ecology of The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) based on the Dutch island of Texel. For information on the colour ringing project please visit the link below and enter 'colour rings' in the search engine:-

http://www.nioz.nl/

Cockatiel, and owl records needed for the Atlas

Had a strange sighting yesterday afternoon: a Cockatiel flying around and calling, high over the IBERS (IGER) campus near Penrhyn-coch! It seemed quite distressed/lost, so perhaps a recent escapee...
Also Spotted flycatcher in the woodland - will check if they're breeding.

I notice from the Pembs blog that they're very short of owl breeding season records for the BTO Atlas - so have checked the Ceredigion pages, and was surprised to see that SN68 is the only grid square in our county so far with confirmed breeding for Tawny Owl! Now is a good time to listen/look out for young Tawnies sitting around squeaking after dusk (our local ones are very noisy), so if anyone comes across them, how about adding some "roving records"? See www.bto.org/birdatlas to get to sign-in page.

The page http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/alloccard.html has the local results for selected species in Ceredigion/Cardiganshire. Some of the other breeding records published on the blog recently may also be valuable.

In Search of Nightjars

An evening visit to the Penrhyncoch lakes yesterday, as a prelude to listenening and looking for Nightjars, was rewarded with a Common Sandpiper, a Mallard with six well grown ducklings, a pair of Tufties and Canada geese with two goslings on Syfydrin. Nothing to be seen on the other lakes.

As for the Nightjars - nothing to be seen or heard in their traditional areas.

Llanrhystud

Llanrhystud beach this evening -adult med gull, wheatears with young, 6 curlew, ringed plover, skylark, heron, 25 oystercatcher, lots of activity at the sand martin colony, swifts, manx shearwaters and gannet.

John Woodruff

TY GWYN POOL

I was unable to match Chris Bird's impressive sighting of a number of Mediterranean Gulls last Saturday but today we saw a couple of first summer birds and a stunning-looking adult in breeding plumage. What are adults doing around here at this time of year?
Phil Dennis noticed a young Little Ringed Plover there, also last Saturday and I am pleased to report that it is still about and looking well grown.
Also, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Stock Dove.

Pendinas

There was a pair of very obliging Grasshopper Warblers on the path up the west side of Pendinas, with the male singing on top of a shrub and the female close by in a gorse bush looking a little agitated possibly due to a nest. There was also c15 Sedge Warblers in the area and 8 male and 1 female Whitethroat as well as around 10 Linnets and a pair of Stonechats

Tom Wells

Nightjars

Cross Inn Forest 23rd June Probably my best ever Nightjar watching and listening, with 5 singing males on the eastern end and 1 on the south west end. Also, Curlew calling flying over and 2 singing Grasshopper Warblers. 21st June Just for interest I spent over one hour listening around Llyn Berwyn but with no luck at all. (Hywel and I had one in this area a few years ago.) Chris Bird

A request for Kestrel Sightings

A REQUEST FOR KESTREL SIGHTINGS IN NORTH CEREDIGION

(Not on the coast please)

I’M LOOKING FOR AREAS OF KESTREL ACTIVITY. EITHER NESTING, PAIRS CARRYING FOOD OR CALLING WITHIN NORTH CEREDIGION. JUST A ONE KILOMETRE GRID REFERENCE WILL DO.

I’VE ALREADY PUT UP SOME KESTREL NESTING BOXES AND HAVE HAD SOME SUCCESS WITH KESTRELS AND BARN OWLS AND WANT TO PUT UP MORE IN SUITABLE LOCATIONS.

PLEASE CONTACT RED LIFORD ON pegred@gotadsl.co.uk

Starlings

I’ve seen no Starlings in the Ystrad Meurig area since winter so pleased to have a flock o f 18 adult and juv around the house.

Are they Ceredigion bred birds or early migrants from Eastern Europe?

2 male Bullfinches eating pansy seeds in the garden and fledged Willow warblers being fed.

Curlews still about so may have well grown young.

Philip Ellis

Tywi Forest/Camddwr

A productive walk through an area of forestry north of Soar y Myndd this morning yielded some good numbers of birds inc 19 Siskins, 12 singing Tree Pipits and 5 Crossbills. On my way down Camddwr back to my car at the chapel there were Wheatears,Whinchats and Stonechats,a Dipper and 3 reeling Grasshopper Warblers. I also noted a healthy population of Reed Buntings along the valley(8 males) as well as two Common Sandpipers. The Sandpipers were separated by about 3 miles and so I presume there must be at least two pairs/territories along here. I also got chatting with someone from the Red Squirrel project whilst in the Tywi Forest who told me that he sees them about once a month. Apparently some forestry workers who were just up the track had seen one in some Lodgepole Pines around where we were prior to them having to fell that particular area.

Redstarts & Lesser Whitethroats

Recent sightings to report:-

Friday 19^th – On the back road from Glan Yr Afon Ind Est to Cwm Reidol I saw 1 male Redstart and 2 individual Lesser Whitethroats plus 20 or so Sand Martins flying around the bridge over the river in Capel Bangor. In Cwm Reidol where the farmers were grass cutting, there were 18 Red Kites sat on the cut grass along with 5 Lesser Black Backed Gulls and 6 Herring Gulls.

I was told of reports of approx 100 Gulls in a field in Ystumtuen. Possibly Lesser Black Backed Gulls.

The Buzzards nest in Ystumtuen has an adult patrolling the nest and keeping guard.

Also regular Redstarts seen, along with Wheaters and more recently, around 30 fledged Blue and Great Tits on our feeders.

Matt and Charly Potter

Quail

A quail calling at this very moment near Salem, Penrhyncoch.......
(Received at 23.35 Sunday 21st)

Jeremy Moore

Nant-y-Moch telegraph pole

Mike,
Regarding the "crow's" nest on the telegraph pole at Nant -y-moch, it was there about a month ago, although I didn't see the owner.

I also saw a similar one there about 15 years ago as well. Suspect it's the lack of trees!

Jeremy Moore

Med Gulls

Saturday, 20 June Ty Gwyn Pool Late afternoon, four adult, one second year and six first year Mediterranean Gulls. Llanrhystud The Sand Martin colony just beyond the lime kilns looks to be thriving, 30-40 nest holes, but too far for me to walk down to. A probable Noctule Bat near Llyn Fanod on 15/6/09. I have been around a few Nightjar sites but only had 3 so far in Cross Inn. Is anyone else looking ? Chris Bird

Nantymoch - Osprey - or Crow

On the Maesnant arm of Nantymoch reservoir the above nest was noted this afternoon - is it the Osprey's which is reputed to be up there or is it a wayward crow's that could not find a tree on Plynlimon??!!

Little Ringed plover

I see that John Davies recorded a Little Ringed Plover on 5 May at Ty Gwyn pools.
This afternoon there was a single adult with a well patterned chick about 10 ft in front of the first hide. The adult seemed to leave it for about 5 minutes at a time and the chick was happy to mess around on the shingle and by the water edge. The Black Headed Gulls and Lapwings occasionally gave the adult a hard time if it got too close to them.

At the limekilns at Llarhystud a Chough flew over but, otherwise, it was very quiet.

We have some Siskins making regular visits to our feeder at Cross Inn. This is a bird which we rarely used to see, particularly not at this time of year.

Foel Fawr

I was feeling a bit lazy this afternoon so I took Lulu and Buster up onto the Foel in the car.
Once parked we took a footpath to my favourite bench and sat for a while.
I saw Whinchat, Stonechat and Willow Warbler close to the bench, also heard Tree Pipit and Wood Warbler. It was very blowy with dark clouds moving over. What happened to the "return to sumer" promised by the weathermen?

Late-nesting Swallows........

As it is so quiet, I thought I'd just mention that at last "our" swallows are paying some attention to the garden shed!

Last year, by this time, they had laid, incubated and deserted the nest in mysterious circumstances. (Magpies? House Sparrows? - we were away on holiday when it happened)

This year we had a fleeting visit in mid-April, then nothing till the end of May. Yesterday plenty of activity from two obviously very excited birds, visiting the shed amid loud chattering. What were they up to?

Whether it will actually happen, and if there's still time to rear a brood, we shall see.

Jeremy Moore

The Quietness continues.....

How right you are it is very quiet! However I have some good news about the abandoned Kite's nest .We have been reliably informed by the nest watcher for the Kite Trust that another pair have successfully hatched three young very close by.This has not been a good year as numbers of succesfull nests are down,mainly they think because of the inclement weather following a very warm Easter.We are eagerly waiting to see the new family flying overhead.

On a more mundane note I can report that our pair of resident magpies are regularly taking their two youngsters through the DIY feeding routine, but they are slow learners or just plain lazy and hop up to mum begging her to feed them.She ignores them most of the time and looks harrased before flying off into the trees.What a good parent! Hope things improve next week as summer is due to return perhaps so will the birds.

Lis Collison

'Dolphin Discovery' weekend & Sponsored walk

On the weekend 15th-16th August two leading whale & dolphin charities ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) and the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre will be holding a 'Dolphin Discovery' weekend and sponsored walk starting from the wildlife centre at New Quay and along a 4.5 stretch of the coastal path to the cove at Cwm Tydu. There will be a small marquee alongside the wildlife centre with ORCA & CBMWC whale & dolphin experts present. Funds raised from this event will be split between the two organisations. Many of you will know this section of the coastal path so why not come and join us on the walk which will be led by myself on both days. We will have a gazebo tent at Cwm Tydu manned by ORCA personnel to greet walkers and there will be a taxi service provided by our group to ferry walkers back to New Quay if they wish. Why not combine it with a 2 or 4 hour dolphin survey trip on Steve Hartley's boat the 'Sulaire'. Steve is offering a 10% discount off boat fees to 'named sponsors' during the weekend or if the weather is bad within a 'reasonable' time thereafter. I have had great views of sea-birds from his boat in the past including large numbers of Manx Shearwaters and a couple of Storm Petrels. We should see some good bird-life on the coastal path too but I guess the auks and Kittiwakes will have vacated their cliff colonies by then.
So please get sponsored and come and join us or at least offer to sponsor myself!

Visit ORCA's website on http://www.orcaweb.org.uk/ where you can get more information about the event and download a sponsorship form.

Not a lot!!

Ynyslas this afternoon- except for a few grockles all to be seen was a lone Dunlin and a single Ringed Plover - its the midsummer trough!

Not much about is there..........

The blog is very quiet, not many postings recently.
Perhaps that's because there's not much about..........

Goshawk

A goshawk near Pendam Lake yesterday evening too – just at the top of the Hippety Hop section of the mountain bike trail.
John Woodruff

ortolans

Phil, as no-one better qualified has replied here is my pennyworth! Ortolan would be a very rare bird at this time of year and rare birds are usually only seen singly!
If you saw a pair(or two) then they are more likely to be one of 'our' birds. Light is all important as is distance, angle,optics used,call note and behaviour. You really need to buy a modern field guide(Collins guide by Lars Svensson and Killian Mullarney is the current bible) and get a digital camera for such a moment! Our local Ceredigion Bird Report is a good guide to what is most likely to be seen and Jon Green's Birds in Wales also presents the scene historically.
Strange things can happen however so that is where the digital camera comes in (or very detailed field sketches) and a mobile phone to alert a nearby bird expert.
As this blog is about sightings: GOSHAWK carrying food,mobbed by jackdaws at Abermeurig today, really low overhead, nearly caused a RTA!

Oystercatcher Chicks

After dipping our toes in the sea at Ynyslas this afternoon Buster, Lulu and me went to Aberleri where we saw 2 adult Oystercatchers taking care of 3 youngsters. A few Linnets feeding by the side of the track but not much else.

New Map Needed for Bird Report

The map used in the Ceredigion Bird Report really needs to be replaced by a clearer, more informative one and I wondered if anyone could help me with this task. What we need is a county map showing the main rivers and towns and some of the main birdwatching sites such as Ynyshir, Cors Caron etc.
If anyone can produce a new map I would be very grateful. My details are on the Contacts page.

Possible Ortolan Buntings............

I may be mad but I think we saw a pair of Ortolan this afternoon as we
were walking on the coastal path between Clarach and Wallog. It
certainly seemed to be something unusual or out of the ordinary.

Time: approx 16:00h
Grid ref: SN 5875 8500
Weather: fine; light easterly breeze; visibility good.
Habitat: coastal scrub and long grasses.
Location: on the seaward side of the path.
Behaviour: flitting in and out of view in the long grasses and low
bushes; perching briefly in view in grass tops or twigs.

My notes made at the time say:
.......................
Grey head
Chestnut back
Black and white tail feathers
biege-buff front
yellowish face/breast
Ortolan? Cirl Bunting? (Linnet??)
2 (i.e. a pair seen)
................................

Checking in my (very old) bird book at home, the helmet-like grey head
of the male Ortolan illustrated in the book is just the image of what I
saw in my binoculars earlier this afternoon.

Other species: we had already seen stonechat, whitethroat as we walked
south from Wallog. We also saw a wheatear with young on Wallog beach,
nesting in a hole right at the bottom of the beachside wall. Also
meadow pipit. Oyster catcher were lively at Wallog and below the
coastal path.

I would be interested in what you think. Is this possible? My book says
passage migrant.
Thanks,
Phil

Phil Colbourn,
Bow Street

Cuckoos

On the subject of Cuckoos, I seem to have seen / heard many more around this spring than in recent years - is that impression shared by others? If so, it's quite encouraging!

Cuckoo

John Davis and I had fab views of a male Cuckoo on Tregaron Bog this afternoon. The Hobbys that I had hoped for let us down but the Cuckoo was a very good consolation prize.

GULLS

Meurig and I paid a visit to the cliff-top at New Quay today. Most of the Kittewakes were on eggs and plenty of the Razorbills and Guillemots had chicks, although generally very hard to see.
On the way back we noticed that the gull roost on a coastal field at Llanon had got bigger and closer examination revealed 112 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, mainly juvs.; quite a number for Ceredigion.
At nearby Ty Gwyn pools an equally impressive 8 Mediterranean Gulls were present, all 1st summer birds.

amazing!

Whilst buying some organic weeds for tea from the excellent crynfryn veg shed at Penuwch I was stunned to see a massive owl fly down from the beech trees and pitch on a bank: two floppy ears??? Well it wasn't Bugs Bunny so go and find out!
Don't forget your pennies for the veg.

BORTH

Early morning and a flat, calm sea is often a good time for sea-birds off Borth and this morning was no exception with my first 1000+ group of Manx Shearwaters. Many were close in and several Gannets and Kittewakes and a lone Sandwich Tern were also present.
I and all my friends are also exceptionally grateful for all the efforts of the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust at Cors Dyfi and their enthusiastic and friendly staff and volunteers.
With so much of the estuary flanked by Ceredigion, it is a shame that, for the time being at least, we have to cross the county line to visit the Dyfi's Osprey Project.

Llanio

There were 2 pairs of Spotted Flycatchers and a Kingfisher here this morning. Thank Liz for alerting me to the presence of Kingfishers along this stretch of the river! I lingered a little longer than usual at Pont Llanio and got lucky.

Cwm Einion & Foel Fawr

Having just returned from a walk along Cwm Einion and over Foel Fawr with Tony Allenby I'm glad to be indoors avoiding the current downpour. Amongst the birds seen were Pied & Spotted Flycatcher, Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler, (including some young ones being fed by adults) and a juvenile Redstart, my first on the Foel. Cuckoo, Blackcap, Wood Warbler and Garden Warbler heard but not seen.

Kingfisher

A Kingfisher at Aberaeron on the evening of 8 June was reported to me by several fishermen.

Ian Harrison

Dyfi Osprey Project

Hi Praise indeed for the Dyfi Osprey Project and everyone involved in it particularly the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust who got the whole project up and running in a remarkably short space of time. They took a huge gamble. The fact that a pair are not breeding this year matters not in my mind, I've said this before, the Ospreys will do their own thing and when they are ready we will have our first pair of breeding Ospreys in the Dyfi Valley. It is quite remarkable that 10,000 people have already visited the project and I am sure there will be many more before the end of the summer. I have been to Cors Dyfi a few times over the last few weeks and it is clear that people are really interested in the project. The list of birds recorded on the Cors Dyfi reserve is quite remarkable and good enough reason to spend some time there. It is definitely worth a visit at dusk in order to see (or hear) Nightjars. Well done Emyr Evans and your team. I for one am entirely confident that it is only a matter of time (maybe 2010!) before we have breeding Ospreys on the reserve and imagine the visitors the reserve will receive then! Keep the same team on next year Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust your investment in time, money and resources will be amply rewarded!

Dyfi Osprey Project

I feel that I must congratulate Emyr and his team for their dedication and hard work which is by now being wonderfully rewarded. Congratulations one and all!

Last evening on a regular walk to Coed Ty-llwyd in Cwm Rheidol we had a clear sighting of a fast Jay closing in on a very small bird, too small to recognise.We couldn't and didn't want to see the eventual outcome!We also watched two kites displaying. Could it have been the same two that abandoned their nest earlier in the year?We also came across a dead blue tit,someones supper no doubt!

Elizabeth Collison

I'm sure that there are many other readers and contributors to this blog who would like to endorse Elizabeth's thank you to Emyr and all the other boys & girls involved with the Dyfi Osprey Project. Well done all of you.

Dyfi Osprey Project

Our incumbent male is still with us - nearly three weeks now so hopefully he is here to stay the summer. At first, both birds mantled to each other quite a bit, almost certain proof that this is a new male and that neither osprey had been together before. From his behaviour I think he is a young bird, possibly a two or three year old.
Both ospreys spend most of their time either on the nest or on certain perches on the Dyfi estuary, some of which we can pick out with our nest cameras.
Now we've had a bit of time to study the osprey's feeding behaviour we know that the fish species favoured are mullet and bass. Other fish taken include sea trout, flounder, garfish and this unlucky plaice.
We welcomed our 10,000th visitor to the project over the weekend - hopefully the ospreys will be with us until late August/early September so that local children can have a chance to see them. I wish we had ospreys in Wales when I was a kid!

Ystwyth walk

A walk along the banks of the upper Ystwyth this morning was rewarding in that I saw and managed to photograph a juvenile Kingfisher patiently awaiting the return of a parent with fish for lunch. Other birds seen included, Grey and Pied Wagtail, Willow Warbler, Dipper, Wren, Robin, Chaffinch, Buzzard and the usual Corvids.

Approaching Penparcau on my return I was most surprised to see a Red Legged Partridge on the roadside verge.

Himalayan Balsam

On behalf of CCW I would be grateful if you could communicate the following information through the Ceredigion bird website. I realise that it is not directly bird-related, but if birdwatchers are out-and-about in the Ystwyth valley we would like to hear from them if they see this plant.

River Ystwyth Himalayan Balsam Project
The Environment Agency Wales and Countryside Council for Wales are beginning a control programme in June to attempt to clear Himalayan Balsam from the River Ystwyth.
Himalayan Balsam is a highly invasive introduced plant growing up to 2 metres tall. It is an annual, producing up to 800 seeds each year which it can scatter widely with explosive seed pods. The seeds particularly favour river banks and gravel and it is rapidly increasing along the River Ystwyth. Whilst its big showy pink flowers can seem attractive for a few weeks between July and September, its vigorous growth shades out our wild flowers and the insects that depend on them. On the River Rheidol it already dominates large areas, whereas on the Ystwyth it is hoped that there is still a chance to control it before it becomes too well-established, at least in the upper stretches.
EAW and CCW are employing a local contractor to walk the River Ystwyth and pull up the Himalayan Balsam along its banks. This will be carried out in June, before it has a chance to set seed. Growth from seeds already in the banks will need to be cleared in subsequent years.
We will be issuing a press release, and distributing posters and leaflets to Post Offices and shops in the Ystwyth valley. If anyone would like a copy of the poster or leaflets, or for further information and to report sightings (Ystwyth Valley only), please contact:

Karen Heppingstall (k.heppingstall@ccw.gov.uk) or Aline Denton (a.denton@ccw.gov.uk) 01970 821100
or Hilary Foster (Hilary.foster@environment-agency.wales.gov.uk) 01792 325624
Many thanks

Spotted Flycatchers

3 pairs of Spotted Flycatchers are nesting in our fairly wooded garden near Ystrad Meurig, in open boxes at opposite corners of the house and on a garden shed.

They are protected from Jays by a chicken wire cage the spotties fly through.

First redcap GS woodpeckers and fledged blue tits and nuthatches in garden.

Peregrine flying off with GS woodpecker from wooded garden on mountain road past Cwm Ystwyth mines, could not see whether juv or adult.

A pied flycatcher on the roadside fence by Hafod and 3 redhead mergansers flying round the lake just before Rhayader.

Philip Ellis

World Oceans Day 8th June 2009

Some of you may know that it is 'World Oceans Day' tomorrow 8th June and you may be interested to see a film entitled 'The End of the Line', produced by Rupert Murray and based on the fascinating book by Charles Clover. This is the World's first documentary about the devastating effect of over-fishing on our oceans which will consequently create competition for food resources between man, cetaceans and sea-birds in the future.
Charles Clover the author of the book appeared on the BBC's Andrew Marr show this morning to talk about the film.

An advance screening of the film will be showing at the Aberystwyth Art's Centre tomorrow (Monday 8th June) at 8.15pm and tickets are priced at £5.

Visit www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/ for further details.

For further details about the the film and its implications please visit http://www.endoftheline.com/

Nightjars

Friday, 5 June

Last night at Cross Inn there were 3 calling Nightjars, possibly 4 from 22:30 to after 23:15. One briefly in the headlights on the road.

Also I had a lovely Poplar Hawk-moth at my house.

Saturday, 6 June

At Pen Dinas there were 180-200 Swifts mainly feeding low over the West side at 17:00 in heavy rain. And there were also 2 adult and 3 juvenile Stonechats.

From Chris Bird

Weekly Round-up from Jim Marshall

Osprey circumstances appear to have stabilized for the time being with the female and young male at the Dyfi Junction site. As far as I am aware only 2 attempts at mating, no success so far, very unlikely with this young lad!
First group of 10 Goosander Red-heads turned up on Friday 5th, probably failed or non breeders.
Redshanks seem prone to great anxiety whenever anything disturbs them, especially passing Ospreys which probably indicates their concern for their youngsters. Likewise Oyster Catchers.
Little Ringed Plovers have vanished, perhaps they have moved up river.
Peregrine, Merlin and Red Kite have been around, also possible sighting of a Goshawk.
Lots of reeling Grasshopper Warblers this week, Nightjars also heard.

HOBBY at YNYS-HIR

We had a good view of a Hobby at Ynys-hir this afternoon. Spotted and Pied Flycatchers showed well as did Redstarts.
The 2 Ospreys could be seen on and around the nest at Cors Dyfi from the viewpoint by Marion Mawr hide. One collected nest material from the nearby saltings. Eventually, both flew off together, gaining height and soared out of view. Earlier we did visit the hide at that great little reserve, Cors Dyfi, just across the border into Montgomery and had excellent views of one of the Ospreys.

pied wag nest

Yes, the vehicle is used every day!

More Youngsters

Many thanks for posting my piece. You will never guess what was on the front of the house this morning. I saw what I thought was our regular GS male adult woodpecker having a good peck over the sycamore stump and the fencing post when I was made aware of a second bird practicing his tree climbing and then on the ground in the grass at the foot of the Willow Contortica apparently feeding He eventually climbed up onto a branch and seemed to rest there quite happily.Having consulted my RSPB handbook I now think that they were both fledlings.While all this was going on I managed to get downstairs and grab the bins and the camera.I'll have to take them with me tonight!

Lis Collison

SKUA, MANXIES, WADERS and CROSSBILL

An Arctic Skua was off Borth this morning, first seen flying south and then watched chasing gulls. There were 600+ Manx Shearwaters and 50+ Gannets, some quite close in.
On sand banks off Ynyslas were 9 Dunlin and 36 Sanderling and 3 Sandwich Terns offshore. 2 Whimbrel passed by.
On the Pendam Mountain Road, just above Ponterwyd, I heard a Crossbill, my first for ages.

Terns & Dippers

Just a couple of reports from last couple of days.

1/6 2 Sandwich Tern @ Borth

3/6 1 Dipper @ Aberaeron seen from the A487 looking back inland on the River Aeron

Andrew Morris

Youngsters

The hot weather seems to have given the many nestlings a good reason to fledge.This morning there was much activity on the front of the house as an adult male blackbird saw off another male and continued to be most vigilant as he supervised the breakfasting of both his young.They were equally oblivious with heads down searching in the grass and eventuallyall three flitted along the fence line and out of sight under the Ash tree.

Having enjoyed all of that whilst still upstairs you can just imagine my excitment when going out to the car I spotted what I thought was a very small willow warbler .It turned out to be a very inquisitive newly fledged bird and it had found the relative safety of the Camelia branch.Mum was not far away and for the first time I got a good sighting of her too.Thats what really makes being bird aware so satisfying . Finally I got to identify who was responsible for making one of the prettiest sounds which herald each summer.

They say things come in three and this evening was no exception. I had been watching the mallard with her diminished brood of 3 when I became aware of something flitting around on the damp stoney edge of the river.Eventually I made out the very young yellow wagtail getting used to the slippery stones underfoot whilst flying out to catch tea on the wing and showing off to its sibling.The sequece of events was so funny to watch that I quite forgot the need to prepare our own repast.I also realised just how important the long tail is for such a fine balancing act!

Happy days

Lis Collison

Cors Dyfi

Went down to the MWT hide last night about 21:15 had good views of two Ospreys and excellent views of a male Nightjar calling from the top of an oak tree just to the right of the hide

hobbies and swallows

I have been on hobby watch every afternoon for a week, since the 4 spots hatched big- time but today was up on the hill so I suspect these have just arrived here. Big numbers have been seen in Somerset.
Out on the hill however I found 2 swallow nests in cavities in a river cliff! The little grebe on the lake nr Nant y Maen has only one small chick left and the mallards have 3 chicks between 2 pairs. Hard life with nearby newly fledged crows to avoid plus all the other predators but with good weather second broods may succeed.
Dipper chicks are still in the nest up there.
p.s. the midges were awful!

Broad-bodied Chaser

Your neighbour's girl has found a Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly. The measurements are pretty accurate as, according to my book, the adult length is 44mm with a wingspan of 76mm. The males are a particularly attractive powder blue. It appears to be a female rather than just an immature specimen.
Let's hope she continues with her interest in natural histoy.

Can anyone tell me what this is please?
The little girl next door is desperate to find out..............
It was found by my neighbour this evening.
It is about 4cms from nose to tail and 6 or 7 cms across. Although it is still alive I don't think it is going anywhere!

Bob Relph

HOBBYS

Three Hobbys were finding it very to find and catch dragonflies this afternoon over the south-east section of Cors Caron.

Mwnt in the Mist

A visit to Mwnt today with the intention of some coastal bird watching was spoilt by the rolling in of a very heavy sea mist - visibilty reduced to yards at some times. However did manage to see, two Choughs, a family party of Meadow Pippits, a Whitethroat, Stonechat and Yellow Hammer.

Pendam & Blaenmelindwr

We went up to Pendam and Blaenmelindwr beween 9pm and 10pm last night but didn’t hear or see any Nightjars. We heard Cuckoo, and all other usual woodland birds and saw a kestrel and a Buzzard. And lots of midgies!

Around Ystumtuen, there are several pairs of Wheatears, 2 Cuckoos, breeding Buzzards for the last 3 years at least, Red Kite, Kestrel, many Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and we have been hearing a Green Woodpecker. Plus Siskin, Goldfinch, many Chaffinch, Greenfinch and a fledged group of Pied Wagtails. Yellowhammers have been singing as have Skylark and Meadow Pipit.

Matt and Charly Potter

pied flycatcher

Forgot to mention Chris Birds wildlife haven near Trefenter. Just lots of birds, tawny owls with young again, spotted flycatchers, redstarts, blackcaps, garden warblers, g s woods,greenfinch, goldfinch, and many other common species. Best of all we always eagerly await pied fly, none for a few years but one at last, 5 or 6 pairs used to be regular, but now scarce breeders.

tanybwlch to ynyslas

A quick walk down tanybwlch did not suprise me how quiet it was. Just one male wheatear at the end, one pair usually nests here. Sixteen non breeding oystercatchers and 4 small waders scattered by a herd of dogs, what a suprise! The small waders flew north. What was amazing were the painted lady butterflies, never seen so many, this was the 28th. Ynyslas on the 30th was hot, sunny and an east breeze, painted lady butterflies all over again, 9 sanderling, 30+ dunlin, lots of ringed plover, 1 gannet, no terns.Near the golf course reed and sedge warbler, reed bunting, 2 juv stonechats and adults, one c crow in nest, some large gorgeous orchids, but no cuckoo. Highlight was a turtle dove coming off the bog heading south. Pen dinas on the 30th was hot, walked the whole western edge, no stonechats, 2 male whitethroats, 2 skylarks, dunnocks, blackbirds, wren, 3 meadow pipits, everything must have been hiding.

MED GULLS

At Ty Gwyn pool this afternoon were 3 Mediterranean Gulls, all in 1st summer plumage. 4 were there last week and I expect the other one was present but out of view. Also, Stock Dove and Lesser Redpoll.
John Val. is spot on with his comments about Ynyslas

Ynyslas

At 8.00 this morning I counted 81 Gannets and c300 Manx Shearwaters not far off-shore from the turn car park at Ynyslas. On our way home for breakfast we passed a Red-legged Partridge on the road between Borth and Tre-r-Ddol.

greek tragedy?

Thanks Merv,
I am a doom- monger so I nearly posted the pic of dead pied fly in great tit box with dead newly hatched young great tits! I have often found 'double-decked' nests in this wood with tits eggs, young and even adult skeletons trapped underneath the pied nest so perhaps the alpha pied male got his in the end tho' it was lose/lose as the great tit lost its young also. Ironically this year there are empty boxes nearby.
6pm today my last unmated male pied sung his last phrase; he has sung all day since 18th April and just this morning was on top of the box he was 'saving' for the female who has never showed up. Coming to a wood near you, one very fed-up boy.
Moorhen with large chick on boardwalk pond Cors Caron this morning, amazing considering the predator pressure...and the un-leashed dogs. Elsewhere on the bog, 8 adult Canadas with 15 chicks of varying sizes. Other years no Canada has been seen to keep a chick!

Kingfisher

A kingfisher flew over our garden, into the Melindwr from the Rheidol presumably.

Returning to our trip to Ynsylas, the bit of paper that the CCW give you when you pay £1 to park asks visitors not to launch boats from the car park. This didn't deter 3 jet-skiers creating their mayhem. A noise to the general public and disturbance to the estuary. Another thought - couldn't visitors be asked not to walk around the point. What do they think that I am doing with a telescope........


On behalf of Victor Meldrew.

Ynys-hir

At Ynys-hir this morning I was able to see 2 Ospreys at the nest site across the Dyfi.
I also saw Pied & Spotted Flycatchers, Redstart, Wood & Willow Warblers and a young GS Woodpecker almost ready to leave its nest - making a hell of a racket!
Amongst hundreds of Canada Geese I picked up 2 Bar-headed cousins???
Garden Warblers and Blackcaps were in full voice and I spent ages trying to locate a singing Lesser Whitethroat but failed to pinpoint him.
I'll just have to go back and look again..........

Liz's Photos

Hi Liz, what a terrific photo of the blue tits in the nest box, why not post it to Springwatch at the BBC?, they'll love it.