Port Eynon  first thing: 2 arctic skua  (dark) , 23 comm scoter, 35+ gannet, 10 sandwich tern, 4 fulmar, 3 kittiwake. all going west.

Weobley, mixed bag with great views of osprey going fishing, 2 curlew sand , 1 little stint ( not sure if both these relate to those seen at Whiteford recently?? )

approx. 550= dunlin , 280 + ringed plover, 6 wheatear, plenty of meadow pipit, linnet and pied wags out there.

An unfortunate manx shearwater blown in last night was sat on the sea until the GBB gulls spotted it, it tried diving under the water to avoid them, but eventually they got the better of it. Gut instinct is to lob something at the gulls, but as gruesome as it is, its nature etc..

a few pics too. some osprey shots and spot the little stint in one shot

blustery out on the marsh but good numbers of Dunlin and ringed plover ( roughly 600+ and 300+ ). Hard to get accurate counts as there was much movement of the birds. 

4 curlew sandpiper ( 1 ad and 3 juvs). 3 turnstone, 6 knot, 10 blackwit through, 1 peregrine and 5 wheatear.

balearic shearwater on the sea and into swansea bay at 15.20, 1 pale Arctic skua 15.45.

around 10 to 15 juv kittiwakes was better than the morning at Port Eynon, about 40 kittiwake with only 2 juvs. 20 fulmar, 8 gannet, 6 c scoter, only 20 Manx was the early start at P E

 

male redstart, lesser whitethroat, couple of willow warbler, 4 blackcap, 5 chiffchaff, 3 whitethroat, Dartford warbler and garden warbler..

interestingly, no tree pipits going over compared to the large number at Oxwich just along the coast.

4 sandwich tern ( 2 juv) and 62 ringed plover at Port Eynon

1 little stint , 247 Dunlin, 76 ringed plover ( seven juvs ) , 4 sanderling, singles of knot and whimbrel

137 Dunlin, 52 ringed plover ( 3 juvs ) , 2peregrine, 35 plus mead pipits, 1 whinchat along the fence.

135 curlew at Llanrhidin, 50 common gull at Crofty.

well done Ed Hunter on winning the Carl Zeiss award

 

Willow Tit calling along the track between Grovesend and Gorseinon. Roughly in the same place as last autumn.

stop press! Broad pool Canada geese party 6 ( 4 juvs) , for all you Corvid fans, at

Dalton’s point, 319 Carrion crow,275 Black tailed godwit and 18 Knot.

family party of 4 LR plover ( 2 juvs) at Upper Loughor.

late burst of Grasshopper warbler at Grovesend,and the first juv willow warbler passing through the garden.

2 ringed plover with 2 recently fledged young. Both adults doing their best to fly off any gulls straying too close….hope they keep it up!

35 redshank, 2 common sand and 225 blackwit at Penclawdd.

family party of 5 Canada geese at Broad pool

Pair of shelduck with 6 juvs on the edge of Berthlwyd saltings. 10 curlew also.

2 common sandpiper and 57 black tailed barwit at Penclawdd.

2 pair of ringed plover on Sedgers bank, Port Eynon, with one pair pretty agitated. They were here back in June, but still no sign of any juvs. 3 turnstone also

signs of breeding out at the point included pair of  Ringed plover with 2 well grown juvs this was at Berges Island. A further 4 ad Ringed plover were near the hide. 2 seemed to be on guard with a further 2 feeding further out.

126 curlew and a near breeding plumages Bar-tailed Godwin seemed fair return for the time of year. 10 Lapwing included 2 birds giving alarm calls and low flight..late clutch, or young among the sedge?

shelduck prob breeding in the burrows, as several birds coming and going.

At Penclawdd pill, 24 Redshank coming/going/ didn’t bother.

 

still good numbers  out at Whiteford:

145 Dunlin, 140 ringed plover counted. An est 500+ calidrid flock out by the lighthouse. Too spooked to get close enough for a good look. This was y’day.

today at Weobley, 405 Dunlin, 95 ringed plover, peregrine and 1 sanderling

would liked to have checked through the large flock out by the lighthouse

the remains of brynllefrith held 2 pair redstart, 2 singing tree pipit with 2 further birds seen on ground.

6 redpoll, 2 crossbill, 2 pair song thrush, 2 mistle thrush, 8 willow warbler, 2 raven, red kite and lurking carrion crows.

at Cwm clydach, walked from Pont llechart to above nest box 205. 5 male pied fly seen, 3 singing. 2 females also. These were the furthest down the valley toward Pont Llechart I’ve seen for about 4 years. Hopefully a sign of a few extra adults making it back this year?

3 redstart on the edge of woodland, 1 pair spotted fly. ( 2 other birds heard calling/ singing but not seen)

only 1 wood warbler, 8 blackcap, 6 willow warbler, 2 pair of dipper, 1 grey wagtail

also…wood warbler and garden warbler at Penllegaer fforest

Some wader passage on this mornings incoming tide saw

52 Dunlin , 11 sanderling, 22 whimbrel and 8 ringed plover

llangenith moors this morning ; not a great deal of migrants, but best was male  Hen harrier coming in over the dunes, having a look over the reed bed, then thermalling high  N/NE. 1 gropper, only 2 reed warbler, and at least 10 sedge warbler.

cuckoo at Ryers Down.

3 sandwich tern at Wernffrwd.

seem to be plenty  of Song thrush around Gower and Gorseinon, not much less than Blackbird numbers in some places

all too brief fly-past of prob fem LSW just up from the lake in clone valley. This is just up from Blackpill car park. Calling , but not pee pee call.

llangenith moors: 1 lapwing displaying, ringtail hen harrier on 28.03. 5 wheatear

whether this one is a wanderer from Llanrhidian, or a separate bird using this area?

oxwich: 6 sand martin, 2 swallow, 1 stonechat flycatching  over the lake from the reeds and a willow warbler.

castell du: 2 little ringed plover this ‘arvo

highlight of this morning’s NEWS count at slade sands was 4 Purple sandpiper. Couple of photos:

1 adult little gull flew off toward Burry Holmes. A dead seal on the strand line, if left there, may hopefully draw in some wandering Glauc. etc if any make it down here.

2 snow buntings were on the strand line at Whiteford sands this morning giving close views. Always great to see these on a walk around here. They gave a real taste of winter even though it didn’t feel like it weather wise.

These were obviously from more northerly climes, whilst my moth trap this morning produced 2 bordered straw prob. from  North Africa. Weird!