Toby Phelps

Yorkshires only Little Tern colony relies on paid wardens to protect them from predators and disturbance, the team have achieved amazing numbers of fledglings in recent years and it would be a great shame if it doesn’t run this year, much appreciated if you can help out with this funding gap 🙏

🧵 An urgent appeal to protect one of the UK’s most important Little Tern colonies at Beacon Ponds in 2026.

Without funding for professional wardening, the project may not be able to run this season.

⬇️

Oh that's a shame!

Russian White-fronted Geese (pic from 28th Dec)

2 Ad Russian White-fronted Geese still at Castlemartin Corse this morning (at the upper sections below the church). Also a Water Pipit on the flooded fields. #birdingWales

Cheers Dave - First check of the scoters this winter so pleased to pick them out! Not as many out there as I'd expect, although I could see several more groups way further out.

4 of the Tundra Bean Geese plus a Greylag Goose on the right.

Russian White-fronted Geese

Was good to see the Tundra Bean Geese in the Towy Valley today, at least 15! Also 26 Russian White-fronts upriver of Dryslwyn Castle.
Finished the day checking the scoter flocks in Carmarthen Bay. 2 ad drk Surf Scoters off Pendine (or more precisely of Ragwen Point) the highlight! #birdingWales

Nice day out across Pembs and Carms today - started with a flock of White-fronted Geese (11) over Dryslwyn Castle early am + 17 Whooper Swan. Purple Sandpipers, Great Northern and Red-throated Divers in Pembs and finished with a ringtail Hen Harrier and 3 Marsh Harriers at Ginst Point #birdingWales

Christmas can be an expensive time of year, so how about something for free?

The @scottishbirding.bsky.social and Scottish Birds Records Committee are hosting a FREE online conference over the evenings of February 24th to the 26th. Three talks per night and some real belters among them.

Firecrest in willow scrub by the entrance to Kiln Park (two there y'day) also 11 Chiffchaffs

1 of 7 Purple Sandpipers on Tenby lifeboat station at high tide this morning. #birdingWales

Ring Ouzel sitting in a hawthorn bush.

Ring Ouzel feasting on hawthorn berries by Manorbier beach this afternoon. At least 1 Firecrest around too. Also a Yellow-browed Warbler heard calling (unfortunately not seen) on Thursday and good movement of finches most mornings! Lots to look at at the moment! #birdingWales

A Black Tern flew west past Old Castle Hd, Manorbier at lunchtime today. Otherwise very little moving in misty conditions #birdingWales

Fresh East is a nice spot, hopefully you can get out more next year. May see you out and about around here at some point...

2 Balearic Shearwaters west past St Govan's Head in an hr this evening #birdingWales

Adult Sabine's Gull

Balearic Shearwater

St Govan's Head

Enjoyable day seawatching at
St Govan's Hd yesterday.

Sabine's Gull 4 (2 Ad, 2 Juv)
Cory's Shearwater 1
Balearic Shearwater 1
Sooty Shearwater 4
Grey Phalarope 2

Plus a big push of 'Commic' Terns (c700) early morning and a flock of 29 Pale-bellied Brent Geese west!
#birdingWales

Interesting! I did wonder if it might have stopped. Tried again yesterday morning but could only manage an hour before work. No luck but 3 Great Northerns past were nice

Awesome record! I tried an hour by Tenby after the initial report in the vague hope I might pick it up, but of course was unsuccessful! I wonder if it did pass through Pembrokeshire waters on its way through, maybe past St Govan's Hd? Anyway congratulations on a great find!

No pics of the birds so here is a Green-winged Orchid. One of several on the clifftop near my seawatching spot.

Manx shearwaters streaming past St Govan's Hd this evening. Estimated over 11,000/hr between 5.30-6.30pm. Awesome!
8 Puffin and 2 Sanderling past too. #birdingWales

This superb breeding plumage Grey Plover spent 4 days at Tenby south beach. No sign of it this evening so I assume it has continued on its northward migration #birdingWales

SLAM!

2 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Dunlin and on Tenby South Beach this evening. Other bits and bobs in recent days include several Whimbrel, a Tree Pipit (at Skrinkle on Fri) and a few singing Lesser Whitethroats and Garden Warblers #birdingWales

The Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2024 is now available to download below. Vital and huge work from Pembrokeshire Bird Group 🙌

Mae Adroddiad Adar Sir Benfro ar gael i’w lawrlwytho isod. Gwaith gwych ac allweddol gan Grŵp Adarydda Sir Benfro 🙌

Diolch 🙏

drive.google.com/file/d/1Q0VS...

Feeding Manx Shearwaters.

Yesterday morning there was an impressive feeding raft of Manx Shearwaters off Presipe beach. Maybe about 300+! A little flurry of migrants in the bushes at Skrinkle including my first Grasshopper Warbler and Common Whitethroat of the year #birdingWales

Cheers Dave! Have been enjoying your pics of the Marloes Hoopoe, cracking bird.

A male Wheatear with colour rings on its legs recorded at Manorbier in March 2025. This bird was ringed on Lundy Island in 2023 and was recorded there again in 2024.

The colour-ringed Wheatear I recorded at Manorbier on the 24th March was ringed on Lundy as a one-year old breeding male in May 2023. He was also seen in the same territory last year. Let's hope he's made it back there this year! #birdingWales

Slide shows the number of bird records (not including those from structured surveys) contributed by birdwatchers in Wales to the national record through a variety of channels in 2024. Of 637,636 records, 67% were collected through BirdTrack, 27% through eBird, 4% directly to county bird recorders, 2% through the four Local Environmental Records Centres and the LERC Wales mobile app, and <1% through iRecord (figures are rounded). It is estimated that around 4000 people contributed records, making counts equivalent to 5.6 million birds. A map - produced by the British Trust for Ornithology - shows all the locations in Wales from which BirdTrack and eBird records were submitted. There was almost complete coverage around the coast and in the main river valleys but far fewer in the uplands of mid, west and north Wales. In total, records came from 277 of the 282 (96%) 10-km squares. The two main recording apps provided 26,089 complete lists which is the most useful way of providing records, during 49,573 hours of recording effort. Massive thanks to everyone who contributes, even bigger thanks to county recorders who manage all this data. My thanks to Simon Gillings at BTO, Sarah Woodcock at BIS on behalf of LERC Wales and all the county recorders who provided estimates.

How many people contribute records to county and local bird reports in Wales?

How much data do those county recorders manage and through which channels?

How wide is the coverage? More detail in Alt Text.

Number-wrangling while I'm writing the @birdsinwales.bsky.social 2024 report.

#BirdingWales

My 4th Black Redstart of the spring, a female-type, on the road to RAF Manorbier this morning. Later seen on the coast path near Presipe. Also a female Wheatear and a few extra Chiffchaffs about. #BirdingWales

Thanks Dan, I believe Skok use a coded colour ring on their Wheatears, thinking it might be a Lundy bird.

Thanks Dave, didn't get much of a chance to look at it yesterday but would agree seems to be the closest. I'll drop them a line to check anyway

Male Wheatear with colour-rings. On its left leg there are two rings, white over blue and on its right legthere is a metal ring above a yellow ring with a black line through the middle.

Male Wheatear with colour-rings. On its left leg there are two rings, white over blue and on its right legthere is a metal ring above a yellow ring with a black line through the middle.

Male Black Redstart.

Male Black Redstart.

Wheatears! 7 this morning behind the RAF Manorbier range (2 females, 5 males). One of which was colour ringed!
Any help tracking down the project would be gratefully appreciated.
Lundy maybe?

Also 2 Black Redstarts, a female-type and a new(?) adult male.
#birdingWales