Saturday 29 April 2017

Bits and pieces from around and about

There were a few Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plovers, Curlew, Dunlin, Oystercatchers and Turnstones between Llanrhystud and Llanon this morning. Other highlights here included 4 Sandwich Tern, 8 White Wagtails and 4 Greenland Wheatears. The scrub around the lime kilns held singing Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sedge, Willow and Grasshopper Warblers.

High tide at Ynyslas was a bit of a flop as it was too high (5.2 m) and entirely covered the wader roosting area. Having said that the mass gathering of birders present - me + Red, Andy (from north of the Dyfi), a visiting birder and an RSPB group from beyond Offa's Dyke managed to clock up a few hundred dunlin and ringed plover plus a couple of sanderling as they whizzed around the point looking for somewhere to settle. The 40+ Sandwich Terns in the mouth of the estuary were also a welcome site and a one point about half of them settled on the sea and appeared to roost, not something I've seen before.

Ended up at Tregaron Bog where the highlight was this cracking male Whinchat, my 100th species for the reserve this year!