Welcome to the Fishguard Moth blog.

Not a great time to start a Moth blog but hopefully a few more will come on board & we'll see what happens. I'll leave you with my most exciting capture of the year ( Not the rarest ) Merveille Du Jour.

Last Post...A Move With The Times.

In order to keep up with the times & make posting more accessible to many that watch at Strumble especially those from further afield, a move first thought of about eight months ago to see the winding up of the Strumble Head & Fishguard blog & move to a Facebook Group Page is operational as of now. Posting on this blog will not be possible anymore.

Look forward to seeing your posts on Facebook from here on in & for Facebook users a Link to the Group below:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/176179193193018/

Wdigbirder

Willow Warbler

A singing WillowWarbler at Llanychaer this morning.

Panteg (02 Apr 18)

Few gulls this morning and no sign Icelands.

Little Ringed Plover on the flood.  My first for Pembs!

Other waders: 6 Ringed Plover, Golden Plover and Knot.

Looks brilliant for waders if the flood persists - and with this weather I don’t think the water is going to subside anytime soon!

Panteg (01 Apr 18)

2 Juv Iceland Gulls on the flood this afternoon with a Red Kite over and 3 Greylag Geese making a short stop.

Crossbills

5 Crossbills near Trecwn this afternoon.
This morning a single Black Guillemot in Fishguard Harbour.

Strumble Head (01 Apr 18)

Usual walk to beach then lighthouse in search of Wheatears - nothing!  Still not had one this Spring.

Did have Red Kite over Seal Bay and an Otter fishing in the bay past the lighthouse - just offshore from where the stream from Richard’s Valley meets the sea.

Tresinwen (30 Mar 18)

Only heard my second Chiffchaff of the spring this morning so was surprised to also hear a Willow Warbler singing at top of garden.

Tresinwen (29 Mar 18)

New bird for the garden tonight.... Little Owl calling at 10pm from field behind garden.

Only the second Little Owl I have recorded at Strumble Head.....

UPDATE: 30 Mar 18 - just been processing my trailcam captures from last few days and it sounds like I had a female Tawny Owl in the garden at 0030 on the morning of Friday...  Two owls in one night!

Sand Martin

A single Sand Martin feeding over the pond at Llanychaer this afternoon.

Chiff Chaff's and a left over Merlin

At least two singing at the bottom of the Slade /Lower Town Harbour , Fishguard  this afternoon!
A male Merlin was also seen briefly near Newport.

Goshawks

A pair of Goshawks displaying over Llanychaer this morning ,the resident Sparrowhawk was not to happy.
Yesterday in Fishguard Harbour 2 Black Guillemots .

Siskins

In excess of 20 Siskins in the garden recently and Goldfinch numbers increasing.

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A few Chiffchaff now singing in the woods at Llanychaer , nice to see a few  Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks and a couple of Commas as well.

Strumble Trio

The porpoise were playing hard to get yesterday but not so our birds of prey. As I arrived at the car park I noticed a Kestrel on the hover off toward the lighthouse. A dash to the boot to get the camera out and I managed a quick burst before it dropped out of sight below me. I scrambled over the heather to see if I could find it but no joy. As I turned it moved position and landed on a grassy tuft some 40 metres away and I managed a few more shots before it went on it's way. Next came the unmistakable cry of a Peregrine as I sat watching over the sea which made me turn to see it approaching from the east. A quick spin around and I managed a few shots before it flew off over the fields behind the lookout. Just about to leave and was back at the car when I spotted two Red Kites off in the direction of Tresinwen. A bit distant but I tried a shot anyway and as it turned out it was better than I expected at that distance.

Hedgehog

The first Hedgehog of the year for me in the garden last night. Good to see it made it through the winter.

moth as promised...

The moth that was on the door of our porch for you Adrian!

Observations 13-16/3/2018

A selection of images taken over the past few days. Heron-Iron Bridge Newport.  Knot and Godwit flag poles Goodwick beach. Song Thrush-Dyffryn in Goodwick. (My word he was in fine voice)
Grey Plover and Purple Sandpiper on the north breakwater, and the Cormorant in breeding plumage taken at Strumble.

Chiffchaff

A Chiffchaff singing in the woods at Llanychaer this morning.

Fishguard Harbour 13th March.

A quick look on Outer Breakwater was very successful, firstly a breeding plumage Black Guillemot from the top end of the port where the crane used to be then seven Purple Sandpipers on the breakwater. A nice Peregrine flew over just as we were leaving to round off a good hour. 

Casualty on the tide line.

My best guess is Fieldfare, any offers?

Tale of two woodies and parrog waders.

Not just one but two Great Spotted  Woodpeckers visiting my garden/peanut feeders, both appear to be femeles.

A group of ten Bar Tailed Godwits and five Knot, mixing with the more usual Oystercatchers  on the tide-line at the Parrog (Goodwick Beach) yesterday evening.

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Flag Poles 8/03/18

A bit late posting these but hey ho as they say. There were a number of waders feeding in amongst the exposed shoreline rocks including a dozen or so Knot, a couple of redshanks, the usual Turnstones/Oyster Catchers and this lovely Bar Tail Godwit.

Purple Sandpipers

A total of 6 Purple Sandpipers on the Outer Breakwater Fishguard Harbour this afternoon, also
7 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Knot, , 2 Dunlin and single Grey Plover,Ringed Plover and Curlew.

A couple of Gannets off shore and a single Diver passed by.
(Myself, Adrian, Cliff and Lloyd)

Strange days!

While the weather was at its worst my feeders were relatively unused. Now its milder the tits sparrows and woodpecker have returned. Where did they go? I was conscious that with the strong northerly winds my feeders were quite exposed, maybe that's part of the explanation. Perhaps they had a better food supply elsewhere, who knows but I am glad to see most of them back!

Bar-tailed Godwits

18 Bar-tailed Godwits,4Knot and 11 Turnstone around Fishguard Harbour area today.

Pinning them down!

I had just got home when the phone rang, it was Wdigbirder, excited!" Megga's on the moor" he said breathlessly "What?" ..."Pintails"... OK on my way... Pintails might not be everyone's idea of a Mega but  they are for Goodwick Moor!

We met up and he pointed them out on a a grassy little island in a  shallow flooded area, but they were largely obscured by the undergrowth

We gently approached, but spooked them and they flew off over and beyond the moor.

There were at least fifty, maybe a hundred golden plover (some coming into breeding plumage), spread around, lots of meadow pipits, snipe, winter thrushes etc 

The sad corpse of a Golden Plover was obvious with its plucked breast feathers scattered around, These weakened birds, easy prey for raptors. We thought probably a sparrow hawk.

A little further on we were checking out a funny looking pipit when a Sparrowhawk pounced  on it, carrying it off in a trice! Well at least something was feeding well! 

We decided to walk back to the car, i feeling a bit miffed about missing a decent shot of the Pintail's  when Wdig noticed them coming in off the sea towards us...

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They swung past, i fired off a couple of shots...

I am not going to lie, pretty pleased with that one, and the one below!

 So in the end we got our mega's and we were both happy bunnies...