American Wigeon - Teifi

The drake American Wigeon with c 20 Eur Wigeon off the railings,  Teifi estuary..Gwbert, Cardigan. Now been present 1 month.

Cattle Egret with 1 Little E opposite Parc Teifi ind est.. Cardigan

Around Cors Caron

 Yesterday at south end of Cors Caron,  six Curlew (1 colour-ringed,  3 Redshank,  1 Kingfisher,  3 Goosanders, also 2 Little Egrets.     100+ Wigeon south of Pont Einon plus 3 Little Egrets.  Maesllyn lake held 5 Tufties, 4 Moorhens,  4 Coots and a dozen Greylags.

Will Davies 

Wheatear

 My first Wheatear of the year, a male, was at the fields near Ynyslas.

Four Brent Geese also flew along the beach.

Thomas Simpson 

Cors Caron

 Single Curlew south end of Cors Caron this morning.

Will Davies 

Colour-ringed egret

 A Great White Egret near to bridge at Llanfair Clydogau.  It had a red colour ring on its left leg, but I could not read the number.

Gérard Fordham 

American Wigeon

The drake American Wigeon with c 20 Eur Wigeon off the Teifi Boat Club slipway...Gwbert, Cardigan today.

The Cattle Egret with 7 Little Egrets opp Parc Teifi ind est.. Cardigan.

Yesterday at 1815 a Barn Owl hunting over the Teifi Marshes..

Ynys-hir

 At Ynys-hir yesterday there were 3 Great White Egrets, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Green Sandpiper,  3 Common sandpipers,  5 Goldeneye, 3 Sand Martins and Chiffchaffs singing.

Gérard Fordham 

Marsh Harrier

 Marsh Harrier hunting the lower dunes at the Leri side of  Ynyslas and 5 Shelducks this morning.

David Williams 

Llanrhystud/Llanon

 11 Med Gulls, 26 Turnstones, 1 Dunlin, 5 Little Egrets.

Marsh Tit/Willow Tit id

 Hi Martin

I would be inclined to just keep an open mind about the id of the bird on your feeder. The latest thinking from Richard Broughton, the man widely considered to be the world's leading expert on the two species, is that visual criteria are essentially useless in the field. This is a tiny quote from p18 of his book;

"....especially in Great Britain too great an emphasis was placed on unreliable features in popular field guides, such as cap gloss, size of the throat patch and presence or absence of pale fridges on the secondary wing feathers." 

He mentions features that can used for separation but these are so fine that they are of no use in the field only if you have one in your hand. In short, he considers vocalisations to be the only reliable method to identify them for most of us.

I live not far from you in Llangybi. I have recorded Marsh Tits a few times around Llangeitho. There are some quite extensive areas of mature deciduous woodland around the village which are preferred by that species. There is also a good population of Willow Tits not far away from you, kind of between Stag's Head and Llanio. They can be found in the boggy, overgrown ground up there.

I guess either could be using your feeder. Keep listening!

Ian

"The Marsh Tit and the Willow Tit" by Richard K Broughton 2025 published by T & AD Poyser