Wednesday 10 May 2017

More from Ynyslas

A short seawatch from the brickhouse this morning produced 2 pale-phase Arctic Skuas harassing Kittiwakes. At Ynyslas at high tide 25 Bar-tailed Godwits dropped in by the tern posts and at the point there were 40+ Sanderling and around a hundred Ringed Plover and a few Dunlin, numbers were steadily building but the birds were being flushed again and again by dog walkers.
 Still wondering where all the small waders were I went for a walk up to the pillbox. On the walk up a Cattle Egret flew up the estuary and headed for Ynys Tachwedd. The tide was fairly low at the this point but I walked out a little way onto the estuary and found huge numbers of small waders feeding on newly exposed mudflats. I'd say there were probably around 5000 Dunlin/Ringed Plover out from the pillbox. They certainly weren't at Ynyslas this morning! Also good numbers of Small Coppers on the wing.
Edward O'Connor