East Anglesey Seawatching 15/11/12

What a beautiful morning it was, so I set off down to Benllech seafront to see what was visible. The sea was like glass, and the sun was behind me as I panned across from Benllech to Red Wharf Bay. There were lots of birds visible at fairly long range. Small groups of Common Scoter were closer to shore however. I picked out 1 Slavonian Grebe, 5 Great Crested Grebe (very low count), 1 female Long Tailed Duck, 1 Velvet Scoter amongst 180 Common Scoter, 3 Eider, 60 Red Throated Diver and 2 Black Guillemot. There were certainly a lot more birds out towards Llanddona, but just out of my range. The highlight for me was seeing at least six small groups of Bottle Nosed Dolphin (about 20 in total) jumping and feeding, giving great views in the sun. They seem to be pretty regular in this area at the moment.
On to Traeth Lligwy, where divers were the order of the day. A 1st winter Black Throated, 2 Great Northern and 10 Red Throated Divers were visible from the car park.
Finally on to Moelfre, having helped round up an errant flock of sheep en route! 2 Great Northern Diver, 25 Red Throated Diver, 8 Black Guillemot were on the sea with lots of mixed auks. 30 Knot were roosting on Ynys Moelfre.
A great days seawatching in brilliant weather conditions. This area doesn't get a huge amount of coverage compared to say Colwyn Bay, Black Rock Sands or Morfa Harlech but its certainly worth a look on a day like this.

Malltraeth 14/11/12

I had a very enjoyable walk through Newborough Forest and round the mouth of the Cefni Estuary this afternoon. From the car park at the south end of the Cob, I followed the trails through the forest. A great variety of species were seen including Crossbill, Redpoll, Siskin, Jay, Treecreeper and Nuthatch. Water Rail fed in the wet areas and there seemed to be Goldcrests all over the place. A Red Squirrel was feeding high up in some larches (it saw me before I saw it) and some lovely Belted Galloway cows in a paddock in the forest.
I followed the trails to the mouth of the Cefni Estuary, where I enjoyed one of my favourite pastimes, wandering across a wet, boggy saltmarsh to see what was lurking. I flushed a Jack Snipe, a Water Pipit, Rock Pipit, Snipe and Skylark. A male Hen Harrier sailed across in front of me heading towards Bodorgan. On the edge of the sand dunes, 50 Ravens fed along the tideline. I could have spent much longer here, but the light was fading.
Dusk fell as I returned to the car park and two male Hen Harriers quartered the saltmarsh, and very quickly went to roost.

Anglesey Birds - An October Review

The irony of turning my hobby into gainful employment is that I am increasingly spending less time outdoors whilst I attend to the business side of things! To prove that one of us is still 'out and about' here is a guest blog from my friend, birder and now colleague Ken Croft...

"The month began well with the long-staying Osprey on the Inland Sea. Together with Kathy James and Elgan Hearn (Holyhead & Anglesey Mail), we managed to get close enough through a 'scope to read the ring on it's leg as it perched on a post. A Pied Flycatcher in the Holyhead Breakwater Country Park (BCP) on the 4th was the first of a good run of scarce Anglesey birds at this site (although breeding close by on the mainland Pied Fly's are very seldom seen on this side of the Menai Straits).

A calm, sunny day on the 6th and I was stopped in my tracks at Soldier's Point by a gorgeous Firecrest. Unfortunately this bird disappeared before Alan & Ruth (of Biggest Twitch fame) arrived, but shortly after they left and I had moved on into the BCP I was soon on the phone and they were heading back. I had found a little gem from the east in the form of a Yellow-browed Warbler, this little beauty stayed for them to see. Alan returned the favour a couple of days later on the 8th when he found a Spoonbill on the Inland Sea, this bird was still present the next day when I found it feeding with an amazing total of forty-one Little Egrets!

A Firecrest was the next good bird to grace the BCP on the 10th, my first Redwing of the autumn was at Soldier's Point the next day. As I was driving into the BCP on the 13th, a pale-looking bird in a hawthorn bush caught my eye and I was quickly reversing back trying to beat two approaching dog walkers! I just had time enough to confirm it as a Barred Warbler before it was flushed . This was the 9th record of this species for Anglesey, the last eight of which have all occurred on my local patch, the only other record was way back in 1910 on The Skerries. The problem for me now was relocating the bird, but luck was with me and I quickly nailed it down before the first birders arrived. This bird proved quite showy for a Barred Warbler, usually very skulking birds; it remained until the 16th.

Walking back from the BCP on the 15th, I checked out the warm sheltered area below the top road at Soldier's Point, it was alive with birds; Goldcrests, Long-tailed Tits, Great, Blue and Coal Tits and amongst this throng of birds I found another Yellow-browed Warbler. This bird was very mobile as it moved around this roving tit flock. My hot streak continued the next day, in a morning of thunderstorms, sleeting rain and hailstones I found a 1st winter Red-breasted Flycatcher. The bird remained in the 'Cathedral' (a stand of tall trees near the BCP quarry face) all day. It was the 11th record of this species for Anglesey, eight of the last nine also occurring on my 'patch'.

On the 19th, I found my 3rd Yellow-browed Warbler of the month; this one at Soldier's Point and with others being found at Hen Felin (14th) and at Penmon (24th). These five birds made up the best year ever for Yellow-broweds on Anglesey. The first record of this species occurring as recently as 1985, these five bring Anglesey's total up to 37 (25 of which have been found either at Soldier's Point or the BCP and all but one of the 37 have occurred in the month of October).

After many days of searching in vain this year, I finally found a couple of Lapland Buntings on The Range on the 21st. As usual, they were very confiding, shuffling about under my feet. The 25th was a bit special on the Inland Sea with the Osprey hovering overhead and a stunning Great Northern Diver in full breeding plumage regally patrolling the water, then as I made my way to Four Mile Bridge I was greeted by 21 Mediterranean Gulls (11 adults, 8 2nd winter and 2 1st winter).

The month finished with a wintry feel when four Whooper Swans flew in high from the North-West over Soldier's Point with four Eider also arriving the same day. I hope there are still a few passage migrants to be found, but I fear I'm going to have to go into winter-birding mode."

It is testimony to Ken's modesty that he doesn't mention that, with the exception of the Skerries record in 1910 (which was not even alive!), he has found all the Barred Warblers that have ever been recorded on Anglesey. And if that weren't impressive enough, he also spotted all eight Red-breasted Flycatchers and all twenty-five Yellow-browed Warblers in the Holyhead area.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Ken's October as much as I did?!

Kathy x

Another Waxwing Pic!!

Whilst looking for Firecrest at Conwy RSPB today (saw 1 in the car park with 3 Goldcrests on the A55 side, after spending 2 unsucessful hours by the bridge!!) news of the Llandudno Waxwings was too hard to ignore. So up I popped & managed a few shots before the light just got too poor for any more pictures.

Waxwing calls and sonogram

As well as superb views and the sight of tens or even hundreds of Waxwings has been superb over the past couple of days, the constant calling and sound of the trilling above the urban traffic has been the highlight for me.

The calls can be heard here on a sound recording I took today in B&Q car park.:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2-clvqxk0I&feature=channel&list=UL

Look at this amazing sonogram of the calls. The trill is made up of up to 10 very fine notes a second. Click on the image to make it larger.

I've played around with the sound this evening and slowed it down to various fractions of its speed so you can hear all the notes the trill contains. Listen to this clip where I have slowed it down to just under half its original speed. You can hear how many notes those high pitched short trills contain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6PqTaN9Cbs&feature=youtube_gdata

I always wonder how birds hear each others contact calls. Do they sound just like we hear them or are their ears far more sensitive to bird calls and hear a range of 'vocabulary' in what we hear as a trill, a rattle or a whistle. All interesting stuff.

LB Brents on the Foryd

Great numbers of birds here this winter.  I thought 350-400 today.  There are a few Colour-ringed birds there too including these from a couple of weeks ago:

• Red K on left only. Other ring missing.  This was traced by GMcE to be a bird ringed on Axel Heiberg in Canada in 2007. 
• JC/RB (Red J/BlueC) another Axel bird ringed in 2007
• DP/WW (DP on white) ringed at Strangford Lough, N Ireland

I saw a few more today including:

• AS'Heart' which wintered in Beddmanarch Bay 2 years ago
• Yellow T on left only
• DZ/BR (Blue D/Red Z)
• LK,BR (Blue L/Red K)

Just submitted them so await info and will update here once i know.

Rob

Waxwing totals in NWales

80+ in Llandudno still midday near Holy Trinity Church
12 in Rhos on Sea, Llandrillo nr Geordies Garage
30 by shell garage, Rhyl Rd, Denbigh.  There were 9 nearby behind the old Kwiks yesterday
50 over Pentir, Bangor, flying west
5 briefly at RSPB Conwy

200 at least recorded so there must be many more out there.  Not sure if the 200 reported yesterday in Llandudno was the c100 flock seen twice or a typo but i gather there were probably around 130-160 yesterday.  Had a look in Caernarfon this evening but no sign yet- plenty berries though along near Tescos.

Rob