Sidings: a flock of 20 mistle thrush, 3 chiffchaffs in a tit flock. Morfa tip: 1 white wagtail and 2 pied wagtails.

Another day, another wagtail 😉

Rivermarsh: 2 gadwall, 1 wigeon, 28 teal, 59 mallard, 10 mute swans, 2 little grebes, 2 snipe, 5 lapwings, 3 kestrels, 3 herons etc. Foreshore (high tide): 29 sanderling, 13 dunlin, 6 ringed plover, 3 GBB gulls.

Colour-ringed sanderling; G3WGBR, ringed at Sadgerði Harbour, Iceland (64.02.09 N 22.42.36 W) on 28/5/2013. Thanks to Jeroen Reneerkens for the speedy information!

Today’s visit completes 1 year of (more or less) weekly visits to sample invertebrates at the river marsh. A change in projects means that I’ll be visiting less frequently now, but it has been great to get to know this area well -highlights over the year have included bearded tit, garganey, purple heron, woodchat shrike, little stint, greenshank, red-throated diver, merlin, little egret, gadwall, pintail, mediterranean gull and (dead) barn owl!

River marsh this evening: 1 pintail, 1 wigeon, 18 teal, just 8 mallard, 1 greenshank (later flew to Morfa tip long pool), 3 little grebe, 8 lapwing, 1 kingfisher, 2 juv wheatears around the dunes.

Foreshore (low tide): 56 sanderling, 1 curlew, 21 oystercatchers, 2 Mediterranean gulls (ad and subad; the adult was green ringed on left leg, white letters = 9M or W6, but other letter(s) underwater!), 4 GBB gulls.

3 greenshanks on the long pool on top of Morfa Tip. On the river marsh, 8 lapwings, 1 wigeon, 50 teal, etc. On the foreshore, 2 ringed plovers, 21 oystercatchers, 4 sanderlings. Also, a common lizard.

Late news due to problems posting on the website. Further to Mark Hipkin’s posting for Aug 3rd:

I also had no waders on the rivermarsh on the 2nd, which I blamed on the cattle who were just coming out of the mud as I arrived. Present at the north end of the mud were 3 little egrets and 4 grey herons. An adult peregrine put up 67 mallard but no teal. On the foreshore were 56 sanderling, 1 summer plumaged dunlin, 1 oystercatcher and among the gulls was a colour ringed juv [yellow A+H] which is one of Peter Rock’s birds ringed in Bristol.

Yellow A+H, and colleagues