Chough

 Single vocal Chough heading towards Aberdyfi over Ynyslas 4pm yesterday afternoon.

David Williams

Seawatching at Ynyslas

At the brick house at 0700 hrs within 10 minutes I had a great skua south and a Leach’s petrel south. Thinking here we go, bring the birds on…………. Absolutely nothing else in the next two hours apart from two red-throated divers north and a few kittiwakes and gannets.

Typical of Ynyslas

Russell Jones

Blackbird moult

Hi Arthur, we caught a very similar looking bird on the Gower Ringing Course last weekend. In Blackbirds the head can be the last part of the bird that undergoes the post juvenile moult so the body looks adult-like (and black in a male) whilst the head can still be very pale sandy brown as in the two individuals pictured. This will change quite rapidly over the next week or two when the head will catch-up and they will look quite normal again.

Moults

 Very poor photo I took yesterday in my garden of a pair of what I assume must be juvenile sibling  blackbirds with identical odd moulting pattern that I have not seenbefore. Would you sgree?

Arthur Chater

Any opinions on these birds would be welcome.

Today at Ynyslas

 Scoping from the car at the tern posts in horrible drizzly rain I managed to pick out two hobbies hunting hirundines over the salt marsh, a golden plover, a ruff, 21 ringed plovers and 11 knot.

Later, when the rain cleared I was at the brick house and there was lots of activity but a bit too far out. Flocks of kittiwakes were feeding with gannets and I watched in an hour 200 odd Sandwich terns flying from the feeding area back to Ynyslas and managed to pick up a juvenile and a dark phase adult arctic skua harrying them as they flew back.

Russell Jones

Morfa Bychan

 Morfa Bychan: 4th-8th: 10 Chough, 13 Rock Pipits, 3 Wheatear, Peregrine, Raven, 33 Oystercatchers, Curlew, Common Sand, Ringed Plover, 2 L Egret, 3 GBB Gulls (1 juv)

Ynyslas: 6th 70 Sandwich Terns, 1 Arctic Tern, 1 Whimbrel, 3 Wheatear.

College rocks: 7th 31 Med Gulls (1 juv)

Pete Hackett

More from Ynyslas

 Definitely massively underdressed yesterday morning at Ynyslas as I shivered in shorts using the car as a wind shield from the biting NW wind. Very few waders on a rather low rising tide, a turnstone, seven redshank, 64 ringed plovers and only five dunlin, not a good gain for white fingers and numerous goose bumps from the cold. Sandwich tern numbers were good though with 420 mainly fishing over towards Aberdyfi but no other tern species at all. With hypothermia looming I gave up.

Russell Jones

Ynyslas in the rain

My visit started well, with 100s of hirundines over Ynys Tachwedd (mostly swallows), a party of 8 Stonechats, and 3 Wheatears on fence posts. I set up by the tern posts to see what would come in to join the single Golden Plover (and 5 more Wheaters) at high tide. There was a Lapwing out on the sand banks, and c300 terns over on the Aberdyfi side; most numerous (and most vocal) were Sandwich Terns. 

As the tide rose, there were generally few waders around, but a group flying downstream included 9 Barwits and 11 Knot, and 4 Snipe came off the marsh. Then an Arctic Skua flew up the estuary disturbing the terns, and sat on the water with a GC Grebe. As the last sand bank disappeared the terns came over to my side, including c5 Common, 1 Arctic, and 1 Black Tern. A few Dunlin and Ringed Plover eventually settled near the tern posts, and the flock included a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and a Knot. On my way back past the boatyard, a Ruff flew up the Leri. There were five Common Sandpipers between the road and rail bridges.

Time to go?

 Yesterday, during the very warm humid weather, I saw two separate flocks of House Martins in Capel Dewi (Llandysul), both about 50 strong. The first had clustered together tightly on the church roof and the second was fluttering about among the branches of an old pine tree. I fancied that they were both having a kind of pre-migratory briefing/bonding session, though that interpretation may be completely inaccurate!

Castle Point, Aberystwyth

 This morning the rising tide eventually revealed 17 Ringed Plovers and 10 Turnstones.   A Shag and a very smart adult Lesser Black-back were on the outer rocks.  Three Bottlenose Dolphins went south and a handful of Gannets north.  A few Pied Wagtails bounced around on the prom but I couldn't find any alba among them.