Monday 28th March 2016

Storm Katie blows through.....

Storm Katie didn't affect this part of the world too much, although it did rain a lot last night.

This morning consisted of an early call at WWT with the CES team of Gower Ringing Group to set up for the new CES season as we have had four new nets given to the group.

With that task sorted in double quick time I set off to meet Veronica, who donated the camera trap last week, to set the camera in the reed beds at the reserve. With that task done and dusted we had a walk along the beach and over the dunes, spending time searching for our special beetle the "Strandline Beetle", alas we didn't find any but did come across another "black" beetle, the Strand-line beetle, and what we think is its larval form.

Strand-line beetle and larva

Last year, Common Ringed Plover nested on the upper beach so it was great to see one bird stubbornly refusing to move until we got a bit too close, fingers crossed lets see what this year brings.

Common Ringed Plover with obligatory ocean debris

A late evening walk around Sandy Water Park was accompanied by this male Blackbird with the softest of song......

champion songster

Saturday 26th March 2016

The first migrants ahead of storm "Kate".......

Yesterday (Friday 25th) I had my first sighting of Northern Wheatear on the reserve at Pembrey, the were a bit too active to get a photo, there will be opportunity later in the spring I hope.

A stroll around my local "patch" at Sandy Water Park in the evening found the male Goldeneye still on the lake, plus the first Sand Martins (10) that I have seen this spring

 distant male Goldeneye

A mix of winter and summer, as the day had been perfect clear blue skies and warm sunshine, not so good for migrant watching but a lovely day to enjoy the area.

Great Crested Grebe

I don't often spend any time taking photos of the local wildfowl but the light was so interesting yesterday evening it was hard to walk on by.

male Mallard

female (L) & male (R) Gadwall

female Tufted Duck, looks like its swimming in molten metal

this should be an easy "mystery bird"

On Thursday I carried out a water quality test on the lake, as part of a project being run by the Freshwater Habitats Trust, I'm pleased to say that based on the results on Thursday the water in the lake is very low in nutrients !!

First Barn Swallows of the season at Sandy Water Park this morning (2) !!!!! here comes summer, opps storm Kate first.

Wednesday 23rd March 2016

New reserve.....

A new local nature reserve (LNR) has been designated in the Llanelli area called Morfa Berwig, this is an area of reclaimed industrial land on what was a marsh/beach hence the Welsh term Morfa meaning beach.

A great deal of work has been undertaken including the creation of ponds and pools as well as scrub clearance, inconjuntion with ARC trust, (Amphibian and Reptile Conservation) , Keep Wales Tidy and the county council.

We met there today to open up a public footpath and clear moss from the footbridges.

Lunchtime

Whilst we were there I carried out a basic water quality test as part of a project with the Freshwater Habitats Trust, the test is for Phosphate and Nitrate levels, it was pleasing to see that the ditch running through the reserve had almost negligible levels of either.

a simple sample test  before recording the answers

(the phone is to count down the three or five minutes)

I sent Veronica in to get the water sample!!

Just before the water test I saw two Water Voles on the far side of the ditch, the Water Voles at this site have the distinction of being slightly larger than their relatives on other sites nearby.

Flowers are starting to show with Coltsfoot, and Primroses evident.

Coltsfoot

Primrose

Sunday 20th March 2016

First day of spring... properly....

Today marks the Spring Equinox, the days will really start to get longer than the nights  now.

 third hand report of an Otter nr the reserve car park had me out and about early this morning, in the hope of a glimpse of this elusive creature that I have tracked around the reserve for the past 5 months... NO I didn't see the animal but if anyone wants to lend/donate a camera trap then I've got the perfect place for one to be put.

I fared better on the bird front with the still lingering female Merlin, I managed to creep up on the bird to within 50m, after she had failed to catch a meadow Pipit.

Merlin

Merlin

A couple of shots one has been slightly cropped, I am quite pleased with the result given I only use a "bridge" camera.

The bird list for 2016 has now reached 81 species recorded which I am pretty pleased with there are lots more species to be added during the coming months and I reckon the list by December 31st could hit 110.

The 81st species was GOSHAWK a male (on size) was being harried by gulls but paid not attention and made its way across the reserve.

Bring on the butterflies, dragonflies and the orchids....

Saturday 19th March 2016

Oxwich NNR ringing

A grey overcast morning with a light but keen breeze, the "Snipe" nets were set and yielded one Common Snipe, a good start.

The rest of the morning seemed busy but was in fact a slow one but with a good mix of birds, including Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Siskin, Goldcrest Robin, Dunnock and Chiffchaff.

One of the Robins looked interesting as it had a grey wash to its back and wings, we initially though that it may be a continental bird, you would expect a slighter longer wing than the 72mm we measured as birds which tend to migrate also tend to have slightly longer wings, so who knows?

A definite grey wash to the wings and mantle

The Chiffchaff was a nice find, it had been buzzing around the bushes behind the net for a while before being caught.

Initially I thought it may be the first returning migrant but it had a fat score of 3 so possible an over winterer and not a traveller from the south, usually birds arriving from the Mediterranean have "pollen horns" on their foreheads where they have been delving into flowers, not so on this chap.

Chiffchaff, the first of many this season....

We packed up around 10:30am.

Friday 18th March 2016

Migration of a sort........

Another sunny and crisp morning, although a little more haze about, should have yielded a Northern Wheatear....but alas not this morning, it will probably be tomorrow when I'm away ringing at Oxwich NNR.

However a Woodcock flushed from the edge of the reed bed/rough grass on the side of the road was a pleasant surprise, it was in almost the same spot as one seen on 2nd February.

I met up with Adam Dare and his wife and after a long chat putting the birding world to right I left to return home, after a few yards a faint but clear call got my attention and Adam was waving at me after wondering over expecting to see a Wheatear he pointed out that his wife had just flushed a SHORT EARED OWL, I managed a distant but positive view!!!

My guess is that the Owl is a migrant moving north, and the Woodcock well that could be a local breeder.

no photos sorry..................

Thursday 17th March 2016

Where are the Wheater's......

Still no sign of any real migration getting under way, its that "false Spring" feeling with the sun shining but the wind in the wrong direction to really push birds up from the south.

The best I could muster today in strong sunshine and a bitter Easterly was a small group of Teal, two Mallard, two Oystercatchers, one Redshank and one Greenshank.

Greenshank (L) and Redshank (R)

The Rock Pipits at  old Pembrey Harbour are getting in the mood with territorial display and lots of chasing and calling.

The weather looks set for a few days yet, hopefully the wind will die down and a bit more cloud cover.

My plans to spend an extended period on the island of Lesbos have been changed due to family commitments, however I have been granted leave of two weeks to visit in April/May which is a bonus. If you have never visited this the third largest of the Greek Islands then do so either now in Spring or in September you will  not be disappointed. Ignore all the media scaremongering regarding the refugee crisis, yes there are lots of refugees but you would have to go out of your way to find them.