Breakout of Butterflies and Avocets return to IMF

Following this great open high pressure system producing this lovely weather, the butterflies have started emerging. A trip to Conwy RSPB on Thursday produced atleast 3 Comma Butterflies, 1 Peacock Butterfly and a Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.

A freshly emerged Peacock Butterfly



A tatty-looking Tortoiseshell Butterfly



Bird-wise, 3 singing Chiffchaffs remained elusive towards the far end of the reserve - still no sign of any Swallows yet! Any day now though... surely!

A visit to Inner Marsh Farm a couple of days previous brought a great welcome to the 5 Avocets present, I was lucky enough to see them come close to the viewing hide providing an opportunity to get a picture.



Avocet at Inner Marsh Farm



Other birds of interest include the 1st Sand Martin of the year, a couple of Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Snipe and 3 Spotted Redshank.

South Stack 25/03/11

A trip to South Stack on Anglesey provided very little in the way of seabirds. No Auks of any description on the cliffs. A couple of Shags were offshore along with a good variety of gulls.

A couple of Chough showed well in a nearby field and a lone Chiffchaff was stocking up on food taking full advantage of the sunny weather near the toilet block. I saw the first Wheatears of the year, with over 8 seen throughout. A return in May will be on the cards I think!

Elsewhere in North Wales:

- Three Snow Buntings still at kimmel Bay
- First Willow Warbler reported by Rob S this morning at Conwy RSPB
- No sign of Bonaparte's Gull or Glaucous Gull on Anglesey!

Coot Ringing Recovery

As a birder, I haven't paid too much attention to Ringing birds, therefore haven't really got involved. Knowing a couple of birders that have a keen interest in Ringing, I've started to pay more attention. During a visit to Inner Marsh Farm, last week, I came across a colour ringed Coot. Having heard of the recent work, a couple of ringers have done with ringing Coots, I decided to go against all the odds and not down the colours.

Recapture History

  Ring                 Age/   Capture

  number    Typ                               Date       Init         Details

Coot

GR25273     N     3                        03/12/10    KB    Southport, Merseyside

                    O     3    Sighted         27/12/10              Southport, Merseyside (24 days)

                    S      5    Sighted         18/03/11              Inner Marsh Farm, Cheshire (44 km, S, 105 days)

Some people would argue that Coots stay on the same pond for the duration of their lifetime, this just goes to show how influential and interesting ringing birds is and how much there is to learn from it.
A big thanks to Kane for providing this information... any spare time, take a look at his ringing blog here: http://www.birdringing.blogspot.com/

Spring appears to have sprung!

It seems that after this cold, long winter that Spring is actually finally upon us. Migrants are slowly filtering up throughout Britain as we speak. Today saw 130 Sand Martins present down in Somerset, where Portland, Dorset acquired 9 Swallows, 50 Chiffchaffs and 25 Wheatears! Willow Warblers seem to be appearing around Britain along with the odd House Martin. We've also seen the odd single Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher and Garganey making an appearance over the last couple of days.

I had my first Sand Martin at Inner Marsh Farm on 18th March this year. I also heard my first Chiffchaff, but failed to see it!

Small numbers of Wheatears, Sand Martins and Chiffchaffs have turned up in the Conwy area, with some on the Great Orme and at Conwy RSPB.



Wheatear taken at Conwy RSPB (2010)



Other news includes:
- Glaucous Gull still at Menai Bridge
- Bonaparte's Gull still at Traeth Lliwgy
- Lapland Bunting on the Great Orme this morning (21st)

...and although it isn't North Wales, a rather good looking juvenile American Herring Gull at Hoylake, North of the Wirral. So definately still worth checking those gull flocks!

Just come across this image of the bird accessed by link below:

Hoylake American Herring Gull Pic

Bald Eagle Nest Cam

Iconic of North America, the Bald Eagle is a truly magnificent bird and one I would very much love to see. It is also known as the sea eagle with its largest populations in the North West (Alaska). The birds live near large bodies of water or coastal areas where fish (their main source of food) is plentiful.

During the 1970's the Bald Eagle was near extinction, due to successful conservation efforts, these birds have now luckily recovered.

I have come across a website that follows a pair of Bald Eagles during their breeding season this year:

http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/microsite-content/eagle-cam.html

The link displays a webcam of the nesting pair and at the moment, the female seems to be sitting on eggs.



Glaucous Gull at Menai Bridge

After a couple of reports of a Glaucous Gull this week, I got the opportunity to drop by to see this 'white-winger'. The 3rd winter bird showed well in a field west of the A5025 and is easily visible from the minor road: Grid reference: c.SH540745

In addition to the strong winds and heavy rain showers, I managed to get myself a record shot:



Glaucous Gull



Bonaparte's Gull at Traeth Lligwy

A Bonaparte's Gull has been observed at Traeth Lligwy (Lligwy Bay) on Anglesey for the best part of 3 weeks and looks set to continue its stay in the area. We were very fortunate to have an adult bird last year, at the same place, which looks good for it to be the same bird returning this year.

Time has been very limited recently so I finally got the chance to go for it on Sunday. Weather-wise it was fantastic, although a little chilly, a reminder that winter has not passed us by yet. I approached the bay, where 15 birders were also in the hope of seeing it. By this time, it had not been seen for a good 2 hours or so, but I was hopefully of a return.

I didn't have to wait too long before the bird flew in with a distinct agitated flight dipping in and out of the water. After 20 minutes or so, the bird landed on the beach producing fantastic views. It was great to see the size comparison between its slightly larger cousin, the Black Headed Gull. Of course, it had a thinner and shorter black bill, a paler underwing and the grey nape was noticable.

Of course, when you get the opportunity to see a rare bird such as this one, the inevitable happens and the battery dies on your camera, hense the reason why i have to make do with last years picture!

Other birds of interest include 2 Surf Scoters, that were found by Marc Hughes on Sunday at Old Colwyn. The Great Grey Shrike appears to be still about at Clocaenog along with 8 Hawfinches at Llanbedr-y-Cennin (Conwy Valley).

Gulls at Pensarn

A trip to Pensarn revealed a small number of Gulls including this very nice near summer plumaged Med Gull.

A nice comparison between the Med Gull and Black Headed Gull

Three Black Headed Gulls still in Winter plumage

Last but not least, A Common Gull