Thursday 8 September 2011

Melodious Warbler

With the wind decreasing slightly - and an uncomfortable back and neck ache after stooping over a telescope these last few days seawatching - I decided that a spot of terrestrial birding was in order so headed down to Porth Meudwy mid-morning.

The great thing about this place is the fact that because it curves round and is heavily vegetated no matter the wind direction there will be some shelter for birds and birders!

It was apparent that autumn is here with a few Goldcrests, phylloscs and Robins calling from the car park.

Eventually I found a mixed flock of tits and warblers below the Tir Glyn caravan site, and started pishing to see what popped up. Fortunately, amongst the Chiffchaffs, Great' & Blue Tits that were checking out the strange noises, I glimpsed a Melodious Warbler that appeared briefly in a small hawthorn (grid ref SH158257). Views were brief and poor but I managed to nail the salient features. After just a minute or so the bird dropped into cover and did not reappear in the next 3 hours of trying to relocate it!

Other species present in/over the valley included a Grey Wagtail, 3 alba wagtails, 15 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, 13 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Spotted Flycatcher, 20 Linnet and 3 Chough down by the slipway.

A single Speckled Wood was the only butterfly noted - while Rhys informs me of 2 Clouded Yellows on the waste land opposite the council offices in Pwllheli. 

4 comments:

  1. Directions..... I NEED DIRECTIONS !!! Where is it in relation to that juv willow warbler ????

    Nah, only kidding matey..... a good find indeed....

    Great to see you finally took the plunge into the world of bloggin...... do we get any pics ?

    Keep it up and good luck for that autumn crippler, a yellow warbler very soon maybe ?

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  2. Anything Yellow would do and preferably in a flock :-) I've had some frustrating moments with skulking warblers in the valley over the years, worse being a probable Blyth's Reed a few years back that gave me the run around for two days! I have lots of digiscoped snaps of bushes as it dropped into cover from that period.

    My trusty (read awful) Coolpix 990 has just died so no images here until I get round to replacing it.

    You're in a great location for autumn vagrants - time for a Red-flanked Bluetail at Newton?

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  3. Still looking for my rarity at Porth Meudwy. Used to visit a lot (mum-in-law lived at Morfa Nefyn), now only 2/3 times a year. Best I've had is a Firecrest and a "grey" chiffchaff. Never seen anyone with bins or a scope !

    Good blog; nice to know what I've missed.

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  4. I still need Firecrest for the valley! Seen them around Uwchmynydd and elsewhere on the Lleyn in the past but have had more Yellow-browed Warblers over the years.

    True comment about the lack of birders - hope you manage to get down again and find something good.

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