A long awaited return to Llys-Y-Fran Reservoir

 It's been a while since I visited Llys-Y-Fran Reservoir/Country Park, February 2007 to be exact when I 'twitched' Wales' first Pacific Diver with Kevin Hughes the day after it was found and the ID confirmed.

We were in Kidwelly from memory searching for a Rose-coloured Starling when the news of ID confirmation came through.

Anyway, back to 2022 with some nice waders being reported from there feeding on the exposed mud at the far end of the reservoir.

So last Monday 5th September I made the 45 min journey from the caravan turning up there early afternoon, after speaking to a very helpful ranger I was advised that the birds that I was interested in were seen the previous day at the far end of the reservoir.

This was a 1.75 mile walk which took me about 30mins and I soon found 3 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and 2 juvenile Dunlin near the bank, I was able to get within 10m of these birds which were very confiding and get some nice photos.

There was however no sign of the Little Stint which had been reported the previous day which I was hoping to see and photograph.

Another birder joined me who introduced himself as Huw Lewis from Haverfordwest and using his 'scope he was able to pick up the Little Stint accompanied by a Ruff and 3 Curlew Sandpipers about 70m away from us feeding on the mud, I would never have picked them up in my bins, nice one Huw !

I quickly changed my 1.4x extender for my 2x and although distant managed to get some half decent 'record shots' of the waders, I didn't think of changing my in camera setting from 'full frame' to 1.6x 'crop factor' which would have given me a focal length of 1600mm although the reduction in pixels would probably not have produced any sharper images.

The sky started to darken and on checking my Rain Today app on my phone I could see that heavy was was due to start in 10 mins so made my way quickly to the bird hide which was only a few minute's walk.

Huw on the other hand made his way back to his car which was parked at the far end of the reservoir, whether or not he got a soaking I don't know.

I sat it out in the hide for 30mins, the heavy downpour finally subsided and I made my way back to the car park.

Due to the national shortage of rain the reservoir looks to be 2.5-3m below it's usual level and at the top end a huge area of mud is exposed, as it's probably not been exposed for many years I would guess that it is full of nutrients and food so will be worth keeping an eye on in September and October.

It would not surprise me if a rare American sandpiper turned up there, I'll keep checking the sightings pages.........

Something different, a morning with the Teifi Ringing Group

 Last week after a few invites which had fallen through due to the weather I met up with Wendy James and trainee ringer Brennig Huws of the Teifi Ringing Group at Teifi Marshes on Sat 3rd September in order to observe and take some 'bird in the hand' photos.

It's an experience that I have enjoyed a few times previously although some years ago when we had a caravan at Llangors Lake, Brecon, joining Gerry Lewis and County Recorder Andy King at their sessions in the lake reed bed.

Controls included Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap (M+F) and Goldcrest, nothing exotic but very nice all the same. Wendy advised me that we were just a little too late in the season for a hoped for Aquatic Warbler although it wasn't for want of trying with a tape lure.

We also tried for Wryneck but to no avail.

It was fascinating to observe the recording and ringing process and Wendy's experience and knowledge is astounding.

Wendy and Brennig set up the mist nets at 06.30 and I arrived at 07.00, the next couple of hours flew by and we finally wrapped up proceedings at 09.30, a thoroughly enjoyable two and a half hours.

I find it amazing how tiny some of our passerines are in the hand weighing only a few grams and the fact that some of them migrate such vast distances is mind boggling !!

I'm looking forward to repeating the experience soon, perhaps some 'lamping' of waders or Woodcock, I just wish I knew a local qualified ringer who would invite me along when I'm home !!

Here are a few images from the morning.....

Pelagic No 2 to the Celtic Deep

On Wed 24th August myself and fellow birders/toggers Dave Gilbert, Mike Pugh and Steve Rosser embarked on another pelagic out of Neyland Marina to the Celtic Deep organised by Dave Astins of West Coast Birdwatching, the 4th in a series of 6 planned for August and September.

Dave rocked up at my place early on the Wednesday morning and with myself at the wheel and after a quick fuel stop at Sainsburys at Junc 36 we were soon heading down the M4 to pick up Mike and Steve at the Porthcawl junct 37.

With the car fully loaded we made good time and were soon parking up at the marina car park.

With all participants arriving on time and after a quick safety briefing we were heading at full throttle down the Milford haven towards St Ann's Head and out to sea.

The plan was to head out about 30 miles to the position where we had encountered the Wilson's Petrels on the previous pelagic and on reaching the location chumming began.

This pelagic was not quite as productive as the previous with no Wilson's seen although good numbers of European Storm Petrels came in to the 'slick'.

Other birds encountered were large numbers of Manx Shearwaters plus the usual Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, a distant Great Shearwater, Arctic Terns and 'Comic' Terns with the added bonus of 2 Minke Whales, 3 Risso's Dolphins and good numbers of Common Dolphins.

Unfortunately we did come across one Gannet on the water that appeared quite sickly and looked as if it was suffering from Avian flu, poor thing.

Again photography was difficult with a 1m swell but it wasn't as bad as the previous pelagic as there was less of a wind.

We headed back to shore mid-afternoon stopping on the way to view some rafts of Manxies and small pods of Common Dolphins.

We arrived back at the marina at about 5.15pm and after saying our goodbyes and using the loo we were soon on our way home.

Unfortunately as I write both the 5th + 6th pelagics have been cancelled, the 5th due to a mechanical issue with the boat and the 6th which was due out today due to inclement weather with a 1.5-2m swell forecast.

Another fabulous day out in great company and one that I am keen to repeat a couple of times next year, here are a few images from the day.......

Celtic Deep Pelagic : Getting lucky with Wilson's Storm Petrel

On Friday 19th August 2022 myself and a dozen like minded souls took part in a pelagic trip out of Neyland Marina in search of seabirds and cetaceans organised by Dave Astins of West Coast Birdwatching.

I only knew the names of two other birders on the trip who were Dave Pritchard from Rhoose who I have known for several years and Owen Erasmus from Penarth who I had only known previously by name.

On speaking to Dave he advised that he would already be on holiday in Pembrokeshire with his wife so would meet at the marina, myself and Owen agreed to meet at Sarn Services on the M4 and with Owen at the wheel we arrived at Neyland at 07.15 for a 08.00 departure.

It was borderline that the trip went ahead due to a brisk breeze and a swell in excess of 1m which made the outward journey a little 'lumpy' to say the least, certainly the roughest pelagic that I have ever been on.

We made a couple of stops on the way out for rafts of Manx Shearwaters and the odd 'good' bird being an Arctic Skua and an Arctic Tern, also present were the usual gulls, Gannets, Fulmars and Kittiwakes and a rare sighting of a flock of migrating Whimbrel.

At about 30 miles off the coast directly west of St Ann's Head the engines were cut and we drifted on the swell, chumming then commenced and it wasn't long before birds started to come in to the slick.

European Storm Petrels were plentiful and we must have seen 40+, after about an hour or so the first Wilson's Storm Petrel arrived, a great spot and call from Dave Astins.

As time wore on two further Wilson's were seen and I ended up taking around 1,350 photographs !!

Once you got your 'eye in' it was relatively easy to differentiate between the 'Stormies' and the Wilson's.

I invested about two weeks ago in the new Canon RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1 IS zoom lens as a 'walkabout' lens and it certainly paid dividends on this trip with it's versatility, I'm selling my old Canon EOS 7D MK II camera body and a number of lenses to fund it, although I am keeping my Canon 500mm f4 MK II prime lens which is my pride and joy and a lens that I could not justify buying at today's price.

The enormous swell made photography extremely difficult and one chap ended up falling a couple of times, luckily he wasn't injured.

Of all the photos I took I ended up culling a huge percentage and only retained about 85 in total, I was however happy with some of them considering how difficult the conditions were.

We decided to call it a day mid-afternoon and the journey back was much smoother arriving at Neyland at about 16.40.

Huge thanks to Dave Astins for a wonderful trip and also to the Wilson's Storm Petrels for showing up, they are still one of the 'Holy Grails" of sea watching and a long awaited UK 'tick' for me having only seen them previously in the Bay of Biscay.

Here are a few of my 'keepers' from the day and to top it all I've got another trip to look forward to next Wednesday 24th August with close friend Dave Gilbert and also local birder/togger friends Steve Rosser and Mike Pugh..............

European Storm Petrel

Wilson's Storm Petrel (yellow webbing between toes evident)

Wilson's Storm Petrel

European Storm Petrel

European Storm Petrels

European Storm Petrels + Wilson's Storm Petrel (3rd bird from right)

European Storm Petrels + Wilson's Storm Petrel (furthest bird right)

European Storm Petrel

European Storm Petrel

European Storm Petrel above / Wilson's Storm Petrel below (yellow webbing between toes evident)

Wilson's Storm Petrel

Black Kite or the lack of

 On 2nd August myself and Teresa made a speculative visit to the kite feeding station at Bwlch Nant Yr Arian east of Aberystwyth in the hope of catching up with the Black Kite that had been found there by Marc Hughes the previous afternoon. A Black Kite had also been seen near Machynlleth a day or two earlier and presumably this was the same bird.

When we left Poppit Sands the weather was fine if overcast but as we approached Aberystwyth we ran into drizzle and by the time we arrived at Bwlch Nant Yr Arian low cloud had decended and the drizzle persisted.

I left Teresa at the cafe and upon arrival at the viewpoint opposite the feeding area the low cloud miraculously lifted and the drizzle ceased.

There were several serious birders present along with families visiting one of which was Arfon Williams who I hadn't seen since the Green Heron 'twitch' in Pembrokeshire in 2018, also present was the finder Marc Hughes along with Martin Creasser and Paul Bennett.

Unfortunately much to the disappointment of the birders present the Black Kite didn't put in and appearance despite much scanning of the sky.

Accordingly, I had to be content with taking photos of some of the 150-200 Red Kites present and came away with some images that I was really pleased with.

The trees at the back of the feeding area provide a lovely backdrop and I favour this place much more than Gigrin Farm or Llanduesant...........