Paul's Blog - All comments and views are my own,

Storm Clodagh is blowing its way through this morning, with high tide due at 08:50hrs a visit to Pembrey Harbour was in order. The site opposite the eastern end of the Pembrey reserve although separated by a tidal inlet a large part of the reserve is visible from the harbour. A JACK SNIPE along the top of the old harbour wall was a surprise then a RED BREASTED MERGANSER ♂ in the inlet, I was joined by Adam Dare who told me that he had just seen a SWALLOW near his home, unbelievably as we chatted I looked at the Merganser again and spotted a SWALLOW battling the wind as it flew low over the inlet towards the marsh. This is a late date for Swallows, so was this bird, and the bird Adam had seen earlier, scooped up in the run of storms over the past week and totally blown off course?? The next hour produces OYSTERCATCHER c700, RINGED PLOVER c60, DUNLIN c20, GREAT BACKED GULL 10, GREAT CRESTED GREBE 1, I then went over to the entrance to the reserve and walked around F3, picking up

Technical issues with loading photographs solved??? Lets see........ possibly problem solved

With high tide at a more respectable time of around 07:30hrs I was in position early to check out the duck on the marsh at Pembrey LNR. As the light improved I managed to find: Teal +100, Mallard c15, Wigeon c15, Redshank 47, Curlew + 5, Green Sandpipers 2. B H Gull +100, Common Gull 1, Peregrine 1, Sparrowhawk 1♀, Goldcrest 1, Skylark 7 (including a partial albino), Buzzard 1 If the site was visited by more birders I am sure that the number of species recorded would grow. What this morning showed was the limit of a 9m tide, useful for determining net sets in the right weather. A stock photo mixed waders and egret

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.

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........

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.

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.