Thursday 18 August 2011

Choughs showing well and a few migrants this morning.



A few more migrants on the move today with the autumn's first Tree Pipit and Golden Plover over the headland, while two Curlew in the field were unusual here. 15+ House Sparrow on the approach road were also notworthy. A single Redstart along the wall was very vocal, while two smart fresh juv Willow Warblers fed in the thistles amongst the 100+ goldfinch. 5 Wheatears and 2 Whtethroat also present. Chough are very easy to see at the moment with six birds allowing close approach. Two of the birds are the juveniles that have arrived from Llanbadrig on Anglesey (ringed N2 and N3 black lettering on white rings, with pale green over pale green on one bird's right leg and light green over dark green on the other bird's right leg, while the two pairs are also present (one ringed out of each pair).

Monday 15 August 2011

Migrants continue to trickle through



A few migrants trickling through the Great Orme this morning. The first two hours of light produced 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers in gorse at the north end of the limestones, while a sngle Whitethroat and a single Willow Warbler were also grounded in these bushes. Also in the limestone area, another 5 Willow warblers and 8 Wheatears were along the wall. A single juvenile Redstart was a different bird here from two days ago. Around 50 Meadow Pipits were present as well as 80+ Goldfinch. 13 Rock Pipit along Marine Drive was also a notable count. Seven Stonechat also around including four young.
Offshore 30+ Manx Shearwaters, 10+ Gannet and 33 Common Scoter flew west in a short watch from the cindertrack valley.

Saturday 13 August 2011

Wandering Choughs and a few migrants - 13th August

A few migrants today with 2 Common Redstart in the bushes at the bottom of the small valley near the limestones. Willow warbler, Whitethroat, 5 Wheatears and a Grasshopper present also.
Highlight though were three ringed Chough which were extremely tame and their close approach made me quite sure they weren't local 'orme' birds. A quick text to those in the know revelaed that all three were this year's birds from Anglesey- 2 from Llanbadrig and the other from Rhoscolyn - superb, some post breeding Chough dispersal.