Of note, a Chiffchiff. If this is a migrant – it had no pollen horn but I’ve not recorded overwintering birds, this is my earliest ever at this site.

Of the waterbirds, two Goosanders remain, Coots are now breeding and as expected, Little Grebes have now departed.

WeBS core count, 17 February 2019

Domestic Greylag Goose (15); Canada Goose (6); Muscovy Duck (1); Mallard (37); Domestic Mallard (10); Goosander (2); Little Grebe (2); Moorhen (3); Coot (7); Black-headed Gull (2); Reed Bunting (1)

Despite being widespread, we know surprisingly little about the UK’s tawny owl population.  Running from mid-August to mid-October, BTO is running a national survey on tawny owls to examine long-term population and occupancy trends.

More details, with options to take part at sites in Glamorgan, are available online.

A lone Swift over Penygraig this evening is my latest summer record here.

Two house martins along the river this morning, and a holly blue in the Treforest sunshine this afternoon.

My first chiffchaff of the year was a singing male in Treforest on 8 March.  My earliest local bird by some 9 days.  One, possibly two singing birds at Oxwich on 11 March, followed by two non-singing birds at Clydach Vale CP this morning (my earliest ever in the Rhondda), leads me to wonder if there’s been an earlier general arrival of this species across Glamorgan this year.  BirdTrack hints at this too.

Has anyone else noted this locally?

I know we’ve had earlier individuals in the past.

A low tide count for the Non-estuarine Waterbird Survey (NEWS) resulted in:

Black-headed Gull (116); Carrion Crow (75); Great Black-backed Gull (5); Grey Plover (1); Herring Gull (382); Lesser Black-backed Gull (1); Meadow Pipit (1); Oystercatcher (15); Redshank (2); Ringed Plover (15); Sanderling (2) and Turnstone (2).

Wader numbers low, but surprised to see so many crows using the beach.  A 1CY Herring Gull continually rising and dropping a whelk on the rocks before being robbed by an Oystercatcher was noteworthy too.

There’s still a few vacant sectors along our coast if you’d like to take part in this survey.  See link above.

1:00 – 2:30pm
Great Northern Diver (1); Buzzard (3); Harris’s Hawk (1, with jessies); Little Grebe (1); Cormorant (8); Carrion Crow (5); Raven (2); Robin (1); Blue Tit (2); Goldcrest (1)