Friday 27th: Skomer Trip

On Friday we spent the day on Skomer Island. We arrived on the island at 10:45am and left at 2:30pm. As soon as we got on the boat the birding began. Leaving Martin's Haven Guillemots were the first birds of note, but as we headed further out the Puffins and Razorbills came into view. A Manx Shearwater cruising of the water was a pleasant surprise. From North Haven (where the boat docks on Skomer) thousands of Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins were flying constantly from sea to land.
First stop the Wick, the best place to see the Puffins up close, and it did not disappoint. Hundreds of Puffins were returning to their burrows with beaks full of sand eels and some with bunches of grass to build up the nest.
We had a quick lunch break at the farm before heading to North Valley in search of some owls. Walking to the valley I past a family of Sedge Warblers, 4+ singing Whitethroats and 2 Reed Buntings. Walking slightly further and a Little Owl flew up of the grass and into the bracken. There it stayed offering fairly good views. My next target was a Short-eared Owl. After thoroughly searching the valley I could not locate the owl. As I headed back to North haven a bird of prey caught my eye, it was flying over an area of reeds searching for food. Sure enough it was a Short-eared Owl! I watched it for the next 10 minutes as it foraged. With all birds planned to see ticked off it was time to head home.
A great day on Skomer!

 Guillemots 

Puffins

 Oystercatcher

Meadow Pipit

Razorbill

Marros Mountain: Finches, Warblers, Hirundines and more

I spent a few hours this afternoon doing my birdtrack count on Marros Mountain. 38 species were recorded in the time. The highlight was a Crossbill on the top of a spruce tree. Lots of recently fledged Blue and Coal Tits were recorded, but oddly no Great Tits. Other surprises for the area included a pair of Spotted Flycatcher, which have chosen quite an open place to nest, 3 Siskins doing their display flight around the trees, a Kestrel, 2 pairs of Whitethroat, a lone Swift, a Yellowhammer, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull and a pair of Stonechats (the first I have ever seen here). The usuals showed well, plenty of Goldcrests, 5 Skylarks, 7+ Swallows, 3 House Martins, 4 Meadow Pipits, 3 Chiffchaffs, 4 Willow Warblers, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Blackcap. Linnet numbers have increase dramatically on the mountain, a flock of c30 was the most recorded at one time.
On the way down I watched the Spotted Flycatcher sitting in her rather open nest.

 Coal Tit

 Linnet

 Spotted Flycatcher sitting on her nest

End of exams and a trip to Canaston Woods

I did my last exam today so I celebrated with a trip to Canaston Woods later in the day. To start birdlife remained quiet with a Marsh Tit being the only bird on note. Later on the woods were filled with recent fledglings being fed by their parents. I found fledgling Robins, Wrens, Song Thrushes, Nuthatch, Coal Tits, Blue Tits and Great Tits. A male and female Blackcap frequented a bramble bush, a  Treecreeper crawled up an oak tree and a Garden Warbler was showing well from a low tree. Wood Warblers were in good numbers, 5 in all, including two singing males and an adult Wood Warbler was feeding two of its chicks in a oak tree.

Sanderlings

I haven't been out for a while because of my GCSE exam revision, so I was happy to hear that we were going surfing in Freshwater West this evening. Before going in the sea I spent an hour photographing a good sized flock of Sanderling, about 56+ in all. Most had fully moulted into full breeding plumage and the others were in the middle of their moult. I managed to get quite close to them at times as they fed together on small invertebrates along the shoreline.

Sanderling

Pantmaenog Forest and the Uplands of Pembrokeshire

After lunch we spent the rest of the day in the Preseli Hills and Pantmaenog Forest. On the way there a fly over Red Kite and 2 Red-legged Partridges weres a good start. The first few minutes in Pantmaenog Forest I didn't find much but a singing male Whitethroat and a pair of Stonechats. However further on I heard my first reeling Grasshopper Warbler, I managed to catch a quick glimpse but it was sulking very elusively in a small bush. Walking towards Rosebush slate quarry I heard a faint 'cuck-oo' sound, this was my first Cuckoo for years!! We tried to get closer and eventually it was singing directly above me from a pine tree, it then flew away closer to the quarry. We carried on the path and passed about 5 Willow Warblers when I heard a Cuckoo singing again, probably the first bird. I found it in a pine tree and it showed well for about 10 minutes. A few steps on and a Tree Pipit was singing in another tree again with a few Willow Warblers around. The path took us to Rosebush village where we had a quick stop. During the time I noted a pair of Kestrels on top of the valley and 4 Siskins and 3 Lesser Redpoll were flying around the village. By now it was getting dark so we headed back to the car. On the way back I heard another reeling Grasshopper Warbler, which offered slightly better views, 1 Willow Warbler and a Reed Bunting.

Red-Legged Partridge

Cuckoo

 Siskin

 Willow Warbler

Tree Pipit

Whimbrels

On Wednesday I went back to Landshipping to get some better photos of Whimbrel. The weather was nice and there were plenty of Whimbrel all showing well (6 altogether). Also, there were a pair of Shelduck on the mudflats and a male Reed Bunting in the trees by the estuary.

Whimbrel

Whimbrels and more

We spent the evening in the murky rain in Landshipping. However, despite this there was plenty of bird life on and around the estuary. The first bird was a male Wheatear foraging on the wall of the quay. We decided to brace the elements and walk further around the estuary. From the quay I could not find any birds on the mudflats. Walking a little further there were 3 summer plumaged Dunlin, which I got quite close to. At this point we were going to turn back because I was soaking and the visibility was getting worse, but my dad said we should go further. A few steps on my dad found a Whimbrel, then I found c20 Black-tailed Godwit (nice to see pretty much all of them breeding plumage) a pair of Shelduck, another small flock of Dunlin and at least 5 more Whimbrel. Back at the car the Wheatear was still foraging and 2 fly over Greylag Geese ended the day nicely.

I admit these photos are awful, but I blame the weather.

 Wheatear

 Dunlin

 Black-tailed Godwit

Whimbrel