In North Wales we annually hold bird races in May, it is a kind of tradition. I've always thought that Ceredigion would be a good place to try one and this year I persuaded three friends from North Wales to join me. I was staying at Morfa Bychan, south of Aber for the weekend and travelled up to meet my fellow racers in the north of the county.
The day started at 4.15am (Saturday 15th) in the car park at Dyfi Junction. First bird of the day was a noisy Sedge Warbler while Snipe were displaying a little way up the track. Tawny Owl, Grasshopper Warbler and Redstart were all singing here.
Next stop was Ynys -Hir. This superb reserve yielded 65+ species before breakfast and amongst its array of different habitats. Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Wood warbler, Jay, Tree Pipit, Lesser redpoll, Siskin, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit were in the woodland while Common Sandpiper, Bar tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Redshank represented the waders. A pair of Stonechat and Wheatear were seen on the hillside opposite the reserve but unfortunately Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Yellowhammer eluded us here.
Back to Dyfi Junction where the Osprey did not show, however, Goosander, Red Kite and Little Egret were new here.
It was high tide at Ynys Las and the wader spectacle was spectacular here. An incredible 3151 Dunlin were counted along with 354 Ringed Plover, 11 Sanderling and 2 Turnstone. The sea was full of Manx Shearwaters and Gannet, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Common Gull and a single Sandwich Tern showed. We then moved on to Aberystwyth sea-front hoping for Purple Sandpiper and they didn't disappoint with four dapper summer plumaged birds near the wooden jetty. Rock Pipit singing from the top of the castle was the only one we saw all day.
We then headed inland picking up species along the way - Sparrowhawk, Peregine and Grey Wagtail in the Rheidol Valley, Tufted Duck at Nant yr Arian, Great Crested Grebe at Llyn FronGoch and 2 Crossbill at Hafod Arch.
Next stop was Cors Caron, this is where the usual mid afternoon lull took place and our spirits were slightly dampened. No sign of the Hobby seen earlier and Willow Tit did not oblige. However, new birds included 2 Whinchat, Little Grebe, Whimbrel and a pair of Teal. We met Arfon Williams here who helped us bag a few of these and pointed us in the direction of Ty Gwyn where he had just seen a 1st summer Little Gull. In half an hour we were watching it too, a lovely little bird sat right in front of the hide. It was difficult to know what out of season ducks we could count here and it was decided to count none of them. That was until a drake Shoveler took flight and flew off so we decided to count that one!
We proceeded to Aberaeron where we purchased a bag of chips and sat and eat them while having a seawatch. Razorbill was the only new bird here. We then walked down the cycle track inland for half an hour and were rewarded with family parties of Grey wagtail and Dipper on the river. A family of Bullfinch along the track were a bonus but not as much as the 'yaffling' Green Woodpecker that we really weren't expecting during our day.
Newquay head produced the hoped for Fulmar and Llangrannog a party of Chough. Mwnt was disappointing with no Yellowhammers although of note 15+ 'Greenland' Wheatears were in the fields here. The Teifi estuary held nothing new but Whimbrel and Great crested Grebes showed. We were now struggling and dusk was upon us, but a last throw of the dice revealed a calling Cetti's Warbler from the bridge at Tefi Marshes - superb! Our day hadn't finished yet though as we had Tawny Owl and a superb Polecat on our journey back home. Even a speeding ticket at 11.15pm by the Ceredigion Constabulary didn't dampen our spirits. The officer involved obviously didn't appreciate the excuse of 'we're doing a bird race'!
Our day finished with 115 species, quite respectable we felt for four non locals. On a day that there is a little more migration evident, I'm sure a car full of Ceredigion birders who know where to find the likes of Kestrel, Stock Dove, Yellowhammer and Marsh Tit could quite easily surpass the 120 mark in the future. So the challenge has been set........
Marc Hughes
Marc Hughes