April fools....?

A trip with Tony (to the coast again), but this time to to some bird watching as well as ringing!! One of the first birds we heard/saw was a Cuckoo!!

We couldn't believe it, it was the beginning April and one had already turned up, so much for not arriving until May. Maybe this was going to be a great start to a great days birding? It was, the next bird we saw was a Great Grey Shrike, this was going to be some day! After spending a few hours at the Cross Inn Forest we headed to the coast, where our good fortune continued, several Wheatears were present on the cliff tops, one of which was trapped and ringed, but star of the show here was a Black Redstart which wasn't shy at all (there was a very showy Dunnock too).

We then headed up the coast where our first stop was Aberaeron, we were greeted by a very smart flock of Golden Plovers (and a lone Turnstone).

A bit further up the coast we ringed a brood of Dippers, then got to our next location - Llanrhystud. Here we saw good numbers of White Wagtails a handful of Wheatears and second summer Med Gull. On the way home we decided to go the mountain route where the star bird for this leg of the journey was a Merlin which decided to have a pop at a Wheatear right in front of the car!!