Ringing @ Ynyslas...

With the thaw now set in myself, Dad, Tony, Donal and Jane set off to Ynyslas to see what birds were around and how they had coped in the recent cold snap! Despite almost a month of harsh weather, all of the birds caught were a very healthy weight! Birds trapped and ringed included 10 Woodcock, 4 Snipe, 7 Lapwings, 1 Golden Plover, 2 Redshanks and 1 Oystercatcher.

Wigeon @ Nantmel

Had a look down at the old tip this evening to see if there were any Water Rails about, sadly I couldn't locate any, they probably got pushed off during the last couple of weeks of harsh weather?! On the way back to the car I could hear several Mallards calling and then what I thought was a Wigeon? I kept very still and quite for a few minutes to see if I could confirm what I had just heard. A few moments later I could hear at least 2 Wigeon calling. Wow, a Nantmel 'tick' for me!

Whoopers.....

Took a trip to Aberhafesp (near Newtown) today to see if the Whoopers were on their usual wintering grounds. Despite the fields being very flooded from the recent rainfall and melting snow I spotted 20 Whoopers. They were mostly adults, but a couple of family groups could be seen amongst them. Other birds of interset on the trip 'up north' included Lapwing, Bullfinch, Herrring and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Needle in a hay stack....

After hearing yesterday that there was a Bean Goose with the 250+ Canada Goose flock in Clifford (very close to the Radnorshire border), I decided to get up very early before work to see if I could find this bird on the welsh side of the river. My first point of call was the ox-bow lake just downstream from Glasbury (a place where I had seen large flocks of Canadas before). Although it was still darkish when I got there, there was just about enough light to get a shape of what birds were about. Birds on the lake included Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Goosander, Mute Swan, Snipe, Curlew, Lapwing, Pheasant, Reed Bunting and Bullfinch, but no Geese!!! I then remembered that I had also seen large flocks of Canadas about 5 miles downstream near cabalva farm, so off I went. As I arrived I could see the Canada flock, but finding the Bean Goose among them was another matter. No matter where I looked I couldn't see it! But then out of no where it appeared. It was a bit far away, and I don't mind admitting that I couldn't really tell if it was a Pink-foot or a Bean Goose, but according to the Herefordshire birders who had seen a lot closer than I have, it was indeed a 1st winter Bean Goose, a first for Wales for me, wahoo!

Black Kite again....

I went back to try and get some better views of the Black Kite again today. Dispite the doom and gloom, he and his cousins put on a fantastic display.

Earlier in the day myself and Tony ringed a Jay (+1 re-trapped) and a Blackbird in the garden.

The Gigrin Experience

Sadly I couldn't make it into work today due to the snow! Fortunately Kev was going to Gigrin to see the Black Kite and had offer to pick me and Robin up on the way. After freezing our whatsits off in the hides for about half an hour we got a very brief glimpse of the Black Kite, but sadly this was to be the only one! Luckily the 500+ Red Kites put on an amazing display, which helped me forget about the poor view of the Black Kite!

'Twitching' in Ceredigion.

Keen to keep my year list ticking over, my dad and I decided to go to the coast to rack a few more new species for the year. Places visited included Ynyslas, Borth, the Clettwr, Aberystwyth and Cwmreidol.

Highlights included:

Ynyslas- Common Scoter, Red-throated Diver, Little Egret and Pintail.

Clettwr- Black-tailed Godwit, Goldeneye, Kingfisher and Dipper.

Aberystwyth- Black Redstart and Purple Sandpiper.



Cwmreidol- Ring-necked Duck and this very pale Buzzard!