Flagpoles 30th December.

After a look on the Outer Breakwater proved fruitless except for the very distant feeding flocks as mentioned in the earlier post the Flagpoles in comparison was quite eventful.The two Kingfishers still present & the gull roost gathering fairly close in by the river outfall. Eventually as the light began to fail one of the largest roosts I have seen there, especially on the Flagpoles side contained in with the hundreds of Black Headed at least 3 Adult & 2 1st winter Med. Gulls. Earlier on a Little Egret came in but did not stay very long.

Feeding frenzies off Strumble...

In what seems to be pretty much an annual winter occurrence, there were literally thousands of feeding sea birds off Strumble all the way to Fishguard Harbour. Mainly a mixture of Kitti's BHG's and the larger gull species with some auks,  creating separate feeding groups spread  over two or three miles. I would really love to know what they are feeding on presumably something quite small...

Pwllderi

A sheep carcase attracted 23 Ravens,a Buzzard,a Fox which looked fantastic in the winter sun,there were several Carrion Crows and Magpies and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls also making use of the easy meal.
The only other birds of note were 21 Teal on the irrigation pond.

Jack Snipe

A single Jack Snipe ,several Common Snipe and around 25 Golden Plover on Dinas Mountain this morning.

Flagpoles 14.00 28th Dec.

Two Kingfishers flying along the rocks on the Eastern side was the highlight. Also an interesting looking gull which i saw first the other day but more distant. First thought it was a 2cy Med but i didn't think the wing pattern was right so opted for Black Headed. Now with the close view i'm sure there has to be Med in there somewhere, 100% though I'm not sure. Couldn't get it to fly today unfortunately.

Golden Plover

A large flockof 150+ Golden Plover on Dinas Mountain this morning, also around 20 Fieldfare were present.

Merry Xmas - Strumble Roll Call 2014

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all who visited both the lookout & the blog in 2014.


Many Thanks to all who passed on the information from their Seawatches , from those on the list of the main contributors to many others including :




Chris Grayell
Richard Davies
Red Liford
Paul Grennard
Peter Murray
Simon Murray
Clive Jones
David Astins
Wendy James
Chris Jones
Elfyn Pugh
Brian Gibbs
Paul Mahiques
Mervyn Jones
John Faithfull
Ceri Jones
Mark Hipkin


& many others whose names I don't know.


Here's to a successful 2015.

Strumble today...

Strumble today... 44 mph SW winds, no good for porpoise spotting  I could just make out a distant feeding flock of mainly kitties but also a couple of Manxies + a larger dark mystery bird, possibly a Sooty but not seen well enough to be sure....Aarrgh

Stormy Strumble

GBBG at home in the waves.

Strumble Head 19th December.

Time: 08.10 - 12.30
Wind: Strong Westerly


Common Scoter - 1 ( Male )
Red Throated Diver - 4
Great Northern Diver - 6
Manx Shearwater - 13
Storm Petrel - 1
Pomarine Skua - 1 ( Juv )
Bonxie - 1
Mediterranean Gull - 3 ( All Adults )
Sandwich Tern - 2
Little Auk - 1


Many Thanks to Chris Grayell, from the information I have the Sandwich Terns & the Storm Petrel are the latest ever recorded in Pembrokeshire.  

Dinas Mountain

This morning on Dinas Mountain 16 Golden Plover,small groups of Fildfare totaling to around 30 birds,also a couple of Red Kites.

Strumble Head (13 Dec 14)

Quiet around the head today.  Female Merlin seems to be back in residence around the top of Porthsychan - like last winter.

Still lots of Song Thrushes around and a few Mistle Thrushes also - been lots around for the last few weeks.

Strumble wild goose chase success

Quite a gang of us at Strumble this afternoon and despite the cold dull weather, plenty to see for those of us willing to brave the elements. 
Stephen and Tina Davies joined Rhian, Cristina and the walrus at the Strumble lookout. Apart from some amusement with a seal eating a fish then being pestered by gulls, we also recorded quite a few porpoises. Only birds of note were two pale bellied Brent Geese heading west along with odd auks and kitties, but no gannets!

Stormy Strumble...

13:00 14:00
Maybe we should have been with Adrian and Ricardo a bit earlier to get the porp's but we did clock up another Manxie for him, and a Skua Sp. ... ( bit distant to be sure with bins, probably a Juv Pom) A steady stream of gannets passing by with kitties auks and odd Fulmars.

Strumble Head 11th December.

Time: 08.00 - 13.30
Weather: Cloudy, Rain Showers
Wind: WNW 6/7 - NW 6/7


Common Scoter - 6 ( All Males )
Red Throated Diver - 10
Great Northern Diver - 4
Fulmar - 350
Manx Shearwater - 13
Pomarine Skua - 3 ( All Juvs )
Long Tailed Skua - 1 ( Juv )
Bonxie - 4


Porpoises showing occasionally in the rough sea conditions.


Only Richard Davies ( Ammanford ) & myself braved the very chilly conditions this morning but it was worthwhile.
The Long Tailed Skua is the latest ever recorded in Pembrokeshire, the previous latest record being a bird seen at Strumble on 3rd December 1999.

Woodcock

A single Woodcock flushed from the woodland at Llanychaer late afternoon today.

Second day, second Manxie

Another Manxie at Strumble this morning heading westwards...

Out of season Manxie...

Another stormy day at Strumble... and yet in amongst the maelstrom created by the northerly gale and big tide we still spotted half a dozen porp's feeding beneath the gannets and gulls. 
Sadly the best I could do pic' wise was the splash of one as the gannet dived in... Still, another day, another porpoise day at Strumble.
Surprise of the day was a Manxie (Manx Shearwater) seen passing westwards as I thawed out in the car.. The number of gannets about was unusual, in the hour I was there probably twenty odd passed by some stopping to fish others making their way west.Also more Fulmars than yesterday along with the Kittiwakes and and auks...

Flagpoles 14.00 7th December.

At Low Tide at a very chilly Flagpoles good numbers of the commoner gulls plus 3 Adult & 1 2nd W Mediterranean  Gulls.

Sunday Strumble Skua

Despite NW winds gusting to thirty odd mph we still managed to clock up a few porpoises.There was a marked movement of both Auks and Kittiwakes but the Bonxie was a nice bonus.

Divers

Singles of both Red throated and Great northern Diver in Fishguard this morning.

Strumble Head 21st October 2014

A quick flashback to this years best day when we had an amazing total of 193 Skuas equalling the 2nd highest day total which was achieved on 7th October 1988. In the assembled group at the lookout the man waving ( Richard Davies ) & the man on his right ( Peter Murray ) were present on both occasions !     Pic. Chris Grayell.

Porp's and a single Scoter...

Plenty of porpoises today estimated 30 + birds not very active but one drake Scoter seen heading West. Seems to be quite a lot of Mistle Thrushes showing in the area...