Lots going on....

Dotterel still Great Orme late afternoon at least. Stilt Sandpiper at Neumann's Flash, Northwich Cheshire. We will be at Pensychnant Nature Reserve just west of Conwy off Sychnant Pass Road tomoz, Sunday, from 10 - 4pm with the Leica Birdbox. Free draw for a pair of Leica bins, free cake and a cuppa, come along and talk birds, birding and bins. Also Focal Point Optics will be there to answer any questions and help with all your optics needs. Be an all day birders social! Hope to see you there. Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com

Dotterel on Great Orme

A juvenile dotterel was found on the Great Orme by Pete Alderton this morning, spending most of its time asleep on the limestone slope up towards the top cairn. First August record for me at this site. Made up for missing 2 in the spring.

Where are the birds?

Well the short answer is on the East coast from Shetland to Kent! Huge arrival of birds last two days including many scarce migrants and a scatter of rares. Wrynecks in particular arriving with up to 20 at Spurn alone! Must be a chance of some of these birds relocating to our coast in the next few days - get out and find them! Black Tern and Curlew Sandpiper at Morfa Madryn today, only local news, unless you have seen something? We have one place left on our Norfolk Migration trip Monday 23 Sept - Weds 25 September come and join us for great birds and great fun. Alan and Ruth info@thebiggesttwitch.com

Citrine Wagtail - Conwy RSPB

A super find by Rob H of a first winter Citrine Wagtail, good to secure some nice close views

 

 

More pics of this bird on the blog below:

 

http://birdingnorthwales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/citrine-wagtail-3rd-record-for-conwy.html

At last a rare bird!

Rob Hughes, fresh back from Fair Isle broke the rarity drought this morning when we found a first winter Citrine Wagtail. Still present early pm at least. Managed to get some ok record shots have a look at www.thebiggesttwitch.com for more details and the photos. Many thanks to Rob for finding this great bird and for getting the news out quickly. Alan and Ruth info@thebiggesttwitch.com

Funky Chickens

Happened to be in the car just before 2pm today and tuned in to Radio 4.  There was an interesting article on Prairie Chickens in Kansas.  Looks like it was first run back in 2011, but it was the first time I had heard it.  You can listen to it at:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0150p92

There appears to be three separate series, with a number of episodes.  Hope that someone finds them of interest.

Martin

 

Norwegian Sanderling

A Sanderling caught at Horton's Nose Kinmel Bay earlier this year on 24th Feb was ringed 03 Sep 1995 in Revtangen, Klepp, Rogaland in Norway. 

6384 days 824km.

Wood Sand by Rob Sand

A juv Wood Sandpiper found at RSPB Conwy this morning from boardwalk screen! More good waders to come surely? David W had a Baleric Sherawater past Lynas this am. Ken C had Hooded Crow The Range. Just back from Birdfair brilliant three days! Now planning trips to Morocco, Wolf Watching in Spain and Ghana - fancy joining us? Get in touch sure to be great fun. Alan and Ruth email info@thebiggesttwitch.com

Wading in

The juvenile ruff was still present at Conwy RSPB reserve this morning, best viewed from the boardwalk viewpoint. Other waders there included greenshank, common sandpiper, dunlin, snipe and black tailed godwits. A quick seawatch at Rhos Point produced a few Manxies and gannets but no skuas.

A round up on the River Clwyd

A few decent birds knocking around the Clwyd of late of including a superb juvenile Cuckoo in the fields on the Rhyl side, south of the railway bridge on the 1st August. 2 Knot hung around from July into August and Black Tailed Godwits numbers have been fluctuating below 10. A Bar Tailed Godwit joined them at the end of July and has stayed put since. 2 Greenshank appeared on 6th August but I couldn't relocate them on the 7th.

Cuckoo - River Clwyd

Amazing numbers of Common Sandpipers have been roosting lately with 29 birds altogether on 6th August. A Green Sandpiper was reported by Marc a week ago or so much further up the river where also a Reed Bunting was showing occasionally. A Little Ringed Plover also looks like it has moved on after spending a lot of the summer alone.

Little Ringed Plover

Little Egret numbers have built up since June to around 10 birds and a darvic ringed individual (D yellow right, X white left) was rung on 18th June 2013 (assuming as a chick) at Porth Penrhyn, Bangor.

 

A Red Kite was a cracking audition to the patch list in mid July flying over the Rhuddlan side. Kestrel, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk are amongst over raptors regularly seen. Lapwing, Dunlin and Ringed Plover have steadily built up over the last month with all around the hundred mark each. Hopefully, a migrant Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper or something rarer will join them in the coming days/weeks.

 

Sandwich Terns have declined since the start of June where I found 3 Roseate Terns. They do however fluctuate massively and depending on the tide could result in over a hundred birds. In terms of warblers; Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff have all been seen in the last month on the Clwyd. Reed warbler was a good addition to the list on the 6th August accompanying our summering Sedges!

Whitethroat

Waders and bird books at Conwy

Still plenty of waders at Conwy today. Although the little stint and curlew sandpiper have moved on, there have been lots of Dunlins feeding in the Shallow Lagoon, at least five Green Sandpipers (Rob S), three Little Ringed Plovers (Henerz) and plenty of Black-tailed Godwits.

The LookOut, our new straw-bale building opens on Saturday, providing great views across the Shallow Lagoon, and we hope that there'll be plenty of good birds seen from here over the coming years. The opening event is a Big Bird Book Sale, with a wide selection of second-hand books

We've been bequeathed two collections of books by the families of RSPB supporters. One includes a good range of British bird books and overseas field guides, all in good condition. The other will interest collectors, as it includes many by Victorian nature writer Richard Jefferies, including some first-editions.  Julia Hamilton (our stalwart volunteer who raises thousands of pounds every year through second-hand book sales in the Coffee Shop) will be open for business from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday. We only have one copy of each book, so don't miss out on a browse for books or waders.

RSPB Conwy pulls in waders

Guiding again today and with heavy rain we headed for the hides at RSPB Conwy and a great selection of birds were enjoyed! Over sixty species, yes sixty, in just a couple of hours in pouring rain, brilliant. No doubt about the highlight - moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper! This lovely wader showed really well and was still being seen early evening at least. Also Little Stint, 2 Green Sandpiper, c12 Common Sandpipers, 3 Whimbrel, Greenshank, Common Snipe, Black tailed Godwits, loads of Dunlin and more! Keep an eye on the lagoons due a mega wader! Come and join us soon for great birds! Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com

Great White Egret - Welshpool

Today when visiting Llyn Coed y Dinas (Welshpool) a Great White Egret flew in for an hour.



 The bird flew off over the bypass and was later seen at nearby Dolydd Hafren

Updated for further pictures (see comments):

Little Stint at Conwy RSPB Aug 2-3

This smart bird was about as close as it could get to the boardwalk screen on Friday.  Tricky light but not bad for phone-scoping:

Good no's of Dunlin and 2 Green Sand there this eve (4th)

Waders arrive

Adult Little Stint at RSPB Conwy this evening but mobile. Wood Sandpiper still Alaw Estuary Wood Sandpiper Cors Geirach west of Pwllheli Surely more good birds to be found over the weekend? Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com

Seawatching season is here

Following last weeks succes with a Sooty Shearwater past Point Lynas, very pleasing for our clients, back to Point Lynas this morning. Did a two hour watch, highlight was good looks at a Balearic Shearwater, target bird in the bag! Also a very close Bonxie, an Arctic Skua and many "common" seabirds passing. Well worth a look even in light winds as today and last week. Ken C had two Balearic Shearwaters past North Stack this morning, making the walk well worth while. Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com