Borth and Ynyslas

About 20 whimbrel on the golf course between Borth and Ynyslas this morning and 2 swifts loving the easterly gale blowing over Upper Borth this evening. A group of about 20 gannets were diving off the Point at sunset and a mixed flock of dunlin and sanderling were feeding along the water's edge.

Aberystwyth

Met Helen Herbert on the front at Aberystwyth this morning just as a few Gannets were feeding close in off College Rocks. Earlier she had seen the 2 Brent Geese by Castle Point but when I looked there was absolutely no sign of them. 

Spent a little while in the town and on my return the geese were just off the prom., in the old stone bathing pool. One is an adult and the other, the one at the back is a juvenile, showing the white lines on its wing coverts.

Siskin at Ynys-hir

Peter Seaton, a visiting birder has sent this lovely image of a Siskin, taken at Ynys-hir.

Bar-tailed Godwits at Llanon

Seven Bar Tailed Godwit were enjoying the sunshine on Llanon beach yesterday afternoon in the company of numerous Whimbrel.

Andre Morgan

College Rocks

The two Brent Geese were at College Rocks again this evening, 6:30, along with a Whimbrel and a male Bar-tailed Godwit.



Rhys Thatcher

Photos from last week

Pied flycatcher nest building at Ynyshir 18th April. Whitethroat and, a rare bird indeed, an approachable linnet, singing on the coast path near Penbryn last Wednesday.

Ystumtuen Sightings

Today, (Friday 29th) there were Redstart, Willow Warbler, Linnet and Pied Wagtails absolutley everywhere. I dont think I have seen so many Redstarts in one day! I dont know if its new arrivals or a good breeding season last year. Heard a larger number of Yellowhammer as well. Hopefully a few more terrotories up here.

We seem to have a brand new Sand Martin colony as well. Not had one before and now we have more than 12 Sand Martins flying around the old mines looking very likely to set up home!

Matt and Charly Potter

Whimbrel, Ynyslas

A flock of just over100 whimbrel flew over from Ynyslas beach towards the Dyfi valley yesterday afternoon

Uplands and lowland

A visit to the Teifi pools today was especially rewarding in that a pair of Curlew were seen displaying over the rough pastures to the east of Ffair Rhos. They have been absent from this traditional nesting area for the last couple of years. Higher up, the usual number of Meadow Pippits but Wheatear were in short supply - only saw three. Perhaps they have not yet arrived in the uplands or have decided to stay down near the coast where numbers appear to be good this year. On Llyn Egnant a pair of Common Sandpipers. The odd Red Kite and a couple of Ravens otherwise the hills were very quiet - perhaps they were all watching the telly!

A brief stop at Trawscoed Bridge for a survey of the Ystwyth produced a lone Grey Wagtail and a single Dipper.

Borth and Ynyslas this morning

By Borth coastguards this morning there was a feeding flock of 1000+ Manx Shearwaters just offshore, with a few Gannets amongst them. Here's a snapshot of a small part of the flock, which can't capture the frenzy of the spectacle but perhaps shows how close to the shore they were.

No sign of the dowitcher or wood sandpiper at Glandwr this morning, but 4 Common Sandpipers on the Leri adjacent to the pools, and an Otter feeding in the river (9am) was very nice. 38 Whimbrel at the mouth of the Leri and a further 6 on the ploughed field towards Ynyslas. Two Black-tailed Godwits and a couple of Dunlin on Glandwr pools this evening.

Warbler Watch Event - Tomorrow, Saturday 30th April at 11am. We have 8 warbler species breeding at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust's Cors Dyfi reserve.. can you name them? Can you see them?We have two wonderful bird experts coming down to host the event and help you with ID, photography etc, Bob Relph and Brayton Holt.

If you want to understand more about these stunning migratory LBJ's (little brown jobs) tomorrow's the day.. see you at 11am hopefully.

(look out for, Reed warbler, Grasshopper warbler, Blackcap, Willow warbler, Sedge warbler, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitetroat - and if we're really lucky - Cetti and Lesser whitethroat. You will also see a pair of breeding Ospreys!)

Image - Reed warbler, Cors Dyfi.

Sightings from S Ceredigion

A lesser whitethroat near Tresaith yesterday evening (28th).

A kingfisher briefly visited the Lgoon in front of the Kingfisher hide at Teifi marshes on evening of 27th.

More thoughts on Canada Geese – I have not seen more laughably ridiculous behaviour from any birds than the canada geese on the Bass Lagoon at the Teifi marshes. A pair wandering around inspecting other nests – i.e. the mute swans’, which must have failed, and another canada goose’s whose young had already left. Then suddenly four more flew in which led to 5 or 10 minutes of absolute mayhem. They obviously have all the food and nesting sites that they need in the lowlands and are clearly very successful. But perhaps they still have some behavioural traits which suit them much better to a life in the Canadian wilderness at much lower densities.

jerry moore

Denmark Farm Highlights Thursday 28th

At Denmark Farm, a pair of blue tits are trying to set-up home in a cigarette disposal unit in the car park, despite having 40 acres of wildlife-friendly habitat available to them! (the unit is now suitably labelled to prevent anyone trying to use it for its intended purpose).

Good views of a redstart today just outside the Centre building – it was using a number of perches, including the top of the bird table, and the TV aerial. Also a Brimstone butterfly nectaring on the aubretia outside the Centre.

Aline Denton

Bird Drawing Course

I thought some of you may be interested in a bird drawing workshop I will be running at Ynys Hir on Saturday 21st May, from 10am to 1pm. The session will take place outdoors and focus on developing skills for drawing birds in the field. All abilities are welcome although it is geared more towards beginners. There is a fee of £8 or £5 for RSPB members, to take part. If you would like to book a place please call Ynys Hir on 01654 700222, it would be great to see some of you there. Chris Wallbank

Dyfi Osprey Project

Almost to the minute, the Dyfi female laid her second egg this afternoon three days after her first. Many first time breeders only lay two eggs but looking at both birds behaviourally today it wouldn't surprise me to see a third. Only time will tell of course - probably Sunday afternoon if it's going to happen. The second egg is unusually white on one half, quite distinctive and will aid us in keeping track of what's what in the nest if chicks appear.

Quite calm today after yet another intruding male alighted the nest yesterday evening only to be seen off by the female, he had no ring. Willow tit and loads of Lesser redpolls today, warblers everywhere seemingly.

Recent Pics.

 

                                              

  

 

While my computer was away being seen to, these are some of the digi-scope images I took over the past few days:

Whitethroat at Llanrhystud,  Tree Pipit at Nant yr Arian, Turnstones at Aberystwyth, Garden Warbler at Ynys-hir and Whimbrel at Tanybwlch.

Mwnt

The highlight of a walk around Mwnt this afternoon was a male kestrel who performed for us for 20 mins or so! Also we enjoyed watching a flock of linnets having a bath with a goldfinch and pied wagtail joining in.

Some other birds we saw: whitethroat, meadow pipit, skylark, chough, wheatear.

Andy & Kim Rayment

The Teifi Woodchat Shrike

The Teifi Woodchat Shrike, 23rd April at 09:00 along the old railway track....never to be seen again?
The "owl" photo that set the heart racing......and me out the reed bed !!
Both records & photos by Stephen Ackland (West Midlands)

BRENT GEESE

The 2 Brent Geese by College Rocks, Aberystwyth, this afternoon.

Wood Sandpiper etc

A wood sandpiper was present again on the pool at Glandwr, NW Cors Fochno again this afternoon along with 3 dunlin. No sign of the dowitcher, but I'm reliably informed it was seen again this morning.

Anyone wishing to visit this area (which is owned by CCW) is welcome to do so. Park near the railway crossing, walk along to Leri railway bridge then south about 200m along track beside east Leri bank. View pools from the bank.

Mike Bailey

Whinchat on Foel Fawr

This whinchat was seen at Foel Fawr. Sorry, it's not a great photo, but it was a looong way away!

Peter Seaton

BRENT GEESE

I was in Aberystwyth this afternoon when Chris Bird rang to say he was watching a couple of dark-bellied Brent Geese in the sea by College Rocks. When I arrived the birds had moved to just off the beach by the castle, a few yards from children paddling and people having barbecues. The geese then drifted around Castle Point and back towards College Rocks.

Earlier at the lime kilns at Llanrhystud I manage to eventually see a very shy singing Lesser Whitethroat.

(No pics. Now got problems with that system on the computer!)

Blackcap & Redstart at Ynys-hir

Photos of male blackcap and female redstart taken at Ynys Hir. Unfortunately, my photos of the male redstart are of 'record' quality only.

Peter Seaton

Bird hide build at Denmark farm

Denmark Farm have a few places left for volunteers to help build a lakeside
bird hide during the first 3 weeks of May. A local greenwood crafts expert
will be facilitating the build, giving volunteers the opportunity to learn a
variety of traditional building skills using roundwood and handtools.

The project will run for 3 days a week (Tues, Thurs and Fri) from Tuesday
3rd May to Friday 20th May.

For further information, and to book a place (minimum 2 days commitment
required) please contact 01570 493358/ info@shared-earth-trust.org.uk

Recent Pics

Some digi-pics taken recently (while my computer was out of action):
Blackcap at Pen Dinas (Aberystwyth), Crossbill at Nant yr Arian and Willow Warbler at Ynys-hir.

Todays birds in the North of the county

A relaxed walk on Foel Fawr this afternoon and Buster and I bumped into 2 Tree Pipits, 2 Whinchats and 2 Yellowhammers. Earlier John and I weren't able to locate a pair of Garganey seen by Russell Jones at Ynys-hir this morning, we also dipped out on a Wood Sandpiper seen by Marc Hughes at Borth. But we did see a beautiful Spotted Redshank in breeding plumage at Ynys-hir, as well as 2 Slow Worms lazily basking in the weak sunshine. They had apparently not reached optimum temperature because they were very docile. One of them could hardly be bothered to protest when I picked him up to have a closer look. I carefully replaced him on the ground and he wriggled away adagio, a very slow worm.

Aberporth Bee-eater

I attach an image (not very good) of one of the bee-eaters seen last evening (Saturday 23rd about 6.30pm) near Aberporth. It was taken from the roadside so a considerable distance from the tree that the bee-eater was in.

Tommy Evans

Wildlife photography workshop - Saturday 30th April

There are still spaces available for a Wildlife Photography Workshop with local, professional, photographer Janet Baxter at RSPB Ynys-hir.

There are two sessions either from 10 – 12:30 or 1:30 – 4:00. Janet will give you guidance and top tips to help improve your photos. (cost members £15, non-members £20)

We have been having problems with our phones so sorry if you have tried to call. They should now be working or you can book a place by emailing me your name and phone number to bryony.swinfen@rspb.org.uk

Ring Ouzels, Cuckoo and Whinchat

Right at the back of Foel Fawr, two ring ouzels flew into a prominent 'bush' of well-berried ivy among the rocks around 11 this morning. One disappeared, but the other one gave us some good views including he or she eating berries. This was from looking back at where the road meets the gate.

We had also had heard and then saw a cuckoo earlier and a whinchat later. A wood warbler trilled down in the valley.

Upper Rheidol / Pumlumon

Up in the wilds of Pumlumon yesterday, there were two jays (separately) in the Upper Rheidol valley above Nant-y-moch, and not an oak tree to be seen!

To my horror, canada geese there too, six together on the river. Then at least one bird on a nest, on an islet in the little pool by the track to the dam (Llyn Pen-cor-maen). Although I was at first horrified to see them up there, on reflection it seemed more fitting in a way, and they seemed to be behaving more naturally than they do in the lowlands.

I’m so pleased for all those involved with the ospreys that the birds have finally done the decent thing! We had a fascinating time there on Sunday afternoon.

jerry moore

Woodchat Shrike -- Teifi Marsh

Saturday 0900;-
Not content with finding the Long-eared Owl, Steve a regular visitor from the West Midlands to the Teifi photograhed another goodie for us. I hope to post the photo tomorrow and we will see if this is a "new" Woodchat Shrike, for Cere/Pembs.
Seen along the track near the sluice at Priory Bridge, not looked for until the news today.....and not been refound.
Steve B had 2 male Redstarts though, whilst searching this afternoon

Coed Dolgoed

Great news about the ospreys!

A quick walk in Coed Dolgoed produced a good variety of birds, all within half a mile from the car. Redstart, pied flycatchers, tree pipit, garden warbler, blackcap, 2 grasshopper warblers, whitethroat, plenty of willow warblers & chiffchaff. Heard a distant cuckoo, wood warbler, marsh tit and 5 or 6 crossbill for good measure. I was only there for 40 minutes!

Andre Marsh

Monday 25th

Chris Bird had an female Emperor Moth caught in a spiders web on his window this evening, it escaped!

EGG

Emyr-I'm in Derby doing grandparenting, but I'm crying too!!!
This is just WONDERFULL! All that's left now is you and Janine!!! Tee Hee!

Dyfi Osprey Project

Wondrous News - the Dyfi pair have laid their first ever egg - and the first for many centuries probably on the Dyfi.

It happened at 14.03 on Easter Monday - what an Easter Egg present!

This is the very moment it all came true.

I've seen grown men cry this afternoon, Emyr.

Birding around Eglwys Fach

Not such an early bird as Mervyn and Liz this morning but I was at Ynys-hir before 8:00. As I walked along the approach lane I stopped just over the little bridge and listened to a Garden Warbler beside me and a Cuckoo calling from the Foel - we were probably listening to the same bird Mervyn. "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" I thought, but resisted the temptation to burst into song. At the reserve, as compensation for dipping out on a lesser pecker (again) I made do with Pied Fly, Redstart, Wood Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and a dozen or more other songsters singing their little hearts out.
Later I went on to The Dyfi Osprey Project where Sedge Warblers were making such a din you could hardly hear yourself think. Grasshopper Warblers were reeling away but only gave fleeting glimpses. Reed Buntings and a Tree Pipit also showed themselves as I stood on the board-walk chatting with a neighbour I'd bumped into. Then, at about 1:50 I headed for home and a well-earned cuppa before Buster's afternoon walk. But before taking him up onto the Foel I had an exciting phone call. Watch this space.................

fast and slow birding.

Whilst on a a family picnic last Friday heard my first Cuckoo in lower part of Cwm Doethie and also saw a Common Sandpiper and a pair of Goosanders on Llyn Brianne. Out doing a tetrad this morning saw 2 singing Sedge Warblers and 2 male Reed Buntings at Ystrad Caron. In Tregaron I was surprised to see a male Pied Flycatcher on the TV aerial of a house right next to the school. Over the weekend I went to Worcestershire to do a botanical survey for some friends. At 6am yesterday morning whilst lying in our tent trying not to disturb snoring wife/son I managed to "tick" three tricky Ceredigion birds (Green Woodpecker, Yellowhammer, Lesser Whitethroat) without leaving the comfort of my sleeping bag or even opening my eyes. I heartily recommend this laid back approach to birding to my fellow bloggers.

blackbirds, blue tits and blackcaps

I too was out early to avoid the dogs and campers at Llanina and complete another tetrad for SN45.
Loads of the above birds but not a single willow warbler and only one garden warb, plenty of chiffchaffs so I wondered if the WW's move inland leaving the lowland to the CC's? Here at Cors Caron WW outnumber CC every time.
I was a bit distracted by finding a verge of orchids in a narrow lane rather at the mercy of some over-enthusiastic road sweeping machine.
Back home my pied fly in the camera box is on a go-slow; she hasn't laid an egg yet.

Migrants onThe Foel

Made an early morning visit to the Foel this am getting there about 5:40am just as it was getting light. As I walked up the track from the road from the Einion I had my first sighting of a male Cuckoo. He flew around a bit before landing on the View Point rocks. Before I could get my scope focused he was ejected by a Wren, aggressive little critters, it, the Cuckoo disappeared down the hill so I focused my attention and scope on a male Whinchat singing from a large Holly tree right beside me. As Nut pushed the sun up his colours became more apparent and all the time he sang. The Cuckoo had started calling so I went to the view point and found him perched on the power lines in-front and below me. I sat there for about 20mins listening and watching and attempting to sketch him, albeit without my reading glasses. Eventually he flew right about 100m into a rowan tree where he was immediately seen off by a pair of Mipits. As I sat and listened there were two more singing Whinchats, singing White-throat and I could hear Tree Pipit, I suppose Tripits?. The Cuckoo eventually returned to a different tree and 2-300m to the left, from where he dispatched by a pair of Yellowhammers, a year tick for me. It wasn't his day as he flew further left and met yet more grief from a pair Tree Pipits, presumably the ones I had heard earlier. Whilst this was happening a second male Cuckoo flew up the Einion Valley and landed in the newly leafed Larches and started to call. I moved to the small curved oak bench back towards the road as by now the sun had reached there and I was a bit chilled and spent another hour just watching all these wonderful migrants setting up home for the summer and ruminated with no particular conclusion about which of these small birds would end up the cuckold. No road noise just the sound of the birds, and sunshine, lovely.

Beeaters near Aberporth

Please find attached a record shot of the 2 beeaters that were still near Aberporth this morning from 7.45 - 8.15am, when literally seconds after Mark Hughes arrived both birds flew high into the sky and disappeared south.

Arfon Williams

Birds at Ynys-hir and Foel Fawr

I made an early start today and arrived at Ynys-hir just before 7:00 The star birds of the morning were a couple of Spotted Flycatchers but other treats included Pied Fly and Redstart. Later I took Buster and Lulu up onto Foel Fawr where we saw Whinchats-2 singing males and 1 female, 2 Tree Pipits, Whitethroat and two Cuckoos displaying to each other.

Our female has been with us two weeks today and things are looking promising.

During the last couple of days she has been incessantly fidgeting with the sticks and the moss in the nest in addition to scooping out a little cup. Established ospreys lay eggs from around 11 days after first mating with first timers taking a little longer.

Image of the male osprey taken in the gloom this morning and a tree pipit on Cors Dyfi reserve..

Cuckoo on Foel Fawr

Mrs Relph reports hearing and seeing a Cuckoo on Foel Fawr at about 4:00 this afternoon. At about 8:30 I went next door to shut our neighbour's chickens away for the night. Whilst doing that a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling away very close-by.

Ceredigion Birding Group Field Trip

On our walks at Grogwynion and Pontrhdygroes today amongst other birds seen were Willow, Wood and Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Goldcrest, Bullfinch and Crossbill. Many thanks to Red for his expert leadership.

And Bee Eaters @ Blaenforth???

Two today..so I hear?

Dowitcher?????

Wot's this then? A rarity on the Leri???

Cwmtydu (Friday 22nd April)

Birds: female stonechat with nest or food material in its beak and several linnets, on the coast path near Cwmtydu.

Butterflies: 9 pearl-bordered fritillaries in Cwm Soden, (and plenty of peacocks, orange tips, speckled wood) also one common blue at the coast-path end of the cwm.

Aline Denton

TICK BITES

As many of us are involved in Atlas and BBS surveys at the moment I thought you might be interested to know that there is a testing kit for tick bites available from the travelhealthstore. co.uk.
I thought the warnings about tick bites were a bit over the top until last year when I met a chap at Birdfair who is now plagued with joint pains and declining eyesight from catching Lyme's disease ...and he is a professional biologist so well aware of the dangers.
Unfortunately the bitter winter weather has not reduced them enough as dog owners are finding out!

Eglwys Fach Birds Butterflies and Moths

The recent weather seems to have generated a lot of activity around home with lots of butterflies, Holly Blue and Brimstones together with the more common Small Tortoiseshell Orange Tips and Green-veined Whites. Sparrows and Blue Tits furiously gathering nesting material and fighting over nest box occupation with the Blue Tits winning. A special delight has been a male Blackcap performing brilliantly around every shrub in the garden but no sign of a female response yet. Having been away Thurs and Friday we returned yesterday evening to a Hummingbird Hawkmoth our first for three years and by far away the earliest, in the past all our sitngs have been in late July and August. Just off to see if I can get Grasshopper Warbler.

Borth and Ynyslas

A group of 15 whimbrel flew past the unloading of Charlie Rock in Borth this morning and 12 flew past Ynyslas Turn this evening. They were somewhat outnumbered by in excess of 200 arctic/common terns offshore, the photo is a record shot of just part of the group.

Tan-y-bwlch

Harry Pepper reports 4 Whimbrel and 13 Common Sandpipers at Tan-y-bwlch this morning.

Whitethroat

Fairly quiet on Constitution Hill today. Tree pipit flying over
(again). Other than that, just the usual - i.e. Blackcap, Whitethroat,
Chough, Linnet, Willow warbler, Chiff chaff etc.

Ian and I were treated to spectacular views of a male Whitethroat,
collecting nesting material and displaying. I managed to get some
pretty decent shots of him too.


Rach & Ian

Brilliant photos Rachel, thanks very much.

Report from Marc Hughes

Marc Hughes reports 11 Whimbrel, 3 Common Sandpiper, a first Summer Mediterranean Gull, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 25+ White Wagtail, 40+ Greenland Wheatear, Grasshopper Warbler, 25+ Whitethroat and 5 Tree Pipit between Llanrhystud and Llanon this morning.

Birds at Ynyslas

At about 9:00 this morning we spent 40 minutes or so at Ynyslas. Amongst the birds seen were 9 or 10 Whimbrel, 3 House Martins, c30 Dunlin, 2 Gannets and 6 or 7 Sandwich Terns - I think - they were a long way out. On Thursday, whilst visiting a builders merchant in Mach I picked up an Eyed Hawk-moth which was obviously "not well" and put it in some shrubbery where it was much less likely to be squished by vehicles or boots.

Ynyslas and elsewhere Wednesday

A good selection of waders at the Point at high tide yesterday included 8 golden plovers, five grey plovers, and a few sanderling. Fraid I didn’t count the dunlin or ringed plover! 2 Sandwich terns.

No sign of the woodchat in the fields between the “village” and the boatyard. Great views of the osprey pair from Dyfi Jct station, including copulation. A grasshopper warbler singing very loudly nearby.

On my BBS square above Tal-y-bont, only one stonechat; there’s usually several pairs. The grasshopper warbler had arrived and was singing....he’s moved a short distance from last year. In general resident birds (linnet, skylark, meadow pipit) seemed scarcer than normal. Trees continue to encroach on the bog from the Leri valley, with a consequent increase in woodland birds. Quite a few wheatears, probably mostly migrants – I don’t see them on my 2nd visit as a rule.

This morning on a Bird atlas tetrad to the north of Pendam, the willow warblers really were abundant. Easily the most numerous species. In fact there is some nice woodland edge habitat in the area with a good selection of birds, including several redstart. Peregrine on craig-y-pistyll.

jerry moore

hen harrier cors caron

8a.m. ringtail hen harrier flew over the south bog.
Grasshopper warbs singing well with good views... eventually. Redshank heard, 4 lapwing displaying and chasing crows, another 2 cuckoos and calling curlew x2. Still no snipe.

Abergwesyn mountain road Tregaron to the Lynn Brianne turning:10 roadside wheatears but no whinchats yet. In the forest clear- fell tree pipits active and up to 6 crossbills in the tree tops but couldn't see if any were juveniles.

Nest hole hierarchy

The Pied Flycatcher from the 18th has not only aquired a mate, but has
taken over the Nuthatch's carefully mud rendered nest hole. The Nuthatch
pair were 100yds up river, throwing nesting material out of another hole,
presumably taking over something else's nest having been displaced from
their own!
Also, at the edge of the woodland and over the road near Pen Rhos
hillfort, a singing male Redstart.

Keith Burdett

Constitution Hill

The daily morning walk produced 1 Tree pipit flying north, 2 reeling Grasshopper warblers, 1 Sedge warbler, 5 Whitethroat, 1 Wheatear and a single Chough. Also, there was the usual small numbers of Chiffchaff, Willow warbler and Blackcap.

Ian Lycett

Re: Living on the edge

I noticed last night whilst dog walking above Glanyrafon Bridge that the now abundant Sand Martins appear to have picked the same highly precarious bank to nest in as last year. Given its proximity to the waters edge I thought last year they were lucky there was no real heavy water during the nesting season. A spot of full generation by the Power Station coupled with local heavy water in the Melindwr will see them swimming out of their burrows. Let’s hope their luck holds this year! I also spotted a Kingfisher flying downstream for a change (normally going the other way) and a pair of Mallard Drakes that came into the backwater at the speed of missiles (no ones told them the shooting season has finished!).

Tony Clark

Nanternis

After a good start to the day with our neighbour knocking on our door saying they had some strange birds in the fields could i come and have a look, they turned out to be 12 wheatears that had just arrived and were busy feeding , what a lovely sight.

Then on to see the shrike but it was not to be, so we thought let try our luck with the osprey,and we had good views of the female

alan.hill

Pied Flycatcher and Nuthatch

Hi

I've attached some photos that you might like to use on the site

pied flycatcher - seen at Nanteos

nuthatch - probably the tame bird seen by others at Penrhyncoch

Peter Seaton

cuckoos Cors Caron

2 Cuckoos made their way up the bog this morning and flew into birch trees close to where we were standing, closely followed by 2 meadow pipits which continued to harass the cuckoos until they flew off. Didn't know who to feel sorry for!
Sadly no sign nor sound of any snipe and just one pair of curlew calling.
Redstarts very active in a line of old, holey rowans reclaiming nest sites, willow warbs singing everywhere and the tinkling of 3 grasshopper warblers.

Plas Gogerddan

Today during my lunch break I had the pleasure to find a lovely male Pied Flycatcher in the Plas Gogerddan woodland. Also about were plenty of singing Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and a very tame Nuthatch.


Steffi Meier

Ynyslas

High-tide again and I was at Ynyslas this time. Good numbers of dunlin, c.600 were at the point along with 280 ringed plover and 9 sanderling. Just off-shore from the point 14 sandwich tern were feeding and were soon joined by a nice little tern which continued feeding with the other terns for 30 minutes or so. Quite a few manx shearwaters and gannet were also plunging into the sea around the terns. Panicking somewhat at the height of the tide I jogged (not easy on soft sand)to where I had parked the car and was relieved that the water was only half way up the wheels.

whinchat and whitethroat

A very early stroll down the railway line at Cors Caron today produced my first( for this year)
whinchat and whitethroat.
Later this afternoon a brief stop at Tan Y Bwlch beach yielded 4 wheatears, one of which was very peachy/rusty.

A female pied fly arrived on Sat afternoon, the male having set up territory on Friday,and by this evening had built her nest in the camera box. Last year the female in the camera box needed a lot of persuading to take up residence and the male had to encourage nest building by taking in the odd leaf, they raised 6 young. I wonder if this is the same pair and that this time she knows the score.

Newquay to Bird Rock

Highlights included a peregrine, several whitethroat, chough, a pair of stonechat plus a single male, 3 swallows, one wheatear, and linnets, plus of course fulmar, razorbill, guillemot, and kittiwake. At bird rock, a little egret flew past which was an unexpected sight.

Other wildlife sightings included 3 dolphins, 3 grey seals, plus a common lizard, speckled wood, peacock and red admiral butterflies. The aroma and colour of the gorse was a fantastic back-drop.

Aline, Elaine and Angie

Tir Sisial Migrants

At Tir Sisial, Llanrhystud today, the first Pied Flycatcher I've seen
here, singing his heart out by the river and seeming to irritate the local
Nuthatch quite badly...
Also another first for the site, 2 Grasshopper Warblers singing early
afternoon for about 20mins.
Many Orange Tips.

Keith Burdett

Woodchat Shrike

Another for the collection tho' lousy quality . Gorgeous bird-also great to meet Andre + family plus Matt + Charley Potter.

Not to mention the Osprey shovelling the nest cup into shape...hopefully for something oval and spotted!!!

Week-end sightings from Matt and Charly Potter

Sightings for this weekend in Ystumtuen included the Cuckoo making itself made present calling, More Willow Warblers, and Wheatears seem to be everywhere.

Whilst checking our allocated Red Kite nests, we took a diversion to Ynyslas to see the Woodchat Shrike where we met Mr And Mrs Kev Joynes. On checking our nests we heard a Grasshopper Warbler at Llywernog.

This morning as I set off for work, a superb male Redstart was back in its usual place as I left Ystumtuen.

Matt and Charly Potter

Grey Partridge

Llandre

Sitting in the garden Sunday evening and a single grey partridge flushed from the hedge and ran/flew up the field. I have not seen one around here for years, the last record was a covey of 8 on Lon Glanfred about 5 years ago.

Penri James

High -tide at Ynys-hir

A nice variety of waders were pushed up by the high-tide this morning. In addition to the usual oystercatchers, curlew and redshank were both black and bar-tailed godwits, knot, dunlin, ringed plover and a few whimbrel and knot. One of the MWT ospreys fished over the Dyfi near the Marian mawr hide and a ringtail hen harrier quartered the banks either side of the path to the Saltings hide. The female scaup that has been seen intermittently over the last week was on the river.

Teifi Long-Eared Owl

Teifi ...Long-eared Owl

The Long-eared Owl showing this morning at 0800, refound by Jon G.
More later, with photos. The roost site is just inside Ceredigion, along the track heading North on the left hand side before you reach Creek hide.
There was a marked increase in Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers singing this morning, also on nearing high tide, a flock of 7 Common Sandpipers forced to fly upstream.

Ynyslas shrike

Thanks Nigel for the info on the bees, I have a few more photos of the prey items if you are interested. You can get in touch via www.janetbaxterphotography.co.uk.

Mwnt

Whitethroats along the coast path, 2 greenland wheatear, 1 chough and linnets cooling off in the stream. No sign of the stonechat pair though.

Long-eared Owl, Yellow Wagtails...

The Teifi Marshes;-

20:56 the roosting (hidden) Long-eared Owl came out, flew along the track and gone! Poor silhouette views, only identified on the basis it flew from almost the exact position in the hedge that I worked out from a photo taken at 08:15 this morning of a Long-eared Owl !!

The owl will be looked for tomorrow.

2 Yellow Wagtails joined the c100 White Wagtails at roost this evening.

Woodchat Shrike -- Ynyslas

The Shrike still being enjoyed today by admirers. Loaction as previously given.

A Harey Moment

Yesterday, Saturday 16th at Ynys-hir at about 9:00 I caught sight of a lovely Hare loping along near the "cross-roads". I walked down towards the cattle grid to see if I could get a second look and was rewarded with the sight of 2 Hares, one chasing the other hell-for-leather around the rough pasture to the right of the track. When they went out of sight I stood for a few moments quietly chuckling to myself and feeling strangely up-lifted. Then a lone hare came scampering along the track towards me and stopped only about 20 meters away, apparently surprised to see me. I held my breath as we studied each other for a while before he loped off again. By now, for some strange reason I was feeling ridiculously happy and pleased with life in general. I turned to walk back to the "cross-roads" when another Hare popped out from the gate into the woods. This one also loped towards me, stopped quite close by, stared for a while and then climbed onto the dry-stone wall and disappeared over it and into the wood. I swear I was stone-cold sober, it really did happen!

This picture was taken at Ynys-hir some time ago.

Ynyslas Woodchat Shrike

Just to comment that apart from there being another Woodchat Shrike at Llangennith, Gower for the last fortnight, I am fascinated by the prey items in Janet B’s photographs. I am sure the large buff brown and black bumblebee is a queen Common carder bee [Bombus pascuorum] but the larger black bumblebee, also a queen based upon size and time of year, with the reddish tail could be one of three species.

It is hairy enough not to be a cuckoo bumblebee, and probably too early, so it is not the Hill cuckoo bee [Bombus rupestris], and it ought to be the common and widespread Stone bumblebee [Bombus lapidarius] but there is a suggestion when enlarged that it has red hairs on its legs which might make it a Red-shanked carder bee [Bombus ruderarius], which is a S42 species, and which I did not think had been recorded in Ceredigion recently.

Nigel Ajax-Lewis

House Martins

The first lone House Martin arrived back this morning looking like its never been away; bungs quickly out of the nests now the fun begins with the Sparrows a lot of which are nesting in the hedges this year as well as the Great Tits box. Sand Martins now back in the lower Rheidol (yesterday) and regular singles and small groups of Swallows overhead en route over the last four days.

Tony Clark

Bow Street

Denmark Farm Dawn Walk

Actually 7am which is quite early enough on a Sunday even for a postman. Some old(ish) and new faces came along and I hope had an enjoyable walk. Most noticeable thing were the Pied Flycatchers, maybe 10-15, which are attracted by the excellent provision of boxes. Other birds inc. Treecreeper, Blackcaps and a single Tree Pipit. No Garden Warblers yet. A Curlew calling in the little valley just NW of the site was a surprise to me. Some folks also saw a Willow Tit but I was already getting stuck in to a bacon buttie by then. If anyone sees the Woodchat Shrike today could they kindly ask it, when reorientating itself southwards again, could it please go via Llangybi. I shall be in the garden for the remainder of the afternnoon playing with Tomos.

Ynyslas

About 20 golden plover still around at Ynyslas Point at high tide this morning. New arrivals: sedge warbler on the golf course and a grasshopper warbler which has been reeling outside my window non-stop since 4 this morning and is still at it and it is now dark! Photos of the woodchat shrike, nearly a garden tick. Good passage of birders through Ynyslas too.