St David's Head and other sightings

I had a great morning at St David's Head with the highlight being a stunning little Dartford Warbler, unfortunately I only had a fleeting view as it ducked into cover. I heard it churring which confirm the identification. Further on I had my first Wheatear of the year (a male), several Stonechats and a Kestrel. 2 White Wagtails flew over the head and Chough was on the cliffs. Another highlight was 1, possibly 2 Scandinavian Rock Pipits. I am not familiar with littoralis, this is the first time I have seen one, but they stood out as quite different. I noted features such as greyish head and rump, buff tones to the breast and a prominent supercilium, which seem to support the identification.

Other sightings in the week included a Jack Snipe and 4 Yellowhammers on Marros Mountain. 2 Choughs, including a ringed bird (left leg, red over green with white '05' and right leg white over metel ring) and a Gannet were on my PWC patch at Tenby and 50 Red-throated Divers and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers at Amroth.

note the grey head and rump, contrasting with browner back

 Scandinavian Rock Pipit

 British Rock Pipit

Wheatear

City birding at its finest...

A trip to Cardiff to watch the rugby allowed me to catch up with some of the birds frequenting the city this year. First up, before the game we visited Forest Farm hoping to find the Little Bunting. It took a while to find the right place but once in the hide the stunning Little Bunting was immediately evident. It showed very well for the whole time, even down to a metre at times.

Later on after the match we went down to Cosmeston Lakes in search of the Lesser Scaup. First to West Lake where there was a few Pochards and 2 Chiffchaffs but there was no sign of the Scaup. On East Lake 6 Sand Martins were feeding over the water... and at last I found the Lesser Scaup with a few Tufted Duck very close to the shore of East Lake. Again it showed really well sitting on the water less than 2 metres away! A Cetti's Warbler was singing in the reeds at dusk.

 Reed Bunting (left) and Little Bunting (right)

 Little Bunting

Lesser Scaup

Great day at Angle Bay

Some great birding at Angle bay started with a flock of 15 Barwits on the shoreline, a Greenshank and several Redshanks were there too. A look out on the bay revealed 2 Great Northern Divers and 6 Great Crested Grebes. Over by Kilpaison 2 drake Pintails were sleeping in the bay and 14 pale-bellied Brent Geese were foraging in the water. A few Dunlin came across the water to land by Angle, but the star bird was a smart adult winter Slavonian Grebe associating itself with one of the Great Crests out in the bay!

Firecrests and some seawatching...

I went agin down to Rosemarket sewage workers to see the Firecrests, this time 2 birds were present and preformed well around the workers. The Chiffchaff was again present with several Goldcrests.

Later on I had a quick seawatch at Amroth this evening. The highlight was a smart pair of Red-breasted Mergansers at the east end of Amroth. Other birds included 15 R-T Divers, 45+ Great Crested Grebes and plenty of Common Scoters.

Firecrest

Chiffchaff

Grey Wagtail

Waders, Wildfowl and a Firecrest

I haven't been out birding for two weeks so I was please to spend a few hours yesterday morning along the Western Cleddau. In the immediate area Birdlife remained low, a few Curlews and Shelducks. A look over towards Millin Pill, hoping to find last weeks Green-winged Teal drew a blank, but there was plenty of Eurasian Teal there . Over towards Sprinkle Pill 3 Grey Plovers were roosting amongst a group of Dunlin. Elsewhere there were several Wigeon, more Teal, 20 Redshank, a large flock of 500 Golden Plover, 1 Little Egret and 3 Pintail, including a smart drake.

Next stop was Rosemarket WTW, plenty of Goldcrests were present as was a Grey Wagtail and a winter in Chiffchaff. It took some time but eventually a stunning Firecrest came into view and foraged around the sewage works. It stayed around for about 10 mins before heading back into the woods.

Grey Plover

Golden Plover

Firecrest