Author: [email protected] (Bob & Annie)

We are away this weekend and our WebS counts in Carew/Cresswell and Daugleddau have been delayed until this morning. Common waterfowl in the Carew/Cresswell section included lower numbers of wigeon and teal than last month (c.170 wigeon cf. 300 in October and c.120 teal cf. 190 in October). 75 shelduck were present which was an increase from the very low numbers in October. It seems possible from the calls heard on the Carew River for the first time that a large flock of wild geese may have roosted there overnight, or perhaps just flown in. They include 95 Canada geese…

We had a short walk around the upper eastern arm area of ​​Bosherston lakes this afternoon. The weather was very dull and generally very bird quiet. Not too many waterfowl, apart from a few mallards, moorhens (an adult feeding on algae which we often see doing at One Arch Pool weir) a mute swan family, a couple of reedbed water rails, three small that grebes and some cormorants resting in the trees. Several noisy jays may be watching a family of nearby otters (a female and two large cubs) feeding in the marsh shallows. At this time of year, black…

Singles of redwing and fieldfare appeared in the trees at the border of our garden, after we had finished recording an overnight moth-catch for the Garden Moth Scheme. The latter is the first we’ve seen here this fall. Later, we had to visit Pembroke so looked around the millpond where it was good to see two rings of Black-headed Gulls. One is a 1CY Blue TJJ7 from Poland (Polish birds appear almost annually at Millpond) and an adult with a Helsinki metal ring in the museum. We think we were able to read all the digits, but this one needs…

Following in the footsteps of many others, we went to Bosherston Lakes yesterday afternoon to see if the Little Crake was still around. Caroline Pickett and a few others were watching it before we arrived. After a few minutes it reappeared near the edge of a strip of bur-reed (Sparganium) where we all had a reasonable view. After a while it was close enough to see more detail, including the slight red under bill and the long primary feather projections. It moved a bit, in and out of the patches of sprouting and floating plants. Sometimes it moves quickly, sometimes…

Many observers have been doing WinGS in the Milford Haven Waterway/Cleddau estuary this week, taking advantage of the finer weather. Four counters (Bob, Annie, Caroline Pickett and David Ord) covered the long stretch of Daugleddau between Landshipping and Garron Pill/Lawrenny on Tue 1 Oct. The Sprinkle Pill had a nice roost, with David counting just under 1,300 Black-headed Gullsit’s over 200 Lesser Black-backed Gull, four Common Gulls and a small number of Herring Gulls. David also reported that last night 3 Red Kites disturbed the birds there, but they settled down again. At the end of the Garron Pill, the…

Interesting to read the post about the yellowhammers at Little Porthclew. We recently walked various small roads and paths in tetrad SS09J (which includes Little Porthclew and areas around Freshwater East and Hodgeston) in search of breeding yellowhammers. We repeated a survey conducted last spring by Chris Orsman, who walked the same routes. We noticed a minimum 14-16 yellowhammer territory, based on the presence of male singers and/or pairs. They are visible from public rights of way. Others are likely present in places we cannot reach.Happily (aided by some appropriate habitat management) this area continues to support an important yellowhammer…

In the spring of 2022/23, rookeries across the county were surveyed by volunteers as a contribution to the Welsh Ornithological Society’s Welsh rookery survey. It took some time to review all nest counts from visits to approximately 400 previously known rookery locations in over 300 tetrads (2km x 2km squares). Based on maximum nest numbers, a minimum sum of 6,679 nests have been recorded from 213 occupied rookeries produced an average of 31.4 nests per rookery. The distribution of rookeries recorded and the distribution of previously known, but now unoccupied, rookery locations on the six-figure reference grid level are shown…

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. Part of a large…

A few hirundines at Penally included a swallow and four sand martins which appeared to be inspecting near vertical faces on the eroded sands at Giltar Point. Hopefully, they don’t try to dig nests in this busy area that gets a little trampled by people! Wheatears are present in at least three possible breeding territory locations between Giltar Point and Valleyfield Top. A few chough pairs were also present in the expected locations.On our way home from the south coast, we looked from the road at a temporary pool at the bottom of the valley along Coal Lane, between Ridgeway…

We spent most of the Bank Holiday period checking chough sites in the Castlemartin Range, where despite the exceptionally wet ground conditions, most of the expected territories looked occupied. It’s still early days, but at least 16-17 pairs will continue to breed. This includes almost 20 year old woman with ring color at Linney Head where he has lived during the breeding season, for all the last 18 years or so. He was one of four that left a nest at Stackpole in 2004. Although not the oldest living chough known in Wales, if he reached 21 he would be…