Monday, July 9, 2007 - Further Welsh Adventures
Ashamed as I am to admit it, I have just spent another 7 days in Wales. Whilst this was never meant to be an intensive birding holiday, I did take my binoculars with me wherever I went so I ended up with a reasonable trip list anyway.
The best bit of news is that there are Spotted Flycatchers apparently nesting near the bungalow in Llangybi. I noticed one when we arrived and then spotted [no pun intended!] a pair later on in the week. They were perched on the ash tree in the front garden. Excellent stuff.
The Greater Spotted Woodpeckers continue to visit the feeders in the garden regularly, but I did not spot the Siskins this time. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches and House Sparrows are all regular visitors too.
There were good numbers of Gannet in the sea near Criccieth, plus Manx Shearwater and Sandwich Tern. Along the shingle beach I had Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Sand Martin, Swallow, Cormorant and Rock Pipit. There were many Herring Gulls, but I did see a few Black-Headed Gull there aswell.
On Thursday we paid a visit to Borth-Y-Gest. It was raining, so we sat in the car eating our sandwiches. I glanced behind me and spotted a gull with yellow legs and knew immediately that it was not a Lesser Black-Backed Gull. By the time I had wheeled around and grabbed the binoculars it had taken flight. I did get another glance at the legs and remained satisfied as to their colour, but the bird flew towards the estuary and landed some distance away from me. Sadly, I did not have the scope to hand so had to wait patiently for it to return. I did notice, however, that the the gull’s back was mid-grey, darker than that of a Herring Gull. When it finally returned, it flew over head before disappearing behind the terraced houses that border the harbour. On balance, I am fairly certain that it was a Yellow-Legged Gull, my first one as it happens, but the views I had were not really good enough to be conclusive.
I paid my first visit to the nature reserve at Penrhyndeudraeth on Friday. I was keen to see it as it is a prime site for Nightjars, though the weather was never really good enough to contemplate an evening visit to see them. However, I did see Redstart, Whitethroat, Bullfinch, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Buzzard and Raven up there. Hopefully I will get up there next year for the Nightjars. A trip to the ‘magic field’ that evening added Stonechat, Goldfinch and Skylark to the trip list.
That was about it. No lifers, no year ticks even, but a very pleasant, relaxing week. I probably won’t be up there now until October when I hope to get a few divers, sea ducks and maybe some Crossbills with a bit of luck. Can’t wait.
Trip list:
Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Razorbill, Red-Breasted Merganser, Redstart, Ringed Plover, Robin, Rock Dove, Rock Pipit, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Whooper Swan, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren
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