18/05/21014 to 20/05/2014 Now to Wales!!!!

Sunday 18th May to Tuesday 20th May 2014
In Wales with Paul, Christine and Andrew

The team picked me up at home at 06.30 before heading off to Wales.  I had only returned from Scotland at 19.30 the day before!

• First stop was South Wales at Blorenge Mountain near Abergavenny.  Here we saw our target birds fairly quickly.  The Red Grouse stuck it's head up above the heather and then conveniently moved out into the open ground to allow us even better views.  Shortly afterwards, after a brief search, we had excellent views of a Whinchat on a wall down the hillside from the summit.  

Whinchat
Library picture

• After looking at the other birds present we even had time to visit the burial ground of Foxhunter the famous showjumping horse that together with it's rider Sir Harry Llewellyn were largely responsible for Great Britain's one and only gold medal in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. 

• We then headed up into Mid-Wales near Rhyader where we were booked into the Brynafon Country House (LD6 5BL) for one night.  On the way we stopped at Hanwrthwl, by the river, to look for Dippers.  Having quickly found one we were delighted to also add our other target birds, Pied Flycatcher 

Pied Flycatcher
Library picture

• and Spotted Flycatcher 

Spotted Flycatcher
Library picture

        which were only 10 metres away.  

• In Rhyader we visited the Elan Valley, famous for it's dams where some of the shots for the film The Dam Busters were made.  Here, in the woods by the river we saw our final target bird of the day - the Wood Warbler with it's powerful singing. As a bonus we heard a Garden Warbler from a few feet away in the undergrowth.

Garden Warbler
Library picture

What a terrific first day!

• Early next morning after returning briefly to Hanwrthwl to see the birds again we took the scenic high route west to Fishguard Harbour where we saw the Black Guillemot another target bird of ours.  We were not so lucky in our search for the Grasshopper Warbler at Corsydd Llangloffan although we came tantalisingly close when we heard it reply to our sound recording.  Our final stop was at Strumble Head looking out to sea.  This provided me with a "life tick" when successive groups of Manx Shearwaters flew by, gathering food before heading back to their feeding grounds in or around Skomer Island.



Manx Shearwaters
Library pictures

We stayed at the splendid Kings Head in Pembroke, a stone's throw away from Pembroke Castle birthplace of Henry VII who finally brought to an end the Wars of the Roses in the fifteenth century. 

Another cracking day.

With a "lifer" and two year ticks already I was really looking forward to our final day, a trip to Skomer Island.  On the way from Pembroke we were very fortunate to see a Turtle Dove which flew up from the road in front of us as we drove toards it. 

Turtle Dove
Library picture

On this my first visit to Skomer, we were well rewarded.  Even before we made the short boat ride, we saw four Choughs on the cliffs near the car park.    

Chough
Library picture

There was also a Spotted Flycatcher near the kiosk. On the island itself we saw four more Choughs and some lovely Puffins as well as the Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Guillemots on the cliffs.  We immersed ourselves in the atmosphere and really savoured the birds.  To add atmosphere to the occasion there was a sea of Bluebells with Red Campion interspersed throughout.  We managed to shelter from the thunderstorm that came our way near the end of the visit.  To bid us farewell a Black Redstart and a couple of Spotted Flycatchers made their appearance.  We left the island at 15.00 hours arriving home just after 21.00 hours.

A memorable trip!

Additions to lifetime list:
Manx Shearwater    (259)
Pied Flycatcher   (260)




Additions to 2014 UK Year List:
Whinchat   (228)
Pied Flycatcher   (229)
Spotted Flycatcher   (230)
Garden Warbler   (231)
Manx Shearwater   (232)
Turtle Dove   (233)
Chough   (234)



List of species seen on this trip:
Black Guillemot
Black Redstart
Black-headed Gull
Blackbird
Blackcap
Blue Tit
Buzzard
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Chiffchaff   (10)
Chaffinch
Chough
Coal Tit
Pheasant
Common Sandpiper
Coot
Cormorant
Curlew
Dipper
Dunnock   (20)
Fulmar
Gannet
Garden Warbler (heard)
Goosander
Grasshopper Warbler (heard)
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Tit
Grey Wagtail
Guillemot
Herring Gull   (30)
 House Martin
Jackdaw
Kestrel
Kittiwake
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Linnet
Magpie
Mallard
Manx Shearwater
Meadow Pipit   (40)
Mute Swan
Nuthatch
Oystercatcher
Peregrine
Pied Flycatcher
Pied Wagtail
Puffin
Raven
Razorbill
Red Grouse   (50)
Red Kite
Redstart
Reed Bunting
Robin
Rock Pipit
Sedge Warbler
Shag
Shoveler
Siskin
Skylark   (60)
Song Thrush
Spotted Flycatcher
Starling
Stonechat
Swallow 
Swift
Tree Pipit
Tufted Duck
Turtle Dove
Wheatear   (70)
Whimbrel
Whitethroat
Willow Warbler
Woodigeon




This trip's species count = 74