CBWR: Lesser Whitethroat again by start of boardwalk and single fem. Wigeon from Prospect Place now on the reserve (found by Steve Strutt).

Marsh tit still present in Cogan wood.  tufted duck numbers building up on west lake.

46 species this morning. A Spotted Flycatcher was the highlight. Other signs of birds on the move included: Tree Pipit (3), Meadow Pipit (4), Snipe (2 f/o), Rook (6 f/o – unusual here), low double figure counts of both Chiffchaff and Blackcap and numbers of Woodpigeon (especially lots of juvs amongst them) are picking up. (DJJ/GJJ)

Mumbles Hill: early this morning.. 5 raven, wheatear,lots of chiffchaffs,2 meadow pippets
Bracelet Bay: 20-30 med gulls mixed in with BH’s and Herring… one ringed YHE8 (white on red) long staying Serbian Bird– been around since 2009.. I also counted up to 20 gannets in the bay fishing
Blackpill: very quiet.. maybe 12 or so Oycs.. lots of BH/Herring/Med gulls.. one ringed 36A6 (white on black)– 2 year old bird from Antwerp.. last seen breeding in Hamburg in May’13… 2 common gulls also seen…
Absolutely no small waders at all which is very surprising…

Kenfig Saltmarsh – Gadwall (5), Teal (42), Lapwing (16), Snipe (11), Greenshank (1), Stock Dove (1) & Kingfisher (1) [MHi]

Margam Moors – Wheatear (1), Sedge Warbler (3), Blackcap (2), Garden Warbler (1), Whitethroat (4), Cetti’s Warbler (2), Willow Warbler(1) & Chiffchaff (10+) [MHi]

Brunel Dock – Redshank (84), Whimbrel (3), Dunlin (29), Common Sandpiper (1) & Kingfisher (1) [ MHn, MHi]

Crymlyn Burrows – 3 Curlew Sandpipers at the shingle ridge wader roost this evening. The other waders were not counted but I suspect they were holding to recently taken counts. Other notable stuff included a Gannet in the Bay and an adult Common Gull with a metal ring on it’s left leg – no chance of reading the details though [MHn, MHi]

CBWR: Lesser Whitethroat by boardwalk.
Barrage: fem/1st.w.Wheatear on rocks.
Hamadryad Park: Red Admiral.

Watermill: ruff still present this morning together with 4 snipe, 1 little egret and a wheatear

Portobello: The only bird of note was a sedge warbler

Did a 1 hour visible migration watch this morning between 07:00 and 08:00, followed by a short walk around the hill.
Totals were: swallow 81, sand martin 1, meadow pipit 27, tree pipit 6, pied wagtail 7, yellow wagtail 1. Swallow movements increasing as I left.
Also: peregrine (first locally for a little while), shelduck (4), and a handful of common migrants in the bushes including chiffchaff (6+), willow warbler (3), blackcap (4), whitethroat (2). A reed bunting also present. Chiffs moving around with flocks of long-tailed and other common tit species.

Just back from 3 days cetacean surveying from the Stenna ferry with Sea Trust. Cetaceans seen were Rissos and Common Dolphins (5 Rissos while still tied up in Rosslare) and plenty of porpoise. 3 very large splashes followed by 4 blows will unfortunately remain a mystery.

Birds seen were sooty shearwater 2, Balearic shearwater 3, great skua 5, storm petrel 5, and very large numbers of Arctic and Common terns. 

A juv Hobby flew down river past the castle at 11:40am. Just a Grey heron and 4 Teal on the watermill pond.

Spent an hour looking out off the head this morning in the hope of some terns. In just over an hour: 7 common scoter (west), 5 turnstone (west) and a gannet. More notably (possibly) 19 grey wagtail over, including a flock of 10 going straight out. A few pied wag and meadow pipit, and swallow movement just starting as I left. A common sandpiper and a wheatear on the rocks at Limeslade.

P.M. – 4 Red Kites, 2 Choughs, 1 Wheatear, 1 Kestrel, family party of 4-5 Stonechats, Ravens, Meadow Pipits, Linnets; 1 Wall Brown, 2 Painted Ladies (1st I’ve seen this year). Still large numbers of House Martins at their colonies in Rhossili.

Just a quick message. Did you buy David/Jake Gilmore’s The Birds of Cardiff in 2006? There’s now a free updating supplement downloadable in pdf format here.

Some obvious movements over the hill this morning: 43 sand martin, a steady stream of swallows, 3 tree pipits, a few pied wagtails, grey wagtails and meadow pipits were seen in a brief walk around.
Grounded migrants limited to a wheatear, blackcap and a couple of chiffs.
54 Med gulls on the rocks / carpark at Bracelet.

Juvenile Ruff still present at 07:00 this morning, seen feeding on the main flood, viewable from the pub car park. A personal milestone bird for me, being my 200th confirmed species for “Eastern Glamorgan”.

Have they been sold on?Is this good news?