Saturday, 10 January 2015
Whooper Swans plus bits and bobs
It's the national census next weekend. There had been 12-14 between Llangefni and Llanerchymedd at the start of December but they moved when there was a cold snap prior to Christmas. On Thursday the 8th Jan I had 6 leaving Llyn Cefni at 8.20 am. Has anyone seen them feeding in the day recently? I had a Tawny Owl on the 6th in Llanerchymedd and Woodcocks recently near Valley and Llanfechell in the evening Twilight Zone/Woodcock window!
North Wales News Today
Norman had 2 GND's, 1 Slav, 1 Med and 195 Brents at Penrhos Car Parc today, plus a LT Duck, GND and a single Med on the Inland Sea by the Anchorage.
Ken had a Bonxie, 5 RTD'd and 4 Gannets off North Stack.
(There were 4 male Surf Scoters and 5 Velvets off old Colwyn today. A Little Auk passed Old Colwyn at 10.55 am. There were 2 Little Gulls on the Glaslyn Marshes and 40 Twite (down from 95 on the 23rd Dec) and 7 Spotshanks at Connahs Quay NR. per birdguides).
David Wright put out this news today.
"Did a tour of Anglesey's wind-lashed north coast this morning. A Little Auk and thirty Fulmars past Point Lynas in a short seawatch. Single Little Gull and thirty Kittiwakes off Bull Bay. Two Bonxies harassing gulls in Holyhead Bay, Ken Croft had another past North Stack. Single Great Northern Divers in Holyhead Bay and in the harbour plus two Black Guillemots. Up to six Med Gulls off Penrhos (and a bacon butty).
Yesterday single Great Northern Diver, two Black Guillemots, 120 Knot, 1 Whimbrel and a Purple Sandpiper at Moelfre. Approx 20 Bottle nosed Dolphins visible east of Ynys Moelfre. A good couple of days."
Ken had a Bonxie, 5 RTD'd and 4 Gannets off North Stack.
(There were 4 male Surf Scoters and 5 Velvets off old Colwyn today. A Little Auk passed Old Colwyn at 10.55 am. There were 2 Little Gulls on the Glaslyn Marshes and 40 Twite (down from 95 on the 23rd Dec) and 7 Spotshanks at Connahs Quay NR. per birdguides).
David Wright put out this news today.
"Did a tour of Anglesey's wind-lashed north coast this morning. A Little Auk and thirty Fulmars past Point Lynas in a short seawatch. Single Little Gull and thirty Kittiwakes off Bull Bay. Two Bonxies harassing gulls in Holyhead Bay, Ken Croft had another past North Stack. Single Great Northern Divers in Holyhead Bay and in the harbour plus two Black Guillemots. Up to six Med Gulls off Penrhos (and a bacon butty).
Yesterday single Great Northern Diver, two Black Guillemots, 120 Knot, 1 Whimbrel and a Purple Sandpiper at Moelfre. Approx 20 Bottle nosed Dolphins visible east of Ynys Moelfre. A good couple of days."
Sunday, 4 January 2015
Shotwick Boating Lake Superb Swan Selection!
On our way over for a family day out near Chester today we popped over to the Boating lake on the border. What a fabulous spot. There were 69 Swans today. Recent counts have included 1 Black Swan (Australian escapee), 28 Russian Bewick's Swans, 13 Icelandic Whooper Swans and 26 resident Mute Swans. There aren't many places you can see 4 species of Swan in one flock! Also on the Boating lake there were 3 Black necked Grebes and whilst I was there I had a flyover Great White egret. Not the best shot, but two other groups of birders had better views as it flew over their heads with it's large yellow bill! A great spot! I'm not sure on access here. The gate was open today, but to be on the safe side it is probably best parking outside the gate by the "under-pass" and walking in to avoid any awkward situations, i.e. getting locked in !
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| Grebe corner |
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| Black necked Grebe |
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| Bewick's, Mute and Black Swan |
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| Same as above |
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| Mute's fly in |
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| Look at the size difference in Whooper (left) and Bewicks. |
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| Grebe Corner |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Rhys Swan Spotting |
Long tailed duck day
Normans had a good morning with these ducks. One from the bus stop at Llyn Penrhyn and two from the Anchorage at Four mile bridge on the inland sea.
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Anglesey Today
Ben Stammers and Paddy did a bird-race on the island and threw the gauntlet down to anyone else having a go at 104 species, with Short Eared Owl the highlight at Llyn Coron. Cemlyn today had 3 Purple Sands, c.200 Curlew, 12 Grey Plover, 1 Whimbrel, 4 Twite, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Greenshanks and 1 RT Diver. Norman had 2 GND's on the Inland Sea and 4 Slavs in Beddmanarch Bay and the LT Duck was still on Llyn Penrhyn (there has been another on the Inland Sea recently but not today), Ken had similar stuff plus a Med Gull in Beddmanarch Bay. I had the Cemlyn stuff plus Common Seal and Gannet off Amlwch Port, 3 Red Squirrels at Llyn Parc Mawr ("Birdless Pool"), 1000+ Lapwing and a few dozen Pintail at Malltraeth Cob (great light!), Martin had 8 Jack Snipe at Dulas (with Brian Iddon), 7 Black Guillimots, and 20+ RT Divers at Traeth yr Ora and 10 Pale Brents at the Dulas Estuary.
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| Llyn Parc Mawr |
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| Squirrel spotting! |
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| Malltraeth Lapwings |
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| Bird-race boys |
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| Adding Twite to the list! |
Friday, 2 January 2015
New County Bird Recorder for Anglesey
Yes Happy New Year to you all. So out with the old and in with the new. I've been the County recorder for Anglesey since the 1998 report but I've decided to stand down. Many thanks to everyone who has sent me records and helped me over the years. Thankfully I have managed to find a suitable successor in the form of Robin Sandham. The official handover took place yesterday, the 1st January, in a field in a neutral County, Yorkshire. It wasn't planned, it just had something to do with there being a Little Bustard there!
Good luck to Rob and thanks again to everyone for their records over the years.
Please could you send future Anglesey records to
Robin Sandham robinsandham@hotmail.co.uk
Neckarmont, Woodlands, Conwy, LL32 8LT
07584320882
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