Llanrhystyd Stone Curlew sonogram (bisyllabic kurlee call) using Remembird recording device and created in Ravenlite sound software
Long billed Dowitcher - Borth Bog scrape
Ruff and LBD - Borth Bog
Pied Fly - Ynys Hir
Ring Ouzel - Borth Bog
One of many Groppers on Borth Bog
Beeaters at Aberporth (pic by Arfon Williams)
Beeeater at Aberporth (pic by Arfon Williams
Distant Wood Sand - honest!
Spotted Redshank - Ynys HirMy annual Easter visit to mid-Wales this year was well timed! Within a couple of hours of arriving I had stumbled on a superb calling Stone Curlew on Llanrhystyd beach - amazingly the second bird there in the last 18 months, with all 3 Ceredigion records coming from the same km square even thoigh the first was over 100 years ago!
The rest of the weekend was spent watching the Dyfi area. A showy Ring Ouzel and a Ruff on my first visit to a new scrape along the Afon Leri showed the potential of a new reserve situated on Borth Bog and I decided to concentrate my efforts here. The Ceredigion lads who were twitching the Ouzel and ruff stumbled upon a superb Long billed Dowitcher on teh same patch of water I had been watching hours earlier. In fact it spent the rest of the day feeding alongside the Ruff! Another visit revealed the LBD feeding alongside a Wood Sandpiper! Surely a site well worth keeping an eye on.
I managed to jam in on the Beeaters at Aberporth thanks to Arfon Williams' excellent directions - superb, while the supporting cast to the weekend included - 350+ Common Tern, 20+ Arctic Tern, 3 Little Tern and 3 Arctic Skuas decending into Borth Bay before an electrical storm. Hen Harrier, another Ring Ouzel, plenty of migrants including Lesser Whitethroats, Groppers, Pied and Spotted Flys, Redstarts, Wood Warblers and Yellow Wagtails. A superb summer plumaged Spotted Redshank was a satisfying find at Ynys Hir RSPB, while Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and 2 Ospreys were just the supporting cast.
This county has got to be the most underwatched (apart from perhaps Powys) and under-rated county in Wales. I saw three birders out all weekend and they were all twitching birds - just imaginge what else was out there!
This county has got to be the most underwatched (apart from perhaps Powys) and under-rated county in Wales. I saw three birders out all weekend and they were all twitching birds - just imaginge what else was out there!
Great run of birds for the area. Not been dissy or anything but is there a website with sonograms of birds to compare to, say if you recorded something and wanted to compare?
ReplyDeletegreat Welsh find too.
Just type in 'the birds name' and 'sonogram' and you get loads. Try this site for Stone Curlew - the Llanrhystyd bird recording is most similar to that in figure 6 (just incase you're being dissy :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.birdsongs.it/specStudies/VocalizzazioneText.pdf
its just that the sonogram meant f-all to me without somewhere which says it similar to one elsewhere-not that I'm checking your record! guess you can't go wrong really- should be in the collins!
ReplyDeleteMarc - save up and get a decent Camera! You will need to save too. I priced an Upgrade on my Canon EOS 40 D plus Canon 100 - 400 zoom. 4 years ago it cost £1700, now the relevant equivalent goes for over £3200 - eeek! So I'm not upgrading!
ReplyDeleteGreat birding Marc and once again highlights the potential of Ceredigion.
ReplyDelete