Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Tanybwlch and an unidentified raptor

Decided to go down to Tanybwlch today and had a walk down the cycle path by the sheds, I spotted a pair of goosanders on the river, a pair of sedge warbler in the brambles to the left of the path, had to wait a while for them to show. Along with 7 wheatear, 20+ blackcaps, linnet, stonechat and too many chiffchaff and willow warbler to count. As I walking back up the river path I heard a bird calling above my head, it called 3 very high pitched calls. As I focused in on it my binocular's it was obviously a bird of prey. It had a long unforked tail (only slightly shorter than red kite) and had a very 'flappy' flight pattern. My first thought was a species of harrier as I checked the internet for harrier calls and they did not sound dissimilar. I guess I will never know, as all I could see was a silhouette of bird . I then spent a short period of time looking out from tanybwlch beach, and I spotted 6 Gannets, 3 of which I saw dive and 2 Manx Shearwaters flying north.

Edward O'Connor