Oddly the only terns seen offshore and on the beach were Sandwich Terns.
At one point a group of 110 gathered on the beach, where some displayed whilst others
arrived with beaks full of small fish to offer to their prospective mates.
There was a steady trickle of northbound Gannets offshore, with some seen plunging into the sea quite
close to the shore. At least 7 Manx Shearwaters were also seen offshore.
The only waders recorded along the shoreline were 10 Oystercatchers and 3 Dunlin.
Hirundines were seen following the shoreline North throughout, in singles or small groups, Swallows,
House and Sand Martins were all noted.
Saltmarsh : 2 Little Egrets and numerous territorial Skylarks.
A Lesser Whitethroat was heard calling from hawthorns alongside the gas plant.
The bramble patches and scrub near the RSPB hide held 1 Common Whitethroat, 3 Stonechats and 2 Linnets.
A Green Woodpecker was heard calling nearby but stayed hidden.
John Williams said
Mon Jan 17 8:57 PM, 2022
12.00-16.00
Beach & Offshore : Singles of Sanderling and Grey Plover.
Salthouse & Mudflats in front of the hide : Numerous Curlews, Lapwings, Redshanks, Shelducks, Teal and Dunlin.
A flock 120 Black tailed Godwits, 4 Pintails, 4 Little Egrets, 1 Kestrel, 1 Reed Bunting, 6 hen Pheasants and 6 Meadow Pipits.
Just the usual gulls (Mostly Common) and Cormorants offshore, no sign of any grebes, divers or scoters.
Oystercatchers and the usual gulls along the shoreline.
Curlews appeared noticeably more numerous than I've seen around the coast for a long time, with small flocks commuting between
the mudflats and inland beyond the gas plant. All this changed mid-afternoon though when a paraglider, using the area adjacent to
the beach carpark as a take off point, flew low over the saltmarsh, above the hide and out across the mudflats several times, flushing
every bird in sight except the odd crow.
Andy Slee said
Thu Dec 9 8:13 PM, 2021
On return from family business in Wales (went to Llyn Brenig on the way out) high tide at the RSPB hide revealed Pintails, all the major gull species, an Eider, Shelduck, Cormorant, Blackwits, one Ruff (in saltmarsh channels), three Knot, one Dunlin, one Greenshank, plenty of Redshank back and forth, Oystercatchers. Two Little Egret in the channels as well. Curlew everywhere.
Twite and Skylark seen when walking west from Talacre to the holiday camps via the dunes.
Someone spoiled the fun by flying a drone over the shore from the Talacre beach car park, so a lot of gulls and waders at the North end by Talacre headed west towards Gronant. If ever there was a need for telescopes to be fitted with crossbow functions this idiot needed it.
-- Edited by Andy Slee on Thursday 9th of December 2021 08:15:12 PM
Dave Ousey said
Tue Nov 16 9:02 PM, 2021
An interesting trip out, North Wales & Lancashire. 14/11/2021
Our last trip out was to see the Two barred Greenish Warbler at Spurn a few weeks ago, so after many wet weekends since, we ventured out. With Kevin C still needing to see a Dusky Warbler we decided to go to the closest one available at Talacre in North Wales. Myself, Bob K and Kevin left a dark Castleton at 7am and by 8-20am were striding through the dunes at Talacre and after 20 minutes we reached the small copse that the Dusky Warbler had been frequenting. Earlier reports that the bird had been showing well were a little confusing as the bird was not finally seen until 10-45am, a two hour wait with only a Chiff-Chaff to get the pulses going. Kevin C`s wait to see Dusky Warbler will have to wait as he could not get in the scrum to see the bird that was on view for 15 seconds. His comments are not to be printed
Dave O
Doc Brewster said
Sun Nov 14 9:38 PM, 2021
Being at work yesterday when news broke of a rarity in North Wales I had to wait until today to try for it!! So off I headed at 9am to Talacre as news had come out positive re the bird. It was misty/foggy in Moulton when I left but sunny by the time I was parking up on the beach at Talacre.
I soon discovered that parking here I was well away from the track I needed to be on to head out to the area that the bird favoured. Heading inland I soon joined a concrete track heading west towards Gronant and the yomp started. The RBA Pager had said walk c. two thirds of a mile but a mate measured it on his phone and it was a mile on the track alone, plus the distance from where he and I had parked too! I joined about 15 birders looking into sallows and willows inland of the track. This included the original finder who had been watching it this morning too. Unfortunately the bird hadn't been seen for a couple of hours at least and folk were even giving up and leaving already.
A long wait finally paid off when a birding pal said that he had it and being a couple of paces from him I took his directions and was on the bird immediately. Then it dropped down out of view but soon after appeared again a bit further left and I had better views of the Dusky Warbler before it again moved lower and out of view behind the long vegetation between us and it! The bird had shown for such short times that only about half the (now) 25-30 birders got onto it. We all searched further and even moved up and down the copse but to no avail so I decided to call it a day having seen the bird twice. A few other birds were in the copse including Long-tailed Tits, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit and Blackbird and I had a Meadow Pipit on the way back, but the warbler was by far the most elusive of all of these, typical!!
Nice to bump into lots of birding pals and have a catch up, including our own Dave Ousey from these forums!
Mike Duckham said
Wed Mar 17 10:08 PM, 2021
Sand Martin 3 Cettis Warbler - 1 singing
(Working visit to the gas terminal).
John Williams said
Wed Jan 8 8:15 PM, 2020
10.00-15.00 (Highlights)
Salt Marsh :52 (Pale-Bellied) Brent Geese were close to the parking area.
At least 5 Twite with a flock of around 30 Linnets. Plus another similar sized
flock of Linnets also contained a few Twite together with several Chaffinches.
7 Skylarks, a pair of Stonechats and oddly just 1 Little Egret .
Shoreline :10 Sanderlings were amongst the many Oystercatchers and Dunlin.
No sign of any grebes, divers or ducks offshore, just the usual gulls and Cormorants.
Also 2 Grey Plovers were amongst Redshanks on the mud in front of the hide.
A mixed flock of small birds moving through the small linear wood (Which also contains an
active rookery) alongside the path to the hide held at least 7 Goldcrests.
A pair (M+F) of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were also there.
No raptors were seen throughout, although a Great Black Backed Gull flushed the waders
a couple of times.
-- Edited by John Williams on Thursday 9th of January 2020 02:10:25 PM
John Williams said
Mon Nov 18 8:55 PM, 2019
11.30-15.30 (High Tide 14.20)
Offshore : 1 male Long tailed Duck on the sea just offshore near the lighthouse together with
1 Great Crested Grebe. The drake LTD then left flying South, but what was almost certainly the same
duck was seen flying north just beyond the beach several minutes later and flew into the Dee estuary
heading towards Caldy.
Also, 9 Mistle Thrushes, 2 Redwings and 1 Song Thrush were on hawthornes alongside the gas plant.
High water viewed from the RSPB screen produced 6 Common Scoters (Single Flock), 2 Grey Plovers,
2 Knots, 2f Goosanders and 2 Golden Plovers (With Lapwings).
Around high tide the main roost for waders was deliberatly disturbed 3 times by people (All adults) who
completely ignored the RSPB rope fencing and no access signs. They flushed all the waders around the spit
without showing any concern, in the end the birds seem to give up on their main roost there and settle
elsewhere around the salt marsh.
John Williams said
Sat Oct 19 9:12 PM, 2019
11.00-15.00
Mainly to view high tide roost from the RSPB screen.
Saltmarsh : 1f Merlin. 3f Goosanders and 1 Kingfisher along tidal gulleys.
Bushes alongside gas plant : 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Song Thrush and a charm of 15 Goldfinches.
A Green Woodpecker was flushed off a track inside the gas plant by a couple of workers.
6 Robins were aggressively chasing each other around a couple of Elder bushes.
Estuary & Mudflats viewed from the screen around high tide:
15 Little Egrets, 2 Grey Plovers, 21 Bar tailed Godwits, 50+ Pintails and 15 Great Black backed Gulls.
Lots of Knot were also seen but impossible to count as many of them were amongst large flocks of Oystecatchers.
Also abundant were Curlew, Wigeon, Shelduck, Dunlin and Cormorants.
In contrast only 6 Lapwings sat out the high tide.
John Williams said
Sun Mar 17 7:26 PM, 2019
10.00-15.00
Shoreline : 2 Sanderlings and 1 adult Yellow Legged Gull.
Mudflats : 8 Ringed Plovers, 30 Curlew plus lots of Redshanks.
Also 1m Wheatear was by the dunes, whilst 8 Skylarks and 8 Meadow Pipits were on the marsh field by the parking area.
3 Chiffchaffs were in the bushes near the gas terminal, and 2 Little Egrets were in the gullies on the saltmarsh.
John Williams said
Sat Dec 1 8:05 PM, 2018
12.00-16.00
Saltmarsh : At least 4 Twite amongst a flock of 40+ finches (Mainly Linnets, but a few Chaffinches too) feeding along the edge of the saltmarsh.
2 Little Grebes fishing in the main gully. Also 3 Skylarks and 10 Little Egrets.
Mudflats : 46 Golden Plover with a flock of 200+ Lapwings. 8 Knot, 20 Curlew and lots of Redshank and Shelducks. Oddly no sign of any Dunlin or Ringed Plover.
1 Buzzard near the hide, and a Peregrine that really spooked the Lapwings. It's the first time I've been here and not found a single Kestrel.
Offshore : 2 Great Crested Grebes. A large group of Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and at least 6 Pintails just offshore at the mouth of the Dee.
2 Stonechats, 3 Little Egrets, 6 Skylarks and 2 Kestrels,
Mudflats (Low tide throughout):
10 Curlew plus numerous Redshank, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Shelduck.
Offshore:
2 Great Crested Grebes, including one that was following a Harbour Porpoise around.
10 Wigeon plus a single Grey Seal.
Chris Harper said
Tue Dec 27 5:24 PM, 2016
12.30-14.30 Higlights following a successful search for the Black Throated Thrush in St Asaph:
Merlin, Kestrel, 7 Little Egret, 4 Stonechat, 100's of Linnet, Redshank and Curlew, Kingfisher, 30 Skylark.
John Williams said
Sat Jul 30 11:23 PM, 2016
10.00-14.00
Followed the receding tide out.
Little Terns were difficult to count, as they'd fed in the small streams that cross the beach and empty with tide, as birds constantly passed through, then moved off towards Gronant.
Most of these birds were juveniles, whereas most of the adults seemed to be roosting with Sandwich Terns, or fishing just offshore.
The big Sandwich Tern gathering is a marvel, birds were landing on the beach carrying large sandeels then displaying and pair bonding.
A search for skuas offshore was fruitless, although an "Argenteus" sized gull flew just offshore that showed no black wing tips at all, but was pure creamy white and ghostly.
Had it not been July I'd have claimed a 3rd winter "Iceland". 4 Common Terns were with the Sandwich Terns on the beach. Lots of adult Common Gulls about.
Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Sanderlings were numerous. 14 Shelducks were just offshore, whilst a dozen Curlew were on the mudflats towards Mostyn.
10 Little Egrets were dotted around the saltmarsh and mudflats. 16 Redshanks were in the gulley below the RSPB hide, but lots more flushed off the saltmarsh, but Idid'nt see what upset them.
8 Meadow Pipits, 2 Skylarks, 4 Pied Wagtails and a Greenfinch were near the hide.
Chris Harper said
Wed May 28 9:47 AM, 2014
Low tide Mon pm:
2 Little Egret Yellowhammer 4 Linnet Garden Warbler 7 Dunlin 7 Ringed Plover Female Wheatear Curlew 2 Great Black Backed Gull Many Oystercatcher
james hall said
Tue Oct 15 3:30 AM, 2013
stayed at my granddads caravan this weekend with my dad and family, thought e would have a walk to talacre beach;
loads of birds on the flats tide was miles out though:
1 grey plover 50+ curlew 3 little egrets 500+ shelduck loads of redshank, dunlin and a first wimbrel for me! 2 stonechat
2 mile down from talacre(preststyn)
300+ oystercatcher putting on a marvellous performance 1 bar tailed godwit 6 sanderling 1000s of gulls 20 curlew lots of cormorant 1 kestrel
looking forward to going again soon really like this place as it is a change for me to birding at pennington flash to seeing lots of newer birds
The Grey Plover is perhaps more likely a first summer bird Steven
Thanks for that Ian, I only had a rspb pocket guide on me at the time so it never shown identification off a 1st summer. Note to self take Collins guide out
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Jun 10 5:42 AM, 2013
The Grey Plover is perhaps more likely a first summer bird Steven
steven burke said
Mon Jun 10 5:34 AM, 2013
a morning trip here with phil Kelly produced..
100+ curlews 1 whimbrel 3 bar tailed godwits 16 ringed plover 1 dunlin 1 grey plover, which had us stumped for a while because it was in winter plumage but still even paler it was only when it took a short flight that we seen its black armpits. 5 little egrets 7 sandwich terns hundreds of oystercatchers several shelducks skylarks, linnets & meadow pipits 1 sedge warbler 1 stonechat
Offshore :- 1 female Red Brested Merganser, 1 Great Crested Grebe and several Cormorants.
Plenty of Common and Herring Gulls on the beach, plus 3 Great Black Backed Gulls, 5 Sanderlings and lots of Oystercatchers.
A flock of 17 Greenfinches on the upper beach feeding amongst the shingle was a surprise find.
Saltmarsh
Two small flocks of Chaffinches moving around and a group of 5 Meadow Pipits, 2 Little Egrets, 1 Kestrel.
The high tide roost was building up in front of the new screen/hide just before I left and consisted of 2 Grey Plovers, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, masses of Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin and Shelduck etc.
I would have liked to have stayed for high tide but despite being wrapped like an eskimo the biting North Westerly beat me.
The sea was quite rough and it's first time I've been here and not seen a Grey Seals head bobbing in the waves, no sign of any geese either.
The new screen is fine and like the old hide offers good views but you really do need to wear thermals.
Pete Welch said
Thu Sep 3 9:21 PM, 2009
Can I ask a daft sea watching related question - when you're at Point of Ayr what sort of range is typical for the birds flying out to sea e.g. shearwaters and/or the species on the water e.g. I guess scoter? I know it'll vary but I'd like to have a proper go at a sea watch and don't know how far out to concentrate on! Cheers, Peter
sid ashton said
Thu Sep 3 7:25 PM, 2009
Henry, there was no sign of the builders when I was over there a couple weeks ago.
-- Edited by sid ashton on Thursday 3rd of September 2009 07:26:09 PM
Henry Cook said
Thu Sep 3 5:26 PM, 2009
Some good reports from here today including 2 Long-tailed Skuas. Shame the hide was destroyed a while back although NW wind would still rush through the gap where windows would be in a WWT hide! Did you happen to call in on the hide Ian, i've not heard if they are rebuilding it. Thanks. Henry.
Ian Campbell said
Thu Sep 3 2:11 PM, 2009
Spent 45 mins here this a.m. then gave up due to driving rain, howling wind and constant sand blasting!, definately the wrong day to visit. Still did manage to spot; 7 Manx Shearwater( a British tick), many Sandwich Tern, 1 Common Tern, 1 Little Tern, 1 Red Breasted Merganser, 100+ Ringed Plover, similar of Dunlin, 5 Sanderling, 5 Common Scoter and 6 Wheatear. Cheers Ian
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 6th of December 2012 12:24:39 AM
5f+2m Wheatears were along the edge of the dunes.
Oddly the only terns seen offshore and on the beach were Sandwich Terns.
At one point a group of 110 gathered on the beach, where some displayed whilst others
arrived with beaks full of small fish to offer to their prospective mates.
There was a steady trickle of northbound Gannets offshore, with some seen plunging into the sea quite
close to the shore. At least 7 Manx Shearwaters were also seen offshore.
The only waders recorded along the shoreline were 10 Oystercatchers and 3 Dunlin.
Hirundines were seen following the shoreline North throughout, in singles or small groups, Swallows,
House and Sand Martins were all noted.
Saltmarsh : 2 Little Egrets and numerous territorial Skylarks.
A Lesser Whitethroat was heard calling from hawthorns alongside the gas plant.
The bramble patches and scrub near the RSPB hide held 1 Common Whitethroat, 3 Stonechats and 2 Linnets.
A Green Woodpecker was heard calling nearby but stayed hidden.
Beach & Offshore : Singles of Sanderling and Grey Plover.
Salthouse & Mudflats in front of the hide : Numerous Curlews, Lapwings, Redshanks, Shelducks, Teal and Dunlin.
A flock 120 Black tailed Godwits, 4 Pintails, 4 Little Egrets, 1 Kestrel, 1 Reed Bunting, 6 hen Pheasants and 6 Meadow Pipits.
Just the usual gulls (Mostly Common) and Cormorants offshore, no sign of any grebes, divers or scoters.
Oystercatchers and the usual gulls along the shoreline.
Curlews appeared noticeably more numerous than I've seen around the coast for a long time, with small flocks commuting between
the mudflats and inland beyond the gas plant. All this changed mid-afternoon though when a paraglider, using the area adjacent to
the beach carpark as a take off point, flew low over the saltmarsh, above the hide and out across the mudflats several times, flushing
every bird in sight except the odd crow.
On return from family business in Wales (went to Llyn Brenig on the way out) high tide at the RSPB hide revealed Pintails, all the major gull species, an Eider, Shelduck, Cormorant, Blackwits, one Ruff (in saltmarsh channels), three Knot, one Dunlin, one Greenshank, plenty of Redshank back and forth, Oystercatchers. Two Little Egret in the channels as well. Curlew everywhere.
Twite and Skylark seen when walking west from Talacre to the holiday camps via the dunes.
Someone spoiled the fun by flying a drone over the shore from the Talacre beach car park, so a lot of gulls and waders at the North end by Talacre headed west towards Gronant. If ever there was a need for telescopes to be fitted with crossbow functions this idiot needed it.
-- Edited by Andy Slee on Thursday 9th of December 2021 08:15:12 PM
An interesting trip out, North Wales & Lancashire. 14/11/2021
Our last trip out was to see the Two barred Greenish Warbler at Spurn a few weeks ago, so after many wet weekends since, we ventured out. With Kevin C still needing to see a Dusky Warbler we decided to go to the closest one available at Talacre in North Wales. Myself, Bob K and Kevin left a dark Castleton at 7am and by 8-20am were striding through the dunes at Talacre and after 20 minutes we reached the small copse that the Dusky Warbler had been frequenting. Earlier reports that the bird had been showing well were a little confusing as the bird was not finally seen until 10-45am, a two hour wait with only a Chiff-Chaff to get the pulses going. Kevin C`s wait to see Dusky Warbler will have to wait as he could not get in the scrum to see the bird that was on view for 15 seconds. His comments are not to be printed
Dave O
Being at work yesterday when news broke of a rarity in North Wales I had to wait until today to try for it!! So off I headed at 9am to Talacre as news had come out positive re the bird. It was misty/foggy in Moulton when I left but sunny by the time I was parking up on the beach at Talacre.
I soon discovered that parking here I was well away from the track I needed to be on to head out to the area that the bird favoured. Heading inland I soon joined a concrete track heading west towards Gronant and the yomp started. The RBA Pager had said walk c. two thirds of a mile but a mate measured it on his phone and it was a mile on the track alone, plus the distance from where he and I had parked too! I joined about 15 birders looking into sallows and willows inland of the track. This included the original finder who had been watching it this morning too. Unfortunately the bird hadn't been seen for a couple of hours at least and folk were even giving up and leaving already.
A long wait finally paid off when a birding pal said that he had it and being a couple of paces from him I took his directions and was on the bird immediately. Then it dropped down out of view but soon after appeared again a bit further left and I had better views of the Dusky Warbler before it again moved lower and out of view behind the long vegetation between us and it! The bird had shown for such short times that only about half the (now) 25-30 birders got onto it. We all searched further and even moved up and down the copse but to no avail so I decided to call it a day having seen the bird twice. A few other birds were in the copse including Long-tailed Tits, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit and Blackbird and I had a Meadow Pipit on the way back, but the warbler was by far the most elusive of all of these, typical!!
Nice to bump into lots of birding pals and have a catch up, including our own Dave Ousey from these forums!
Sand Martin 3
Cettis Warbler - 1 singing
(Working visit to the gas terminal).
Salt Marsh :52 (Pale-Bellied) Brent Geese were close to the parking area.
At least 5 Twite with a flock of around 30 Linnets. Plus another similar sized
flock of Linnets also contained a few Twite together with several Chaffinches.
7 Skylarks, a pair of Stonechats and oddly just 1 Little Egret .
Shoreline :10 Sanderlings were amongst the many Oystercatchers and Dunlin.
No sign of any grebes, divers or ducks offshore, just the usual gulls and Cormorants.
Also 2 Grey Plovers were amongst Redshanks on the mud in front of the hide.
A mixed flock of small birds moving through the small linear wood (Which also contains an
active rookery) alongside the path to the hide held at least 7 Goldcrests.
A pair (M+F) of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were also there.
No raptors were seen throughout, although a Great Black Backed Gull flushed the waders
a couple of times.
-- Edited by John Williams on Thursday 9th of January 2020 02:10:25 PM
Offshore : 1 male Long tailed Duck on the sea just offshore near the lighthouse together with
1 Great Crested Grebe. The drake LTD then left flying South, but what was almost certainly the same
duck was seen flying north just beyond the beach several minutes later and flew into the Dee estuary
heading towards Caldy.
Also, 9 Mistle Thrushes, 2 Redwings and 1 Song Thrush were on hawthornes alongside the gas plant.
High water viewed from the RSPB screen produced 6 Common Scoters (Single Flock), 2 Grey Plovers,
2 Knots, 2f Goosanders and 2 Golden Plovers (With Lapwings).
Around high tide the main roost for waders was deliberatly disturbed 3 times by people (All adults) who
completely ignored the RSPB rope fencing and no access signs. They flushed all the waders around the spit
without showing any concern, in the end the birds seem to give up on their main roost there and settle
elsewhere around the salt marsh.
Mainly to view high tide roost from the RSPB screen.
Saltmarsh : 1f Merlin. 3f Goosanders and 1 Kingfisher along tidal gulleys.
Bushes alongside gas plant : 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Song Thrush and a charm of 15 Goldfinches.
A Green Woodpecker was flushed off a track inside the gas plant by a couple of workers.
6 Robins were aggressively chasing each other around a couple of Elder bushes.
Estuary & Mudflats viewed from the screen around high tide:
15 Little Egrets, 2 Grey Plovers, 21 Bar tailed Godwits, 50+ Pintails and 15 Great Black backed Gulls.
Lots of Knot were also seen but impossible to count as many of them were amongst large flocks of Oystecatchers.
Also abundant were Curlew, Wigeon, Shelduck, Dunlin and Cormorants.
In contrast only 6 Lapwings sat out the high tide.
Shoreline : 2 Sanderlings and 1 adult Yellow Legged Gull.
Mudflats : 8 Ringed Plovers, 30 Curlew plus lots of Redshanks.
Also 1m Wheatear was by the dunes, whilst 8 Skylarks and 8 Meadow Pipits were on the marsh field by the parking area.
3 Chiffchaffs were in the bushes near the gas terminal, and 2 Little Egrets were in the gullies on the saltmarsh.
Saltmarsh : At least 4 Twite amongst a flock of 40+ finches (Mainly Linnets, but a few Chaffinches too) feeding along the edge of the saltmarsh.
2 Little Grebes fishing in the main gully. Also 3 Skylarks and 10 Little Egrets.
Mudflats : 46 Golden Plover with a flock of 200+ Lapwings. 8 Knot, 20 Curlew and lots of Redshank and Shelducks. Oddly no sign of any Dunlin or Ringed Plover.
1 Buzzard near the hide, and a Peregrine that really spooked the Lapwings. It's the first time I've been here and not found a single Kestrel.
Offshore : 2 Great Crested Grebes. A large group of Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and at least 6 Pintails just offshore at the mouth of the Dee.
10.30-12.30 today at low tide:
Peregrine Falcon, 4 Grey Plover, 14 Little Egret, 2 Stonechat, 15 Curlew, Reed Bunting, 18 Skylark, 2 Common Whitethroat, 5 Linnet.
Numerous Shelduck and Oystercatcher.
2 Stonechats, 3 Little Egrets, 6 Skylarks and 2 Kestrels,
Mudflats (Low tide throughout):
10 Curlew plus numerous Redshank, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Shelduck.
Offshore:
2 Great Crested Grebes, including one that was following a Harbour Porpoise around.
10 Wigeon plus a single Grey Seal.
12.30-14.30 Higlights following a successful search for the Black Throated Thrush in St Asaph:
Merlin, Kestrel, 7 Little Egret, 4 Stonechat, 100's of Linnet, Redshank and Curlew, Kingfisher, 30 Skylark.
Followed the receding tide out.
Little Terns were difficult to count, as they'd fed in the small streams that cross the beach and empty with tide, as birds constantly passed through, then moved off towards Gronant.
Most of these birds were juveniles, whereas most of the adults seemed to be roosting with Sandwich Terns, or fishing just offshore.
The big Sandwich Tern gathering is a marvel, birds were landing on the beach carrying large sandeels then displaying and pair bonding.
A search for skuas offshore was fruitless, although an "Argenteus" sized gull flew just offshore that showed no black wing tips at all, but was pure creamy white and ghostly.
Had it not been July I'd have claimed a 3rd winter "Iceland". 4 Common Terns were with the Sandwich Terns on the beach. Lots of adult Common Gulls about.
Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Sanderlings were numerous. 14 Shelducks were just offshore, whilst a dozen Curlew were on the mudflats towards Mostyn.
10 Little Egrets were dotted around the saltmarsh and mudflats. 16 Redshanks were in the gulley below the RSPB hide, but lots more flushed off the saltmarsh, but Idid'nt see what upset them.
8 Meadow Pipits, 2 Skylarks, 4 Pied Wagtails and a Greenfinch were near the hide.
2 Little Egret
Yellowhammer
4 Linnet
Garden Warbler
7 Dunlin
7 Ringed Plover
Female Wheatear
Curlew
2 Great Black Backed Gull
Many Oystercatcher
loads of birds on the flats tide was miles out though:
1 grey plover
50+ curlew
3 little egrets
500+ shelduck
loads of redshank, dunlin and a first wimbrel for me!
2 stonechat
2 mile down from talacre(preststyn)
300+ oystercatcher putting on a marvellous performance
1 bar tailed godwit
6 sanderling
1000s of gulls
20 curlew
lots of cormorant
1 kestrel
looking forward to going again soon really like this place as it is a change for me to birding at pennington flash to seeing lots of newer birds
Curlew c100
Oystcatcher c200
Shelduck c200
Herring Gull c40
Lesser Black Backed Gull 18
Grey Heron
Little Egret 3
Skylark 3
Meadow Pipit 6
Thanks for that Ian, I only had a rspb pocket guide on me at the time so it never shown identification off a 1st summer.
Note to self take Collins guide out
100+ curlews
1 whimbrel
3 bar tailed godwits
16 ringed plover
1 dunlin
1 grey plover, which had us stumped for a while because it was in winter plumage but still even paler
5 little egrets
7 sandwich terns
hundreds of oystercatchers
several shelducks
skylarks, linnets & meadow pipits
1 sedge warbler
1 stonechat
1 Water Rail
2 + Merlin
Numerous Oystercatcher
Redshank
1 + Little Egret
2 Peregrine.
Short Eared Owl
Reed Bunting
20 Grey Plover
18 Sanderling
Numerous Shelduck
Teal
Approx 50 Dunlin
100 + Curlew
2 Rook
10.00-14.00
Offshore :- 1 female Red Brested Merganser, 1 Great Crested Grebe and several Cormorants.
Plenty of Common and Herring Gulls on the beach, plus 3 Great Black Backed Gulls, 5 Sanderlings and lots of Oystercatchers.
A flock of 17 Greenfinches on the upper beach feeding amongst the shingle was a surprise find.
Saltmarsh
Two small flocks of Chaffinches moving around and a group of 5 Meadow Pipits, 2 Little Egrets, 1 Kestrel.
The high tide roost was building up in front of the new screen/hide just before I left and consisted of 2 Grey Plovers, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, masses of Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin and Shelduck etc.
I would have liked to have stayed for high tide but despite being wrapped like an eskimo the biting North Westerly beat me.
The sea was quite rough and it's first time I've been here and not seen a Grey Seals head bobbing in the waves, no sign of any geese either.
The new screen is fine and like the old hide offers good views but you really do need to wear thermals.
-- Edited by sid ashton on Thursday 3rd of September 2009 07:26:09 PM
Thanks. Henry.
Cheers Ian
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 6th of December 2012 12:24:39 AM