Friday 30th October

One of the last good tides of the cycle saw me at Pembrey Burrows and Saltings just after first light this morning, after a wet night it was dry and breezy.

The tide had flooded the saltmarsh and was still pushing in to the edge of the dune grassland.

The light was not good for photographs but it looked pretty impressive.

Birds present were:

Barn Owl, Wigeon 6, Shelduck 2, Shovelor 1, Teal c70, Mallard c50, Redshank 9, Snipe 29, Curlew 26, MERLIN ♀ , Water Rail 2.

Skylarks were overhead I cannot decide if they were all resident birds or there was a bit of movement. Redwings passing over and in the Buckthorn along with a few Goldcrests and Robins, as I've mentioned before Robins are present in good numbers.

Tuesday 28th October 2015

Today looks like being the best day of the week for ringing so I took myself off to Pembrey Burrows LNR and was on site for 05:15hrs, it was magical as I had forgotten that it was a high tide and a big one at 9.2m

I set three nets, but was disappointed to see them blowing in the stronger than expected wind, luckily it calmed down.

The first net round was exciting as what I thought was an empty net in fact had a JACK SNIPE a first for the site.

I was joined by Veronica who is one of the stalwart band of volunteers on the Millennium Coastal Park.

The ringing was pretty slow with 19 birds processed, just 17 new but great quality.

Jack Snipe (1), Redwing (5), Reed Bunting (3) Meadow Pipit (3), Goldcrest (1+1 retrap) Wren  (1 retrap) Chaffinch (2) Dunnock (2)

Jack Snipe

Saltmarsh just after high tide

Meadow Pipit

Monday 26th October 2015

A Blustery morning, with the breeze too strong for ringing, so I decided to have anogther look around the site at Pembrey Burrows LNR.

Thanks to directions from one of the locals I found pond number 2, and managed to flush a lone Snipe from the margins of the pond.

The primary role of the ponds are to provide water for the herd of cattle which graze the dunes as part of their on going management although currently they are absent.

There are still a few flowers on show including Yarrow.

On the bird front Raven (2) and Mistle Thrush (3) were the best on offer, although there has been a noticeable increase in Robins on site.

Pond 2

Yarrow, still in flower on the dunes, this one is pink not white which is more usual