John's car was in the beach car park at Llanrhystud when I arrived and looking along the coast I could see JAD himself striding towards the lime kilns. Having decided not to follow him I had a good look round the immediate area.
A raft of ca430 Black-headed Gulls on the sea also held two 2nd summer Mediterranean Gulls. Single Common Scoter and Gannet passed and a Grey Plover and four Ringed Plovers were on the beach. An unexpected male Goosander flew south along the shore and a Peregrine came hurtling low along the embankment, turning inland before reaching me.
John returned and we teamed up for a look at the coastal fields at Llanon.
Still no Wheatear, but we had a good count of 17 Red-throated Divers on the sea; John had earlier had eight off the lime kilns. A few Guillemots accompanied them.
Otherwise, 12 Turnstones and a Redshank flew in, two Choughs went north and then a scan along the fence posts revealed the Merlin which has been around for some time.
We finished up at Tanybwlch, where we again failed to find a Wheatear, but could see Chris across the river. He joined us for a chat and a recital from a lone piper at the far end of the jetty.
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| Funny what you see lying around in fields |
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| Distant shot of the Merlin |
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| High tide at Tanybwlch, taken from near Spencer's sheds |