Abersoch

More howling gales from the NW kept me inside for most of the day but I could not resist the chance of some potential white-winged gull action so headed out after lunch.

Aberdaron beach was virtually devoid of life and the bay dead so I hit the road to Abersoch. Fair numbers of gulls were bathing in the stream outfall and loafing on the beach between sporadic disturbance from the inevitable dog walkers. Several hundred of the same mix of species as yesterday included a single1w Lesser Black-backed' but three Meds (including two pristine adult and a 1w) were pleasant as ever.

Of more interest were a couple of Black Guillemots just offshore and a Great Northern Diver in the same area as yesterday's bird - off The Warren. As the (expletive deleted) canine exercisers increased in number I decided to wander around to the South Caernarfonshire Yacht Club to scan towards the Tudwal islands. Immediately I locked onto a superb Great Northern' which was sheltering very close inshore below the club house, giving really crippling views. Superb! Another loon was further out with a party of 12 Common Scoter, another Black Guillemot, a single Great Crested Grebe and a few Mergansers and Shags.

Back around by the stream outfall a party of 15 Ringed Plover and three Sanderling were on the beach while signs of Spring included both Alexanders and Butterwort in flower by the footpath. 

Goosander & Great Northern Diver

Another day of strong winds and low cloud saw me in town for a dental appointment. I decided the best remedy post-filling was a wander around the harbour. Highlight was a male Goosander flying upstream from the Cob Pool. I bumped into Kim Atkinson & Gwydion Morley who had been watching the bird - and also passed on news of a group of Purple Sandpipers reported to them a few days ago in the harbour.

Goosander are a scarce species in these parts. I've seen them occasionally on the Afon Rhyd-hir by the roundabout on the way out of town and at Llyn Glasfryn. The more regular sawbill - Red-breasted Merganser -  was again present with six birds showing. Other 'wildfowl' included a good count of 37 Teal on the pool, a pair of Wigeon, seven Shelduck (including a group displaying) and a Great Crested Grebe.

Wader numbers were down, despite the low tide; a handful of the usual suspects included three Knot and 12 Dunlin. A couple of hundred gulls were present including 37 Common Gull. I received a message tonight from Dave Lamacraft who found a 1w Iceland Gull off Gimblet Rock yesterday -  an excellent local record. Another (or the same) "immature" was reported off Criccieth today, with other many other records these last few days throughout the U.K.

Next stop was Abersoch where a superb Great Northern Diver was fishing offshore and a Black Guillemot flew SW. The Larus tribe here included three smart adult Mediterrnaean', 6 Great BLack-backed', a Lesser Black-backed' (early migrant?), 159 Common', 110 Herring' & 130 Black-headed Gulls.

The floods at Llanengan played host to 118 Teal, c110 Wigeon, 348 Lapwing and 168 Curlew before the rain came lashing down and I headed for home, disturbing a Raven feeding from a Brown Hare corpse on the minor road by Glan Soch.

Penrhos

Some belated news via Eddie Urbanski from yesterday:

"I spent an hour sitting in the car on the bridge by the Polish Home entrance and noted the following:-

At least 250 Golden Plover and probably the same number of Lapwings.
Large numbers of Curlews (50+), 12 Ringed Plovers and 7 Redshank.
Lots of Black-headed Gulls, one Common Gull, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls and 3 (perhaps 4?) Mediterranean Gulls.

Quite a few Teals on the north side of the road and about 1000 Starlings.

Also, Kelvin Jones relocated, caught and ringed the Black Redstart at Criccieth on 31st December and found it to be an adult female."

Aberdesach Chough

More grim weather today with low cloud and some heavy showers. I spent a while at Aberdesach late afternoon in the hope of a few Great Northern Divers as it's the best site in the area for them. Unfortunately it was throwing it down as I arrived and all I managed were a couple of very distant unidentified divers while using my binoculars from the car.

Despite giving the sea a good scoping there was little to get excited about  - a lobster fisherman was busy checking his pots causing disturbance to the few birds that were present; just 9 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Shag and a Cormorant, but as I was leaving the car park a flock of 10 Chough headed low overhead to the SW, presumably off to roost. It seems appropriate that the last bird species I recorded in 2011 was this iconic Celtic crow.

Good Birding & Best Wishes to all followers in the New Year!

Bar-tailed Godwits

Today was calm - at last, although still dull and wet. Late afternoon saw me checking part of the harbour in Pwllheli as the tide began to drop. A similar mix of species to the other day were seen; five Bar-tailed Godwits were the highlight while the Dunlin flock was up to c220 birds with small numbers of Curlew, Oystercatcher, Knot and Redshank. Three Little Egrets were feeding, while three Great Crested Grebe and a pair of Red-breasted Merganser were in the harbour channel. A flock of 50 Wigeon headed west whle small groups of gulls were dropping out of the sky to bathe before heading off to roost at sea.

It was good to hear two Song Thrush and a Great Tit singing as dusk fell while a Water Rail was again calling from the reeds.

Blackbirds & Blackcap

I spent a couple of hours in Porth Meudwy this morning with Peter Kemis-Betty. The weather was again pretty grim with a freezing gale force westerly - although at least the overnight rain had eased off. I am getting pretty bored of the relentless depressions sweeping in across the Atlantic - there has hardly been a calm day for weeks!

Blackbirds were most evident with small groups everywhere, totalling 31 birds, most feasting on the remnanats of the sloes in the upper valley. A few smart Redwings were whizzing about - c18. A single Blackcap, Bullfinch and 7 Long-tailed Tits plus a couple of Goldcrest were sheltering by the stream and a Peregrine flew east. A single Chough and a couple of Raven were also overhead while Aberdaron Bay was quiet apart from a few Shag, Herring', Common' and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls.

Pwllheli Dunlin

I travelled into town late afternoon - noticing big numbers of Golden Plover, Lapwing and gulls on the roadside fields at Penrhos but did not have time to check them out.

The light was fading and the tide incoming rapidly in the harbour, pushing a decent flock (for this site) of 207 Dunlin towards the Cob before thye headed off to roost. A handful of Curlew, Oystercatcher and Knot were also present with 58 Redshank. Three Little Egret, plus single Great Crested Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser were noted plus a couple of hundred small gulls dropped in.

A group of 15 vocal Teal were on the Cob Pool with a couple of Snipe, while a Water Rail squealed from the reedbed and 3 Long-tailed Tits added to the chorus.

Criccieth Black Redstart

Eddie Urbanski had a Black Redstart this afternoon over at Criccieth. The bird was by the sea front east of  the Moranedd Café by the WARNING: LANDSLIP sign. 

Goldies & Pewits

Have not done a great deal of birding in often inclement weather these last few weeks - so the blog has been quiet.

I've also been busy as I've become a grandad again (yes, I am way too young I hear you say). The still unnamed baby girl - 9 months isn't long enough to decide apparently! - and mum are both doing well.

Anyway, less talk of mammals and a snippet of bird news. With the drop in temperatures of late I've noticed some good wader flocks. Over 100 Golden Plover and 220+ Lapwing were wheeling over the fields by Saithbont, Botwnnog today while another 200+ Lapwings were over the usual fields at Penrhos which has also held some sizeable Wigeon flocks on the floods.
 

Rhiw Birding

I've been experiencing a few vehicle problems over the last few weeks - and have been concentrating on birding around my home village in between swearing at my van and sharing bus rides with poor/young/retired/environmentally friendly passengers :-)

Hence the lack of updates!

Anyway, the good news about the trusty old Vito is that I don't have to spend any more money on it - the bad news is because the diagnosis is that it's terminally ill! I don't think even the ace team behind Pimp My Ride could do anything with it. The other good news is that I seem to have found a cheap, reliable, honest mechanic in these parts - Chris Nash at Dragon Engineering in Sarn.

So, it's been lots of walking around Rhiw - and not seeing a lot apart from the usual lovely Green Woodpeckers, Barn' & Little Owls, a decent flock of 19 Yellowhammers the other day etc. I'm sure Porth Meudwy is crawling with Pallas's Warblers ;-)

Loads of Starlings on the Lleyn at the minute including some massive noisy flocks in the surrounding pasture. Good to hear that the Rose-coloured Starling is still visiting a bird table in Nefyn but to be honest it's not the most inspiring looking bird - having said that, I'm in the process of sorting some more wheels out and may succumb to the lure of a peninsula tick eventually...