With good weather forecast for the weekend I decided that it was finally time to head over to Pembrokeshire to see what was what. We booked ourselves into a very nice B+B just up the road from Abereiddi. Things got off to a good start just after we arrived with a quick walk from Whitesands beach around to St David’s head. My first Kittiwake of the season was a juvenile individual on Whitesands beach itself. It was further complimented by another two juveniles on the return leg who proved very obliging allowing me to get close enough for some decent photographs. Out on St David’s head two Choughs landed close by, and the Meadow Pipits were out in force with flocks of thirty plus present at times.
Saturday saw us walking from the B+B around the coastal path to Porthgain, an amazing hundred year old industrial port. Things began well with numerous Fulmars and huge flocks of Guillemot traversing the coast. A few Oystercathchers were present but by and large waders were completely absent. Highlights from the walk included another couple of Choughs around Porthgain, as well as my second Black Redstart of the year. The raptors were also putting on a good show with three Peregrine Falcons and a Merlin giving an excellent acrobatic display as it attempted to catch a Meadow Pipit. It failed. Out to sea I was also surprised to see a few Gannets flying past. Spring must be on its way. The most surprising sighting of the day was what I believe was a Water Rail running across the ditch running alongside the B+B entrance.
On Sunday we spent a few hours at the Llys-y-fran Reservoir. I was pleasantly surprised to find it an excellent location and will definitely be back in the near future. Out on the rather choppy water were eight Great Crested Grebe, two Little Grebe, two Goldeneye and a good twenty or so Canada Geese. All in all a very enjoyable weekend with a few worthy additions to my yearly species count.
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