Marloes garganey

 Two drakes foraging beyond the irrigation pond in front of the Britton hide this evening. Showing really nicely alongside a handful of shoveler and teal. 

Hobby over Crundale

A hobby flew west over Crundale at 2030 this evening.

Garganey, Marloes Mere

 

Drake Garganey at the mere this evening, first for a good while and always nice to see. 30-40 Whimbrel in scattered groups in the coastal fields. Dunlin flying around the mere, some promising little bits of bank showing as levels drop a little. 5pr and 10m Shoveler. 2pr and 2m Teal. Drake Wigeon. Just a single Tufted duck tonight. Coot with 2 very small chicks. 10 Wheatear. Very few warblers on the circuit, 2 Blackcap, single Whitethroat plus a Goldcrest in Martins Haven. 

Pied Flycatcher and Redstarts

 Both male Pied Flycatcher and Redstarts seen in the Gwaun Valley near Llanychaer yesterday.

This morning at Pen Anglas 2 Whitethroats, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Black Guillemot in the harbour 

Grassholm Tripods

We conducted our first monitoring work out at Grassholm over the weekend and wanted to put out the following request. We are trying to use camera traps mounted on tripods to assess productivity of the gannets on Grassholm over the course of the season. We are very limited on the number of tripods we have available for this and wanted to ask if anyone has any old tripods that they would be happy to donate to us? They don't have to be in great condition as they will be situated on Grassholm all year round. As long as they can stand upright that is all we need. 

 If you or anyone you know happens to have any lying around and would be happy to donate please could you email us at ramsey.island@rspb.org.uk

Thank you

Alys & Nia 

Hoopoe

A Hoopoe seen at Llawhaden bridge then flew towards Canaston bridge at 1305 (Alf Williams)

Castlemartin peninsula - whimbrels on the move and a swift today

We had a lovely day on the Castlemartin peninsula today where it was nice to meet the new Seasonal Ranger David over there. Migrants passing along the coast included good flocks of whimbrel, starting with 15 in late morning. Later in the late afternoon, at least 90 were actively feeding in the dune grassland. With these, plus others passing along the coast towards the Angle peninsula/Milford Haven area at the time, there must have been 100-120+ whimbrels at one point. A few other waders in the area included 2 dunlin, 2 sanderlings, a ringed plover and a dozen or so oystercatchers.  

Part of a large flock of passage whimbrels, plus a smart male linnet, coming in to rest and feed

Lots of sand martins in the area, but their colony has been badly impacted by coastal erosion during the wet, stormy period. A few house martins were back at a cliff-colony site. We noted our first swift of the spring flying over towards Freshwater West. A nice bird to end the visit on, but how well will their declining breeding population fare this year?

(Probable) Black Kite - Aber Rhigian

Probable Black Kite seen today at 12:30 from the coast path by Aber Rhigian, heading west towards Cwm Yr Eglwys.

I had a brief but good view of the bird as it flew along the cliffs above me, being mobbed by Herring gulls which initially drew my attention to the bird. It was immediately of interest to me as whilst clearly a kite, it was noticeably different from a Red Kite.

The bird was very dark and uniform below, with an obvious lack of rufous breast and white 'window' in the underwing, with only a shallow forked tail.

I watched it heading west in the hope that it would come back towards me but it continued in a westerly direction. Ideally I would have liked a slightly longer view to confirm 100% but confident with it being a Black Kite.

I had hoped to post the news earlier in the hope that it might be picked up further along the coast but lack of signal and then a dead battery meant I wasn't able to.

Also seen: 10 whimbrel and 1 common sandpiper at Newport Sands.

Carew

Common sandpiper on millpond early am, sleeping fox nearby

St Davids cattle egret

 Cattle egret with the Hereford cattle near Rhosson farm this evening. Hundreds of hirundines at various spots around the peninsula, the vast majority of which were swallows. 

A Replacement for the Britton Hide at Marloes Mere

To complement the recent improvements to the landscape and  views across Marloes Mere, the National Trust are in the early stages of planning an upgrade or replacement of the Britton Hide at Marloes Mere (the name Britton Hide will remain).

Before we put our designers pencil-to-paper, we wanted to gather ideas from local communities, bird-watchers and visitors as to whether this was a good idea, and if it was, what sort of facility would you would like to see (via a Survey Monkey). 

This survey will help National Trust to scope the type and scale of structure we design.  We want it to be big enough to cater for demand, whilst sitting gently in this sensitive landscape by using landscaping techniques and perhaps a green roof.

But what do you think?

Please use the QR code or the following URL to provide your ideas to National Trust 

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PEMBSBIRDERS 

Thank you

Southwood Golden Plovers

About 40 of the 80ish Golden Plover in the recently ploughed field near Maidenhall Point at National Trust's Southwood Farm today were remarkably hard to see despite strong breeding plumage. 

Further north at the marsh near to the farm a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling, a Sedge Warbler was singing and a pair of Reed Buntings were enjoying the sun on a fence before racing off together. A crow followed a Buzzard that was carrying a young rabbit, but had no idea how to steal it and gave up the chase and a Kestrel was hunting nearby. There were several Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in the hedges but no Whitethroats. I did not manage to get over to Folkston Moor side or see any Yellowhammers as the Welsh Black cows were showing a bit too much interest in my accompanying dog.

Nearby at Newgale beach a dozen Sand Martins briefly visited some nest holes in the cliff and six Fulmar ware apparently on four nests. A single Sandwich Tern was fishing along with a few Gannets.

Rosebush Redstarts

 Two male Redstarts were singing not far from the path, as I walked past the quarries near Rosebush this morning. On the way back, I also had good views of a male Redstart, and a brief view of a female. Near the lower path, a Willow Tit could be heard singing.