22ND - 30TH SEPTEMBER

On the 22nd a Wryneck was in Cardiff Bay, where there were also a Green Sandpiper and Yellow Wagtail. Three Black Terns were at Hendre Lake, Cardiff and another two were at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir. Two Little Stints, a Ruff, a Hobby, 100 Black-tailed Godwits and 50 Red Knot were at Goldcliff Pill. The 23rd produced three Curlew Sandpipers and two Little Stints at Loughor Bridge, Gower. Five Black Terns were at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, while another two were at Lisvane Reservoir along with a Common Tern and another Black Tern and two Little Stints were at Kenfig Pool. A Common Tern was at Salthouse Point and shorebird counts there included 5000 Oystercatchers and 1000 Curlew and a Hobby and a Willow Tit were at Tir Founder Fields, Aberdare. The 24th produced a cracking Hobby at Kenfig Pool, where the Black Tern and one Little Stint remained, along with a Whinchat, two Yellow Wagtails, a Sedge Warbler, two Whitethroat, nine Blackcaps and two Common Snipe. Three Common Terns were at Cardiff Bay and a further three Black Terns and a Little Ringed Plover were at Lisvane Reservoir. A Dartford Warbler was at Sker Farm on 25th, while the unfortunate Black Tern at Kenfig Pool was taken by a pair of hunting Peregrines. Also present there were a 1000 Barn Swallows, a Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, two Wheatears, four Reed Warblers and a Sedge Warbler. Three Black Terns were still at Lisvane Reservoir and a Firecrest was at Lavernock Point. Six Mediterranean Gulls were in Porthcawl and a Red Kite was over Pant Norton, Ogmore Estuary. Three Little Stints were at Loughor Bridge. The 26th produced an Arctic Tern and two late Common Swifts at Kenfig Pool, along with a Whinchat, Sedge Warbler and 38 European Robins. Five Black Terns and a Common Sandpiper were at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir and an Osprey flew north over Cosmeston Lakes, Vale of Glamorgan. A Hobby and a Firecrest were at Lavernock Point. Three Black and an Arctic Tern were again at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir on 27th, while Sker had a Red Knot, a Bar-tailed Godwit, four European Golden Plover, a Whinchat and a European Shag of note. Three Green Sandpipers and two Mediterranean Gulls were at Ogmore Estuary. The 28th brought an Osprey to Talygarn Lake, Vale of Glamorgan and another to Lliw Reservoir, Swansea, while four Green Sandpipers were at The Watermill Flood, Ogmore Estuary. Tyn-y-Caeau Farm feeding station held 100 Sky Larks, fifty Linnets, thirty Yellowhammers and 200 European Starlings and a Black Tern was at Cosmeston Lakes. Heavy rain on 29th meant birding opportunities were limited, but seven Common Snipe and a Dunlin at Kenfig Pool were new in, and forty Barn Swallows and a Sedge Warbler were present. Two Common Terns were at Cardiff Bay. Two Red-billed Chough at Sker House was an unprecedented record on 30th, though unfortunately they soon moved east. A Quail was also flushed from the tiny Sker Pool. At Kenfig Pool, some visible migration was finally noted with 110 Meadow Pipits thirteen Sky Larks, nine Siskins and twenty Chaffinches.