Strumble Head 30th April

Time: 16.00 - 18.00
Weather: Drizzly Rain
Wind: SSW 1/2


Mediterranean Gull - 1 ( 2cy, advanced 1st w plumage )
Puffin - 1


Plenty of Manxies now passing.


Porpoise numerous & showing quite well.  

Black and wheat and black

A late summer plumage Black Throated Diver passed by Strumble heading east early this morning and circa 10 distant Common Scoter heading west. At Fishguard Harbour a couple of Wheatears and a pair of Black Guillemots.

Flagpoles 11.00 29th April.

A total of 12 Whimbrel after counting beach & rocks.

Pen Anglas

Two singing male Lesser Whitethroats and three Wheatears and several Whitethroats on territory.
Eight Manx Shearwaters past by together and a single Black Guillemot in the harbour.

Abermawr / Strumble 28th April

Very quiet at both sites when I was there, most notable thing was a flock of 30 Black Headed Gull heading very purposefully northwards at Abermawr. Whitethroats in evidence now at this area of the coast. 

Round Up

Pen Anglas     21st 10 Wheatear and Lesser Whitethroat. (a dead Water Shrew)
                     25th 1 Wheatear, and Lesser Whitethroat,2 summer plumaged Black Guillemot in the harbour.
Llanychaer.   22nd Pair of Stock Dove,male Redstart.
                     23rd Fledged Mistle Thrushes. ( on 21st a Hedgehog in the garden)
Rosebush Reservoir. 22nd Down to one pair of Great Crested Grebe also a male Goldeneye and Redstart.
Gwaun Valley. 27th Male Pied Flycatcher,Redstarts,a Cuckoo,and a Garden warbler all present.
                    (12 Siskin in garden)

Strumble Head 26th April.

Had a good hour plus at the lookout this evening with the Walrus, 100's of Manxies now passing through but the highlight was 2 or possibly 3 Risso's Dolphins, one passing fairly close.

Strumble Head / Flagpoles 25th April.

Very quiet for migrants except for a few Swallows. A sgl Whimbrel passed calling & a group of 5 Black Headed Gulls. A few Porpoise showing.


At the Flagpoles a very distant Sandwich Tern on a platform way out in the Harbour.

Strumble Risso's showing off!

Just got these shots of a breaching Risso's from Malcolm Barradell, taken at our Sea Trust Porpoise watch on Easter Monday! What an amazing experience and so good to be able to share with our Sea Trust supporters and the World Cetacean Alliance!

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Images: Malcolm Barradell.

Strumble Head 23rd April

More migrants about today, at least 20 Wheatear, large numbers of Swallows & a few House & Sand Martins, a small flock of Goldfinches went through & my first Whitethroat of the year. Out to sea 3 Whimbrel, also my first of the year.

Sea Trust Strumble Porpoise Watch "Spring has Sprung"...Byoiioyng!

We had not managed to publicise our Easter "Spring has sprung" Porp' watch at Strumble very well, apart from a few posters and our mail list but the twenty odd people who turned up had a treat in store!
Our seemingly resident Risso's Dolphins spent at least an hour showing off and playing hide and seek in front of us. Happily we had several pairs of our new 10x25 compact binoculars with us so everyone was getting a good view. There were at least five probably six. At one time one breached repeatedly if distantly. Great sightings of porpoises grey seals and diving gannets contributed to a show worthy of one of David Attenborough's epic wildlife documentaries!

Strumble Head 21st April.

A reasonable count of 30+ Wheatears around the eastern side of the headland, but very little to back it up. 

Strumble Head 20th April

My first Manx Shearwaters of the year, 8 in a few minutes. Not much about in the pretty cold NE wind, only a single Wheatear seen. A couple of Porpoise seen but sea a bit rough for good views.

Pen Anglas

A singing Lesser Whitethroat,and a single male Wheatear were the best,a Black Guillemot in the harbour.

Tresinwen & Strumble Head (19 Apr 14)

Lesser Whitethroat singing away again today.  Few more Whitethroats about compared to yesterday, Blackcaps quite numerous now and Wheatear up to 40+.  Whimbrel flew west along the cliffs.  A few Redpolls flying over the garden.

Tresinwen - Merlin Pics (12 Apr 14)

Here are some of the Merlin pics from last weekend.  More on my website.

Tresinwen & Strumble Head (18 Apr 14)

A Lesser Whitethroat rattling behind the garden this afternoon.  Two Whitethroats along the coast and a Common Sandpiper on Porthsychan.  Lots of Wheatear around (30+).

6 Risso's Dolphin cruising slowly past Mackerel Rock at 1630 - very close in and easy to see with binoculars.

Whimbrel on Outer Breakwater..

Two Whimbrel on the outer breakwater this morning otherwise pretty quiet. 

Gwaun Valley 16th April.

A short walk at Llanychaer was dominated by the numbers of Blackcaps singing in the wood, also heard Nuthatch. Male Siskin displaying in the garden when i got back.

Redstart

A male Redstart singing in the woodland at Llanychaer this morning

Strumble Head 15th April.

Fairly quiet except for a few more Wheatears, my first double figure count this year. Porpoises showing well in tide race west of lighthouse.

Whitethroat

A singing male Whitethroat at Pen Anglas yesterday,fairly quite otherwise. Some Swallows and a single Sand Martin moving through.
At Rosebush Reservoir two pairs of Great Crested Grebe as far as I am aware in previous years there has only been a single pair.

Strumble Head (13 Apr 14)

Massive hirundine movement today - all heading West along the coast.  Hundreds of Swallows with maybe upto 100 Sand Martins and 15-20 House Martins (my first of the year).

Very quiet otherwise for other migrants.

Tresinwen & Strumble (12 Apr 14)

Lots of Swallows noted around Strumble today.

It has been a gardening day today but still managed to end on a cracking bird.....

After lunch I returned to the garden to find a number of fresh feathers around the greenhouse.  Thinking that a bird had struck one of the windows I followed the feather trail.  This led me round to behind the shed where there was a larger pile of feathers but still no sign of the donor.

I peered over the fence that runs behind the shed and under the hedge on the other side I flushed a brown backed raptor.  I couldn't identify it as it was obscured by the hedge but instantly assumed Sparrowhawk.  I found the donor of the feathers.....a headless Collared Dove.  (This bird has been around the garden for a few weeks).

Returning to the lawn mower I proceeded to mow all of the lawns but was thinking to myself that the Sprawk would return to a big prey item like a Collared Dove - it would not give it up that easily.

At 4pm I finished the lawns and retrieved the carcass from under the hedge and placed it out onto the lawn.  I set up my camera and covered myself with some camouflaged scrim netting and waited....

Didn't have to wait long!  After just 15 minutes I heard the tell-tale alarm calls of Great Tits and Chaffinches and knew that a predator was incoming! 

Well what a surprise when the killer landed on the Dove carcass.  This was not a Sparrowhawk!

Female MERLIN !!!  (Pics to follow later in the week - got 600 to sort out - gulp!)

Felindre West to Abermawr 12th April

Good number of Swallows & Sand Martins seen moving along coast & over the pond at Felindre West, at least 13 Fulmar nests on the cliff in the bay & Stonechat, Linnet & Skylark present. No Wheatears seen.

Hirundines and Divers

Off of Fishguard Fort this morning 2 Great Northern Divers and a single Red-throated Diver.
This afternoon at Llanychaer a small passage of Swallows totaling about twenty,also two House Martins and a single Sand Martin.
Goldfinch numbers in the garden  have reached up to 18 at one time,also several Siskins, three Redpolls and also early this morning two Linnets.
Kingfisher and Dipper are both nesting along the river here.

Flagpoles

Afternoon: a raft of 36 immature Black-headed Gulls were resting offshore. In due course they took off in two groups, some 20 minutes apart, each group rising in unison, flapping and circling to gain height then made off eastwards. There was also a trickle of Sand Martins and Swallows passing westwards.

Tresinwen & Strumble Head (06 Apr 14)

Male and Female Blackcap in the garden today with 2 or 3 Chiffchaff.  Still lots of Goldfinch about.

A few more Willow Warblers around the headland today - some very tame.  One White Wagtail and 5 or 6 Wheatear in the ploughed fields near the headland.  Also 6 Swallow through after the rain.

Tresinwen & Strumble Head (05 Apr 14)

Lots of Goldfinch around the garden today.

A number of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers dotted along the coast in Gorse Scrub.  My first Sand Martin of the year in off the sea at the lookout.  Only two Wheatear seen today - one male one female.  Small numbers of Pied Wagtails along the coast but no White Wags today.

Off the lookout were 4 Red Throated Divers and 1 Great Northern Diver feeding just offshore.

Otherwise pretty quiet in the sea drizzle all day.

Update...First Swallow of the year over the garden at 1830.

Strumble Head 2nd April

A few migrants about this morning, Chiffs in the gorse, Swallows & Sand Martins in off the sea a couple of Wheatear & small groups of Meadow Pipits through. Out to sea A few Porps & Red Throated ( near Summer Plumage ) & Black Throated Diver.