Wednesday 10 July 2024

Stone Curlew at Ynyslas

 Bored of the weather and bored of re-decorating I decided to spend an hour or so at Ynyslas to lighten my mood.

At the tern posts I scanned towards the Leri and picked up three sandwich terns (one juv), a couple of adult Med gulls and a few dunlin and ringed plovers. Scanning further to the right I noticed a bird sitting down on the salt marsh which had a short, stoutish bill which was mainly yellow with a black tip. I walked further towards the Leri and scoped from the low dunes and soon found that the bird was a stone curlew. I watched it for a while before (inevitably at Ynyslas it seems) it was flushed by the only dog walkers on the beach and flew off over the Leri till I lost it in the mist.
Pleased as punch as it is a county tick for me but bitterly disappointed that it was flushed before others could see it.

Russell Jones