It may seem like winter to us but these two think its spring!

Strumble Head (29 Nov 15)

Fantastic sea today off Strumble - some massive rollers.

Short Eared Owl braving the weather this evening in fields between Pontiago Garage and Jam Factory.

Raptors around Pencaer

Winter tends to bring birds here in search of milder conditions and raptors follow them in..A slight ten mile detour around the Pencaer peninsular on the way to work rescuing a soaked damsel in distress, gave me brilliant close up views of a Buzzard that almost flew into my windscreen. A Red Kite  cartwheeling alongside us being hassled at low level by a jackdaw gave breathtaking views. Then, a  pristine blue tiercel Merlin with a peachy breast and the finest of barring  that flung up in front of me and then led the way for twenty yards before shooting off like an arrow. Not bad in terms of quality, quantity and splendid views! Just reward for a little chivalry!

Not much happening

There is always something going on at Strumble if you take your time and give it a chance. I spent half an hour with nothing much happening that is if you don't count lots of guillemots and razorbills flying by as well as half a dozen red throated divers and what looked like a GND or a Black Throated... oh and sixteen Scoter...  But then the Porpoises turned up including a mother and calf. All things i would expect to see in this fabulous nature watching Mecca. And then a Buzzard flew in off the sea, not a rare bird for Pembrokeshire but not often you see them coming in off the sea!

Hmm Strumble always turns up the goods!

Blue Whale etc

 A few shots from my recent trip to Sri Lanka including Blue and Bryde's Whale

Strumble Head 21st Nov.

Time: 07.00 - 15.00
Weather: Cloudy, some rain showers
Wind: N 8/9 all day


Common Scoter - 58 ( 35 Males )
Red Throated Diver - 28
Black Throated Diver - 1
Great Northern Diver - 3
Leach's Petrel - 9
Ringed Plover - 3
Dunlin - 25
Grey Phalarope - 2
Long Tailed Skua - 1 ( Juv )
Bonxie - 5
Little Gull - 1 ( 1st W )
Mediterranean Gull - 3 ( All Adult )


Richard Davies did the full stint, I joined him at approx. 11 o'clock & missed all the Leach's !!! 

Strumble Head 20th Nov.

Totals from the seawatch below:


07.30 - 12.30
Wind: WNW 5/6


Common Scoter - 41 ( 34 Males )
Red Throated Diver - 13
Black Throated Diver - 2
Great Northern Diver - 3
Manx Shearwater - 2
Curlew - 1
Arctic Skua - 1 ( juv )
Bonxie - 5
Mediterranean Gull - 1 ( Ad )


Risso's Dolphin - 3


Thanks Chris. 

Coo what a surprise...

I arrived late at Strumble this morning to find Chris Grayell stamping his feet and clapping his hands trying to warm up after a dawn start. He had done pretty well and I will leave it to him to report his birds. I was a bit late so missed most of it apart from a couple of  divers kittiwakes,auks and gannets.

Chris at his post!

A diver fly bye!

Gannets passed in ones and two's...

A curlew passing by into the gale was a bit mad (why was it not feeding on an estuary somewhere?) but the real surprise was some strange looking things flying low over the waves that gradually lifted higher and turned out to be six wood pigeons! 

Strumble Head 16th Nov.

Time: 07.00 - 12.00
Weateher: Cloudy Overcast
Wind:W 5/6 then SSW 6/8


Common Scoter - 20 ( 18 Males )
Red Throated Diver - 4
Great Northern Diver - 4
Manx Shearwater - 6
Ringed Plover - 4
Sanderling - 1
Turnstone - 1
Bonxie - 2
Mediterranean Gull - 6 ( 3 Adult,2 2nd W, 1 1st W )


Large number of Kitties & Auk numbers picking up.


Many Thanks to Richard Davies for the report.

"A" Team

Between us "Wdig Birder" aka Adrian Rogers and foreground Richie Davies, also myself (thankfully hidden behind the camera) & Rich Stonier ( who will do an another watch tomorrow weather permitting ), have over 100 years of Strumbling experience. We had a damned Good teacher in Graham Rees who remains the master! wish he could have been with us today along with others such as Jack Donovan, Stewart  Devonald and Derick Moore who have sadly gone on to more heavenly  Strumblings

Some Strumble birds from today

I didn't manage to get shots of everything today,the long tails escaped my lens and the conditions were pretty difficult when it came to finding specks in among the breaking combers. But when I did manage to find one of these long distance gems in the viewfinder the light helped to create some exciting images at least from my viewpoint as a long serving Stumbler.If only we had this kind of kit twenty years ago!

Strumble Head 13th Nov. 15

Time: 07.00 - 13.00
Weather: Cloudy with Bright spells.
Wind: West 8/9


Common Scoter - 18 ( 15 males )
Great Northern Diver - 2
Fulmar - 250
Manx Shearwater - 7
Bar Tailed Godwit - 1
Pomarine Skua - 3 ( All Pale 1 with Spoons )
Arctic Skua - 1 ( Pale )
Long Tailed Skua - 2 ( juv 7 2cy )
Bonxie - 9




Risso's Dolphin - 1


Many Thanks to Richard Davies for the final totals & to Walrus & Babs from Seatrust for joining us in the chilly conditions.   

Flagpoles 15.00 11th Nov.

Again awful conditions but this time brightened up slightly with 17 Med. Gulls ( 1 1st W, 2 2nd W & 14 Adults ) a Great Crested Grebe & a Kingfisher flashed by & landed on the rocks. A few Turnstone & a single Redshank & Curlew. 

Flagpoles 15.00 9th Nov.

A single Adult med. Gull flew in, at the Stena end a roost building but conditions truly horrible & sitting back at home watching the feeders & reading the Xmas Catalogue from the Scottish Salmon Smokehouse definitely more appealing.

Strumble Head 7th Nov 15

Time: 07.00 - 12.00
Weather: Driving Rain to start cleared by 08.20
Wind: SSW 6/7 then W 4/5


Common Scoter - 5 ( 3 Males )
Red Throated Diver - 2
Fulmar - 5
Manx Shearwater - 1
Balearic Shearwater - 1
Pomarine Skua - 2 ( 1 Dark, 1 Pale )
Arctic Skua - 5 ( All Pale )
Bonxie - 2
Mediterranean Gull - 5 ( 1 Ad, 4 1st w )
Sabines Gull - 1 ( Juv )
'Commic Tern' - 1


Risso's Dolphin - 1 ( Leapt 4 times )


Thousands of the more commoner species in large feeding flocks.


Chris Grayell  

Woodpeckers

Viewed from the dining room window.

Strumblish...

Wdig birder seemed to have some premonition about Black Redstart's in fact as we wandered around Pencaer he seemed to be almost obsessed, So I found him a couple! Sadly not great quality shots but not really happy about taking pics around peoples houses. But at least we found some, a cracking male and a less colourful juvenile...

Great spotted woodpeckers are not exactly what you might expect around the sparsely treed peninsular but here's one!...

This moulty  Bonxie was seen mid St Georges Channel from the Stena Europe today but was more or less heading in the direction of Strumble!

If only...

In some ways a quiet day at Strumble inasmuch little out of the ordinary. On the other hand the winter gull flock of over 1,000 birds covering over two miles of the tide race may well have contained something out of the ordinary had it been close enough to really probe.
A small distant flock of Scoter contained five males two juveniles/females, one auk and a smaller duck probably a teal. Blurry but at least a record that can be interrogated. If only I had a camera like the Canon SX50 in the days when I was Strumbling with Graham Rees!

Fishguard Fort

From Fishguard Fort this morning a pale bellied Brent Goose,a female Common Scoter a Brambling flew over also a flock of 50+Lapwing.
Dinas Mountain 25 GoldenPlover and inexcess of 70 Skylarks.
In the garden at Llanychaer a Blackcap.