Skokholm Trip 11-14th September

Last weekend I stayed at the Skokholm Bird Observatory with Dave Astins who was leading a migration course there. At Martin's Haven before catching the boat I found a smart immature/female-type Redstart in a small area of willows, a good start. After a quick briefing we were out to explore the island. c15 White Wagtails were on the North Plain along with a few Wheatears. Other birds of note was a Water Rail at the Well, Whimbrel on the North Coast and 2 juvenile Dunlins on North Pond.
An early start on the 12th saw me head down the Well to look for migrants, 3 Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap were present but not much else. Heading back to the courtyard a small bird flitted past me into the cottage garden. It was a stunning Firecrest! It stayed the whole day and moved to the courtyard later in the day, it showed very well in the courtyard even down to a few metres at times. The White Wagtails were still on North Plain along with a few Pied Wagtails. A good fall of Wheatears today, we counted 17 around the island including a Greenland-type bird on North Plain, a Whinchat was near the lighthouse in the afternoon. In the evening we went down to the quarry hoping to see some Storm Petrels. On the lighthouse track lots of young Manxies we getting ready to fledge. At quarry the Storm Petrels were there. We used a infra red camera to watch them as the flew around us.
Another look down at the well on the 13th revealed nothing unusual, 2 Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff. At the courtyard birds were a little better. Yesterday's Firecrest was still in the courtyard as was a Garden Warbler and a male Blackcap was in the courtyard heligoland. 2 Skylarks were near North Pond and a juvenile Ringed Plover and the 2 juvenile Dunlin were on North Pond. A seawatch from the lighthouse revealed 3 Commic Terns flying south, 12 Common Scoter and 14 Gannet. Back along the lighthouse track 2 Whinchats and a Wheatear were at Horsebottom. Large numbers of Rock Pipits were on the Neck, 32 were put up at once giving us a total of 49 for the Island on the 13th.
Half a day on the 14th, but there were more birds on the island. 14 Willow Warblers were around, 4 at the Well, 6 at Spy Rock, 2 in the Courtyard, 2 at Orchid Bog. A Pied Flycatcher was found at soy Rock but when I went there I could only find 2 Spotted Flycatchers, another 2 Spot Flys were at the Well. A Reed Warbler at the Well was a new addition to the trip list as was a Sedge Warbler at Orchid Bog. A Water Rail was a the Well and a bird was here calling near the cottage garden, suggesting there are 2. At South Haven, just before getting on to the boat, a Turnstone appeared on the rocks, a nice end to the trip. Back at Martin's Haven a Grey Wagtail was flying around and 3 male Blackcaps and 2 Spotted Flycatchers were in the Willows.

Ginst and the surroundings

Last Sunday Alex Holland took me around his farmland along the river taf and over towards Ginst Point. Walking through the rush I picked out a raptor quartering the far corner of his land. As if flew along the embankment the white upper tail coverts were obvious, a smart juvenile/female Hen Harrier Other birds of note on the farm were, 4 Teal, 100+ Swallows, 3 House Martins, 6 Sand Martins. On the Taf shore there were 2 Little Egrets, c30 Curlew and a Shelduck, but the heat haze prevented me looking for any other species. At Ginst Point large numbers of Oystercatcher were on the sand, about 200! Elsewhere on the point 45+ Knot, 30 Dunlin and several Ringed Plover. Back on Alex's land a Kestrel gave good views and large numbers of Linnet were feeding in the field. Back towards the car a smart male Wheatear caught my eye, followed by quite allot of Stonechats, 10, and a Whinchat sitting on the barbed wire fence.

Ginst Point again...

This morning I headed down to Ginst Point again. The tide was high and there were birds everywhere. The tide was particularly high this morning and as a result large areas of the salt marsh were flooded. Here there were hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, 8 Little Egrets and c60 Curlew. Even more gulls were on the spit but there was no sign of Thursday's Little Ringed Plover. As the tide started to drop more waders started to arrive. 6 Black-tailed Godwits flew up from the salt marsh and headed towards Laugharne. A Redshank appeared on the shore along with 4 Knot. 2 Sandwich Terns were feeding offshore and a Great Crested Grebe was nearby. One last scan across the beach, before going home, and a few flocks of small waders caught my eye. I managed to get close enough to look though them. Predominantly Dunlin (c60), 5 Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling and... a *LITTLE STINT*! Its small size was obvious against the larger Dunlin and its very energetic habits were great to watch.

Little Stint

Little Ringed Plover

I had a short visit to Ginst Point this evening just to see what was around. However, I didn't go very far before I found the star bird of the evening... a very smart juvenile Little Ringed Plover. It was frequenting a small stream that runs through the salt marsh and alongside the beach. I watched it for about half and hour as it foraged on the muddy banks of the stream. Eventually, it moved further up the stream and was lost behind the vegetation.

Other birds of note were c30 Curlew, a Redshank, 4 Great Creasted Grebes and 6 Ringed Plover.

Little Ringed Plover

Waders...

Last week ( 17th) we went down to Dale to spend the evening there . At the Gann a good selection of waders were present including 20 Dunlin on the beach and 2 Greenshank on the lagoon. 4 Common Sandpiper were also on the lagoon as was the highlight a juvenile Ruff, my first in Pembs! A second juvenile Ruff was at the the river mouth along with a Whimbrel and several Ringed Plover.
On Saturday I visited Ginst Point looking for some more waders. A quick scan revealed large numbers of Curlew (c70), Dunlin (100+), Ringed Plover (c110) and Oystercatcher (c90). Also present, were small numbers of Black-tailed Godwit (3) and a lone Knot. Gulls were in good numbers on the mudflats, with 250+ Black-headed Gulls, 60+ Herring Gulls and 3 Commin Gulls.
This afternoon we went to West Williamston NR. First birds of note were 2 Curlew and a Whimbrel. Looking through a flock of Lesser Balck-backed Gulls I found a white gull. It had me scratching my head for a while but I'm fairly sure it's a Leucistic Lesser Balck-back. On the way packed there was a further 3 Whimbrel, a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Greenshank.

Ruff

Leucistic Lesser Black-backed Gull

Holiday to Hourtin Plage, South France

We spent 10 days in Hourtin Plage a small village on the south west coast of France. We didn't travel far away from the village but I still managed a list of 81 species. The extensive dunes, rich pine forest, lakes and clearings provided great habitats for an array of different species. I spent a few hours one day seawatching off the beach at Houtin Plage, loads of Balearics and a smart Sooty Shearwater was the highlights.
Here are a few of the highlights of the holiday were:

Black Kite
Firecrest
Black Redstarts
Crested Tit
Short-toed Treecreeper
Turtle Dove
Red-backed Shrike
Hoopoe
Yellow-legged Gull
Fan-tailed Warbler
Honey Buzzard
Melodious Warbler
Purple Heron
Short-toed Eagle
Montagu's Harrier
Night Heron
Golden Oriole
Kentish Plover
Spotted Crake
Sooty Shearwater
Black-winged Stilt

Black Redstart

Hoopoe

Black Kite

Short-toed Eagle

Black-winged Stilt

Purple Heron

Skomer and the Cotswolds Water Park

Last Thursday I went onto Skomer. It was great to see Puffins and the other seabirds nice and close but I spent most of the day in land in north valley and around the farm. I managed great views of the Short-eared Owl feeding in the valley and later found the Little Owl on the wall next to the farm. A Willow Warbler in the elders by the farm had me wishing for Greenish but it darted away quickly, turns out there was one in the north haven ivy the next day!

Wren

Puffin

We spent the weekend in the Cotswolds Water Park because my dad was taking part in a half ironman. The event was on Sunday so Dad and I visited some of the pits to see what was around. A few Red-crested Pochards was nice as were many Common Terns which were nesting on some the islands in the pits. Black-headed Gulls were also nesting on these islands. An early start on Sunday for the event allowed me time to search sites hoping for a Nightingale. Luckily Pit 43 was fairly close to the start of the triathlon so I could walk there and still be near the race. I was very surprise and happy to soon hear a Nightingale singing its fantastic song in an area of scrub by the pit. I watched and listed to it sing for about 3 hours and managed to get quite close to it at times. Although sometimes skulking, it often came onto the top of a tree or bush to sing its repertoire, allowing some great views. Sedge Warblers were nesting in damp scrub nearby and a Cetti's Warbler sang from the reeds. Another nice surprise was a Lesser Whitethroat in an area of brambles next to the footpath.

Sedge Warbler

Nightingale