A Review of 2014

January
2014 got of to a great start with a trip to Newgale, resulting in my first Mediterranean Gull and the smart adult Kumlien's Gull. Other birds of note this month were a Red Kite over the house and a Woodcock.

February
The great run of Pembrokeshire gulls continued and a trip to Llys-y-fran on the 2nd was rewarded with more fantastic gulls. During this trip I had 2 juvenile Kumlien's Gulls, a Yellow-legged Gull, and an adult Ring-billed Gull. On the 17th I found a Firecrest at Bosherston. More gulling at Newgale on the 24th led to 2 1st winter Glaucous Gulls and 10 Med Gulls. The month ended with a visit to WWT Penclacwydd on the 26th. The best birds of this visit were a Water Rail and 2 Spotted Redshank.

Glaucous Gull

Spotted Redshank

March
March started of quiet but it soon pick up and it proved to be one of the best month of the year. A GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO was found at Giltar Point in Tenby on the 11th. Fearing it wouldn't stay long after school on the 12th I went down to see it. However it stayed much longer, I visited the site on 13th, 14th and 16th. A family trip to Freshwater West on the 30th allowed me to see the Bosherston Great White Egret. My first Wheatear of the year was at Freshwater West that day.

GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO

April
A quiet month with a good selection of commoner migrants. However, I did find a possible Purple Heron over my school on the 8th. At school on the 9th I had my first Willow Warbler and House Martin. Bosherston on the 15th resulted in 2 Common Sandpipers and a Blackcap. On the 16th I had my first Whitethroat and Sand Martins of the year. St Govan's Head had 5 Sandwich Terns on the 17th.

Sandwich Tern

Wheatear

May
May got under way on the 3rd when I saw the pair of Garganey in Cosmeston. Also there were 2 Cetti's Warblers and on the way home I had my first Swift of the year. At Canaston Woods on the 4th I found a Wood Warbler and several Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. The 5th and 9th was spent in Landshipping were several Whimbrel were present. On the 11th I had a great visit to Pantmaenog where the highlights were 2 Grasshopper Warblers, a Cuckoo, 3 Lesser Redpolls and a Tree Pipit.

Garganey

 

Wood Warbler

Whimbrel

June
June was a very quiet month with a trip to Skomer on the 30th being the best day. The highlights here were the usual Puffins and Razorbills, a Manx Shearwater, a Little Owl and a Short-eared Owl.

 Puffin

Razorbill

July

Another quiet month apart form a trip to Brynberian Moor for Whinchats, on the 6th, and surveying with the BTO rep. for Carmarthenshire at the MOD range in Pendine, on the 19th and 20th. The highlights were 3 Grasshopper Warblers and a juvenile Cuckoo. A Willow Tit was at Marros Mountain on the 23rd.

Whinchat

August
Quite a productive month both here in Pembrokeshire and elsewhere. On the 2nd I found 3 Juvenile Med. Gulls at Goodwick. We visited the Dyfi Osprey Project and RSPB Ynys-hir on the 4th, I saw 3 Ospreys at Cors Dyfi and the highlights at Ynys-hir were 2 Green Sandpipers and a Redstart.

The 11th to the 18th were spent on a family holiday in Northumberland. The highlights of this trip was the stunning Stilt Sandpiper, lots of Ruff and Knot, 20 Tree Sparrows, 5 species of Terns (Common, Arctic, Little, Sandwich, Roseate), 6 Avocets, an adult Caspian Gull, a Barn Owl, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Marsh Harrier, a Spotted Redshank and 4 Yellow Wagtail.

Sprinkle Pill on the 22nd resulted in a self-found adult Yellow-legged Gull.

Med. Gull

Osprey

Green Sandpiper

 Stlit Sandpiper

Eider

Terns

Avocet

Caspian Gull

Marsh Harrier

Yellow-legged Gulls

September
Quiet for autumn but still some good birding. At Marros Mountain there were 4 Crossbills there on the 15th and a late Spotted Flycatcher on the same day. The star bird of the month was a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling at St Davids on the 26th.

Crossbills

Rose-coloured Starling

October
A great autumn month. On the 4th I went seawatching at Strumble Head with Dave Astins. The highlights were 4 Arctic Skua, a Bonxie, 9 Balearic Shearwaters and a Long-tailed Skua.

The 11th and 12th was spent in Norfolk. The highlight had to be the STEPPE GREY SHRIKE at Burnham Norton, other highlights in the area on the 11th were 10 Bearded Tits and 30+ Pink-footed Geese. Also on this day we visited RSPB Titchwell, here there were, a hundred odd Dark-bellied Brent Geese, a Spotted Redshank, a Black-throated Diver, 2 Little Stints, a Bittern and a Yellow-browed Warbler. On the 12th there was 4 Grey Partridge in Norfolk and a Great White Egret and a Scaup at Rutland Water.

Bosherston on the 19th was good with 4 Kingfishers and a Whooper Swan.

STEPPE GREY SHRIKE

Bearded Tits

Bittern

Little Stints

Yellow-browed Warbler

Whooper Swan

November
Strumble Head on the 2nd was quiet but a Great Northern Diver flying south was a great sight. On the 22nd I went to Dryslwyn, highlights included, 8 Whooper Swans, 4 Pintail and a Goldeneye. A Long-tailed Duck at Bosherston on the 29th ended the month well.

Whooper Swans

Long-tailed Duck

December
A visit to Telpyn Point on the morning of the 14th was very enjoyable, 14 Red-throated Divers, 7 Guillemots and a Razorbill. On the 22st I went up to Gloucestershire. Plenty of Bewick's Swans at Slimbridge as well as 200 Barnacle Geese and 2 Cranes. Cotswold Water Park on the 23rd was great with 3 Smews (including a fine drake) and 20 Red-crested Pochards being seen. On the way back home we stopped off at Penarth Marina and found 2 Black Redstarts.

Seawatching again at Amroth on the 24th was rewarded with a Velvet Scoter out in the bay, also at Tenby on the same day there was a Great Northern Diver out in the bay near the lifeboat Station.

A day out on the 30th started with a Purple Sandpiper in Tenby. At the Gann I was pleased to find a juvenile/1st winter Iceland Gull and 6 Med. Gulls. We visited Monk Haven as well 10 Chiffchaffs were present plus a possible Siberian Chiffchaff.

On the 31st we went to Foel Feddau in the Preselis, a smart Snow Bunting ended the year perfectly!

Bewick's Swan

Crane

Black Redstart

Red-crested Pochard

Red-throated Diver

Barn Owl

Total
Overall: 194
Including 3 BB Rarities: GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO, Stilt Sandpiper, STEPPE GREY SHRIKE
and 6 WRP Rarities: Kumlien's Gull (x3), Ring-billed Gull, Great White Egret, Rose-coloured Starling, Siberian Chiffchaff (?).

Top 5 birds of the year
1. GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO
2. STEPPE GREY SHRIKE
3. Stilt Sandpiper
4. Rose-coloured Starling
5. Ring-billed Gull

Good self finds in 2014
Glaucous Gull, Firecrest, Yellow-legged Gull, Balearic Shearwater, Great Northern Diver, Smew (x3) Velvet Scoter, Iceland Gull, possible Siberian Chiffchaff.


Happy New year and Happy birding for 2015!

Snow Bunting

A visit to Foel Faddau in the Preselies was reworded with a stunning Snow Bunting on the path just infront of us, it stayed there for 5 seconds then flew away and out of view. Unfortunately that was the only one we saw and the weather forced us back to the safely of the car!! Other birds of note were a Reed Bunting, a Stonechat and a Red Kite.

A Great Day Out

In the morning we went to Tenby hoping to find a Purple Sandpiper on the rocks next to the lifeboat station. After 30 minutes searching with no luck I decided to give up and head home. One last look on the ramp of the lifeboat station; and a fine Purple Sandpiper was foraging on the ramp.

Purple Sandpiper

Later on I met up with Dave Welton and we went to the Gann to see what was around. On the pools there were 6 Goldeneye, 3 Little Grebe and a Greenshank. A large gull flock was gathering by the river mouth. I was pleased to pick out a smart juvenile/1st winter Iceland Gull in amongst the larger gulls. Next we went to the water treatment works in Monk Haven to see the Chiffchaffs. There was about 10 birds present mostly the ordinary collybita but 1 bird look good for a Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff. I took some notes, but fleeting views and no call means it can only remain a possibility. Back to the Gann where the gull flock had move onto the shoreline flowing the retreating tide. 6 Mediterranean Gulls were present (there were probably more but that was all I saw) 5 adult winters, 1 of which had a red ring on its leg, and 1 2nd winter. On our way home we stopped at the Mullock bridge and had great views of a Barn Owl hunting over the nearby field.

Barn  Owl

Velvet Scoter at Amroth and GND at Tenby

Seawatching at Amroth this morning was made even better when a scoter came into land and revealed white secondaries, I immediately identified it as a Velvet Scoter. Birds also in the bay included, 2 Guillemots, 10 Great Crested Grebe, 15 Cormorant, 70+ Common Scoter (most were too far out to see them clearly) and up 30 Red-throated Divers, including a few large flocks of 10 birds flying over the bay.

At the end of a family walk around Tenby I walked down to the Lifeboat Station to see if an Purple Sandpipers were on the rocks. I looked at a Cormorant which was just out in the bay and next to it was a large diver species eating a crab. On closer inspection, noting the steep forehead and large body I realised it was a Great Northern Diver!

Red-throated Diver

Happy Christmas