Just after arriving at Castle Point at 8.00am a sudden commotion among the gulls alerted me to an Osprey, heading north just offshore. Great start to the day. Much further out were eight Gannets and three Sandwich Terns. Paul Bennett and I had arranged an outing but in the meantime Martin Creasser turned up. Nice to put a face to the name.
Paul and I called first at Ynyslas Turn car park: just a few C Scoters and a Red-throated Diver. Then to the Glandyfi layby where two Ospreys were visible up the valley and pick of the waders were three Black-tailed Godwits and a Common Sandpiper.
Then to Ynys-hir. A pair of Gadwall still on the pool and a couple of singing Blackcaps, then to the Ynys Feurig hide. 17 White-fronted Geese just a couple of fields away, and on the pools were six Black-t Godwits, two Little Ringed Plovers and to add a touch of the exotic, three Black Swans.
From around 20 Sand Martins which went through we picked out one House Martin.