We had a great day on the Castlemartin peninsula today where it was great to meet the new Seasonal Ranger David there. Migrants passing along the coast include beautiful flocks of whimbrel, starting at 15 in the morning. By late afternoon, at least 90 were actively feeding on the dune grassland. By these, along with others passing along the coast to the Angle peninsula/Milford Haven area at the time, there must have been 100-120+ whimbrels at one point. Some other waders in the area included 2 dunlins, 2 sanderlings, a ringed plover and a dozen oystercatchers.
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| Part of a large flock of passage whimbrels, including a smart male linnet, coming in to rest and feed |
There are many sand martins in the area, but their colony has been severely affected by coastal erosion during wet and stormy periods. Some house martins return to a cliff-colony site. We noticed our first swift of the spring flying towards Freshwater West. A nice bird to end the visit with, but how well has their breeding population declined this year?
