WWT Penclacwydd

Today I went to the WWT centre in Llanelli. I spent half the time photographing the wildfowl collection in the centre. Here are some of the best...

Black Duck  

 Red-crested Pochard

 Lesser White-fronted Goose

 Puna Teal

 American Wigeon

Ruddy-headed Goose

The rest of the time was spent in the hides around the reserve. The highlights were 8 Shoveler, 3 Little Egret, 50 Greylag Geese, 2 Greenshank, a Water Rail and 2 stunning Spotted Redshank.

  Spotted Redshank (record shots)

A quick walk around the Millennium Coastal Path was quite successful with the highlights being 2 Pochards, 35 Redshank and a female Goldeneye. 

Glaucous Gulls and more- Newgale

Once again the gulls at Newgale were the main attraction for an afternoon of birding. Walking along the shoreline a stream of gulls were constantly flying from one side of the beach to another. In this stream of gulls I managed to pick out 6 Mediterranean Gulls, (4 Adult winter, 2 2CY). Along the shoreline there was a mass of dead birds, mainly Auks. I managed to count:

22 Razorbill

5 Guillimots

1 Gannet 

1 Seal

There was a flock of 50+ Snipe circling the marsh, before settling at the far end. The marsh itself had a flock of 40 Teal, but there was no Green-winged. There were lots of gulls on the marsh, another 4 Med. Gulls (3 Adult winters, 1 3CY). Back on the beach, heading to the south end I found a large white winged gull. On closer inspection I saw that it was a pale 1st winter Glaucous Gull. It showed very well for about half an hour. My dad drove me back to the marsh where a quick scan of the gulls revealed another 1st winter Glaucous Gull.

An unfortunate end to this Razorbill

 The first 1st winter Glaucous Gull

The second 1st winter Glaucous Gull (the palest gull in the photo)

A close encounter with the Kittiwake kind

A morning in Amorth produced lots of gulls (mostly Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls). Walking on the beach there were 3 Kittiwake circling above my head. Heading back to the car another Kittiwake landed on the sea wall 2 metres from me, and another, and another! I slowed down but kept walking and the 2 metres turned to a metre, but then they flew off.

 Yawning Kittiwake

Tufted Ducks, but no Lesser Scaup :(

On our way to Cardiff we stopped of at Cosmeston Lakes for an hour. Unfortunately I couldn't find the  drake Lesser Scaup during the visit. On the lake there were 4 Great Crested Grebes, 6 Pochards and 2 Gadwall. Also, there were 3 groups of Tufted Duck on the lake in all about 30, (15 drakes, 10 females, 5 first winter females) the drakes got very close at times

 Drake Tufted Duck

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull

Sunday: Bosherston Lily Ponds and the surroundings

I spent a pleasent afternoon birding at Bosherston Lily Ponds and the surrounding habitats. The trip started with a stunning male Firecrest that was performing well in the reeds and scrub near Stackpole Court. On the pond there was a small number of Wigeon, 6 Gadwall, 4 Moorhens, double that of Coots, the usual Mute Swans and 10 Goosanders (6 drakes). There were good numbers of Cormorants on the pond, most coming into breeding plumage. Walking towards Broad Haven beach I got good views of a Grey Heron which was standing proudly in the reed bed. Around the coast there were small numbers of Kittiwake and Fulmar. 

Male (back) and female (front) Gadwall

Drake Goosander

Female Goosander

Grey Heron

Cormorants

Carew River walk

A great evening walk around Carew River, bird wise, nothing of great interest. The walk started with a Song Thrush feeding in the car park. On the mudflats, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Mute Swan, 4 Redshank, 4 Curlew, 5 Dunlin and my first Greenshank. A fly over Stock Dove was a good end to the walk. A few common woodland birds were in the trees alongside the river. By the end of the walk the light was fading, hence the poor photo of the Redsahnk.

 Song Thrush

 Little Egret

Redshank

A Fantastic day at Llys-y-Fran

On our way to Llys-y-Fran I realised that I forgot the camera, so there are no pictures of today. The massive gull flock at Llys-y-Fran was the main attraction for our day birding. The day started with a near summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe in a small inlet on the reservoir. On the fields alongside the reservoir there was a flock of about 100+ Canada Geese. The gull flock continued to grow the whole time we were there. The first interesting gull was a smart juvenile Kumlien's Gull that flew in amongst a small gull flock. Further searching in the flock revealed 4 Mediterranean Gulls (1 adult winter, 2 2CY, 1 3CY). I met up with some other birders watching the gull flock. From here I saw: another Great Crested Grebe, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, another juvenile Kumlien's Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull (1 adult winter, 1 2CY), and my main target, the adult winter Ring-billed Gull.
A perfect day birding!