Thursday 26th November 2015

Another break in what is an unsettled week saw the Gower Ringing Group or members of, at Oxwich NNR.

With only one set of nets up a quiet start soon built into a steady stream of birds with Blue Tits making up the bulk, a smattering of other species added variety with Greenfinches providing the best of the glamour.

Greenfinches occur in the  area in decent numbers and are a nice bird to handle, sex and age.

I have a theory that where they are being fed via bird feeders the male birds appear later in the morning than the females, Greenfinches are "late risers" anyway but the early birds just seem to be females or immatures.

Yellowhammers, especially the males,a species I've not handled since moving back to Wales, also seem to "appear" later in the morning- this may be because the males go off on territorial duties before feeding.... well that's my theory!

More wind and rain on the way for the weekend.

Monday 23rd November 2015

After the start of the first cold snap of the winter, all of two days, this morning was cold, frosty and I had to scrape ice off the car at 6am.

There was no breeze so perfect for a ringing session  at Pembrey LNR.

The temperature was -3'c when I got out to set the first nets, it was a quiet session but still great to be out.

Blackbird (3), Song Thrush (3), Robin (3), Reed Bunting (2), Dunnock (2), Chaffinch (1)Goldfinch (1), Wren (1), Great Tit (1), Blue Tit (1)

There were also about 15 Magpies in the scrub, at least 15 Skylarks, 4 Ravens. a Buzzard and a male Stonechat.

no photos today........

Thursday 19th November 2015

Another overcast wet day but at least the wind eased off quite a bit.

A visit to WWT Llanelli produced.

B H Gull 243, Common Snipe 45, Lapwing 25, Pintail 11, Greenshank 6, Spotted Redshank 2, Brent Goose 2, Dunlin 1, Stonechat ♀, Peregrine 1.

Given the conditions of persistent rain not a bad hour and a half birding.

No photos today still issues with Blogger and Windows 10.

Wednesday 18th November 2015

Well yesterday Barney came and went winds locally up to 76mph so quite a rough evening  this morning was still overcast and breezy.

Today I went and volunteered with the Millennium Coastal Park (MCP)volunteers at a local place called Morfa Berwig. or Berwick Levels, sounds grand but nothing on the scale of the Newport or Somerset levels but nonetheless a really nice low lying area of wet meadows, reedbeds, ditches and scrub.

Typical habitat at Morfa Berwig



L-R Dan (keep wales tidy) Veronica (MCP volunteer) Simeon (Conservation Officer)



The area had become derelict a few years ago but through the efforts of MCP, Amphibian and reptile Conservation (ARC) and Keep Wales Tidy it is on its way to becoming a nice and interesting area for wildlife, with an indigenous population of Water Voles on site.

The site needs some grazing so today we were making one of the fields stock proof again.

Despite the on off rain the job was done and finished.



Stock Proof



Tuesday 17th November 2015

So we've had Abigail, now we wait for Barney, well a lull in the shite weather of late, got me down to Pembrey harbour for high tide.

Given the strength of the wind in the past few days, and it was blowing this morning I thought there may be a few unusual sea birds about but nope.

Instead the faithful regulars in were sheltering from the weather and the tide.

Oystercatchers 700+, Ringed Plover 106,Mallard 13, G B B Gull 5, Dunlin 3, Wigeon 2, Sanderling 1?,

and then it rained..........

Tuesday 10th November

I just had to sit and write something, its been wet and windy for a few days now so getting out has been pretty pointless.

I have managed to create some ringing rides at Pembrey LNR, with little effort, another three to do when it stops raining, at least with it being windy its allowed me to work out the most sheltered sites.

The cattle are on site now so I have lost the ponds until the spring, but with the amount of water being held on the marsh there are quite a few pools appearing.

Well back to watching the rain......

Tuesday 3rd November 2015

This morning was a lot breezier than the forecast suggested, but since the car was packed and I was awake I set off to Pembrey Burrows & Saltings LNR.

My first encounter was with a HARE which is the first I've seen in my visits, based on its size it looked like a few months old.

My aim was to sample my third "subsite" on the reserve, having seen crests and tits in the area on Sunday.

It proved to be a good move as on "round 3", of the morning a FIRECREST was in the most sheltered net.

Always a great find but one which I felt was sure to be around it just has so many Goldcrests on site in the Gorse and Buckthorn.

The biometrics for this individual are as follows:

Sex        ♂

Wing     52mm

Weight  5.3g

Age       BTO code 3 a first year

FIRECREST

This was the highlight of a very quiet morning, sightings included C1000 STARLINGS and two LITTLE EGRET