Late Spring passage and breeding success
Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Moorhen, and Mallard all have bred successfully and have young on the various ponds. The first Shelducklings have been seen the the estuary down river of St Dogmael's Quay.
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| Cygnets at Mallard Pond - Tommy Evans |
A small pond at Gwbert is a regular site for breeding Little Grebe. An adult with 3 young was seen this week. One of the chicks was watched climbing under the parents wings...
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| Little Grebe with chick - Dyfed James |
Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Sanderling are feeding and roosting in the estuary, and on Sat 4th we picked out a very smart reddish Curlew Sandpiper.
No photo of the Curlew Sandpiper but this short video gives an idea of evening wader watching on Patch as the tide comes in
At least 8 Curlew appear to be summering, presumably last year's juveniles and all are currently in wing moult, so easy to age in flight.
On the 4th, 6 Sandwich Terns were roosting on the sand bars, also our first Mediterranean Gull of the month, many more will arrive over the coming weeks...
Trips out on boats always deliver surprises, on the 1st an Otter was being harassed by breeding Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls as it swam and climbed along the rocky cliff base of Cardigan Island. On the 2nd a breeding plumage Black Guillemot was seen just off Cemaes Head.
Looking at the weeks ahead, and some records from 2020..
On the 11th 2 Avocet graced the estuary for an afternoon. The 23rd produced our first Bonaparte's Gull near the Webley and on the 25th an adult Rosey Starling enjoyed the company of the Gwbert resident Starlings
Planned for this blog in the coming months is a guide to wildlife sites in the area. As a start to this we are building up a library of views from various locations.
This is from the road that leads up to a path across Cardigan golf course at low and high tides
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| Teifi Estuary looking towards St Dogmaels |
(Rich D & Wendy J)