In our garden in Tregaron, the first Robins, Blackbirds and House Sparrow's fledged last week. Despite the cold weather, this is earlier than last year, when I recorded the first fledged Robins on 14th May and House Sparrows on 12th May, while the first Blackbird brood attempts appeared to have been unsuccessful, with the first fledglings recorded in July. My feeling is that we have less predators (cats, squirrels, Great Spotted Woodpeckers) than in previous years although two opportunistic Jays suddenly appeared last week but were bravely fought off by a male Blackbird. At Brynamlwg pond near Penwuch, there were nine adult Greylag Geese yesterday, one pair of which had four goslings. Also six Canada Geese present. Great pictures by Shane Jones from Aberaeron - the Grey Wagtails were busy feeding their young on the river yesterday. I also finally managed to see my first Wheatears of the year - after several unsuccessful visits to Tan Y Bwlch I found them at Pont Einon, quite a few feeding on the fields. There is usually a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from across the road at Pont Einon - unfortunately the female was hit by a car yesterday afternoon so if there were eggs or fledglings they will probably fail. Last Friday evening, 2 Redshank in front of the Bog Hide on Cors Caron.
Silke Einschuetz