Teifi Birding and Wildlife

Always one or more Iceland Gulls to be found in mid / late March, often the time of year when adults pass through heading north -  - One in the estuary on the 20th March was no surprise. Garganey , a pair the first since 2016 and were found on the 21st March and photographed by Stuart Hall. They were on the river near Curlew Hide. Still present the following morning but had moved to Kingfisher Pond. Garganey - Stuart Hall   These Garganey are part of a major influx to the UK due the current weather system  Also a breeding plumage Great Crested Grebe was in the estuary off  St. Dogmael's Quay on the 21st March. Blackcaps and Willow Warblers are now singing on the Reserve, and it sounds like 3 territorial male Cetti's Warblers too. The headlands of Cemaes and Mwnt were fairly quiet for migrants this week. Just a trickle of Wheatear coming through with 3 around Cemaes Head this morning.   Wheatear - Dyfed James There was a noticeable passage of Meadow Pipit...

A round up of the last month now that we are back from The Gambia. Migrant birds out there were putting on fat ready to leave so it won't be long before we see them here.  Wheatears are back. This male was at Mwnt on the 13th March. Wheatear - Dyfed James A good place to look for them is the Cliff Hotel golf course. Three were near the Coastguard Station  this morning (20th March). Sand Martins were first seen over the Teifi Marshes reserve on the 10th March (Paul Taylor while counting Brown Hairstreak eggs- see below). Sand Martin - Toni Henwood This weekend is the last Wetland Bird Survey of the winter. As expected many species are decreasing in number as they leave for their breeding grounds The tide height at The Webley saltmarsh was perfect but just a few Wigeon and one Oystercatcher were there. Total Wigeon around the estuary was 37. At Pinog (at the back of St Dogmaels car par park) there was a Common Sandpiper and 37 Redshank. On the Teifi Marshes  2 Jack Snipe...

The season is moving on, some species are leaving, some are now in song ... The falling tide as seen from the main path, the Gulls favour the river through the reserve, rather than feeling the blast of the westerly wind in the open estuary. 200m down river, the adult Iceland Gull was opposite Curlew hide at 930 yesterday .. The scene from the hide, and the Iceland Gull is there... Further up river, 5-6 Little Egrets in the horse paddocks before the Sawmill, interestingly these don't appear to be in breeding plumage unlike those around the reserve or in the estuary.. The Barnacle Geese haven't settled down yet, over the last few days the whole flock, c 130 are either on Cardigan Island where most will nest, or grazing in the cliff top fields. A short look at the sea proved worthwhile this morning, with 2 Red-throated Divers , 2 Kittiwakes and a single male Common Scoter all flying west past Cemaes Head. Ducks are disappearing fast, most obvious are the Wigeon , down to 87 b...

 Teifi Barn Owls and Magpies by Colin Dalton... Not just the excitement of evening Barn Owls on the Reserve, the photo below has captured a few of the Magpies at their regular gathering - often up to 40 birds make their way noisily across the Marsh to the Willow scrub around the Osprey platform Magpie roost at dusk- Colin Dalton With a very low tide this week it was possible to walk out to the old Lifeboat Station at the far end of Poppit Beach to explore the low intertidal zone. It makes sense that this area often has feeding Gulls and Oystercatchers as the tide drops when you see the food rich habitat. Species such as Common Scoter and Great Crested Grebes have historically favoured this area too. This winter, despite regular scoping, the sea has been very quiet for these species. There is a regular flock of Common Scoter up the coast though, viewable from the path between Aberporth and Tresaith. The low tide rocks are covered in Honeycomb Worms . These build tube shaped structur...

At least one of our  Kingfishers has been providing excellent photo opportunities from the new Kingfisher Hide, what will be photographed next... Kingfisher - Colin Dalton A look at sea and the mouth of the estuary added little, the sea was too rough for Guillemots to venture into the cliffs, but the Fulmars were soaring around the cliff tops and attending their ledges. Stuart provided the sighting of the week ... Shovelers at Mallard Pond - Stuart Hall This party of 4 Shoveler , equals the largest record in recent years .. The graph has only data for some years since 1994, but shows the peak for Shoveler on the Teifi is during the early Spring. Down at the estuary,   Wigeon numbers are dropping rapidly, maybe less than 50 can be found on a visit. Wigeon - Rosie Hemsley Over the last few days, although the afternoon tides have been suitable for waders to roost on the mud, the Golden Plovers aren't around and the Lapwing numbers have decreased to about 100. Though the D...

A library of photos of birds that have been seen in the Teifi area is being compiled. The link is on the left side of the blog Birds of the Teifi area The bird list has 240 species and growing with new species seen like the recent Ring-neck Duck, but also older records as we discover them. Many of these old records are impossible to find photos for, but with help from archives it will be an ongoing project. We are very grateful to photographers for allowing us to share their images especially Tommy Evans, Colin Dalton, Dyfed James and Toni Henwood for their help with the photos so far. All photos are credited and labelled with date and location.  One interesting old record that we definitely won't be able to add to the photo library is that of a Honey Buzzard near Cardigan in 1908, though we may visit the National Museum of Wales for a photo of Wales only Common Nighthawk.... Cardigan Honey Buzzard This is a note taken from Reports and Transactions (Cardiff Naturalists Society) Vol...

This weekend was the monthly long running Wetland Bird Survey for the BTO. Teifi WeBS regular counts started over 30 years ago. Highlights were the high number of Lapwing and Golden Plover coming down to the estuary now often approaching 1,000 of each species. Other counts of interest; Wigeon counts decreasing as birds start to depart, 176 and waders like Oystercatcher increasing to 69 as they pass through heading north. A single drake Goosander and two  Goldeneye remain. As mentioned in the last blog, the new Kingfisher hide has been completed. With visitors once again enjoying good views of the wildlife on Kingfisher Pond / Bass Lagoon we have delved into the history timeline of the Teifi Marshes.  Kingfisher hide looks over a lagoon that was created 30 years ago in 1992.  Kingfisher Pond 2018 Bass lagoon in the making  Work started in 1992 to construct a new lagoon at the Teifi Marshes. This was been made possible by the success of the Dyfed Wildlife Trust i...