ORIOLE ADVENTURES SOUTH WALES 25TH - 28TH JANUARY TOUR

Our four day excursion in South Wales with Oriole Adventures was another tremendous success.. Our group met at noon on DAY ONE at the Atlantic Hotel, Porthcawl and we took a walk along Victoria Avenue where three adult Mediterranean Gulls gave good views on the rocks. Five Turnstones and a Shag were also noted. In the harbour, three Kittiwakes gave some nice views. At Candleston Bridge, a Grey Wagtail was by the River Ewenny and we also saw Nuthatch and Treecreeper here. Moving on to a farmland bird feeding site, Tyn-y-Caeau Farm, wild bird cover crops proved fruitful for obtaining good views of a range of species. 70 Skylark was an excellent total, while 15+ Yellowhammer and 10+ Reed Bunting wee also present. Good views of four Tree Sparrows were a highlight and we also recorded Stonechat, Kestrel and three Common Buzzards. Pausing by Picton Pond, a superb drake Red Crested Pochard was seen, as well as Teal, Wigeon, Common Snipe and Stock Dove. At a nearby site, we had excellent views of a female Dartford Warbler at close quarters, as well as Sparrowhawk and a pair of displaying Ravens. Finally, our last port of call was Candleston Warren where a visit to buckthorn scrub by the dunes yielded 150+ Fieldfare and 40+ Redwing, two female Blackcap, four Mistle Thrush, Peregrine and Sparrowhawk. DAY TWO produced two Merlins at Llanrhidian Marsh, where five Hen Harriers, a Green Sandpiper and a Eurasian Spoonbill were also present. At Whiteford NNR, eight Slavonian Grebes, 52 Common Eider, a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, a Peregrine, 675 Dark-bellied Brent Geese and a single Pale-bellied bird, two drake Common Scoter and a fly past Great Northern Diver were seen, along with huge numbers of Common Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Curlew, Northern Pintail, Common Teal, Red Knot and Dunlin. Four Treecreepers and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers were also present in the conifer plantation and another Green Sandpiper was at Landimore Pill. A Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper were at Penclawdd Pill. DAY THREE saw the sun return and some more excellent birding, the highlights of which were three Red-billed Choughs, three European Shag, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, four Common Scoter and six Purple Sandpipers at Ogmore-by-Sea, 22 Common Goldeneye, a drake Gadwall and a drake Goosander on the estuary, whilst a Dipper was in Bridgend Town Centre. Candleston Bridge produced a Kingfisher and a further three Goosander, as well as a Mink, while an undisclosed site in West Glamorgan had a pair of Northern Goshawks, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, fifteen Siskin and fifteen Common Buzzards on a lovely afternoon. DAY FOUR was cold and breezy as we scanned the beach at Blackpill. Good numbers of Oystercatchers, Curlews, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Sanderling were present and a few Great Crested Grebes were offshore, but with the tide low, there were few gulls, so we moved back t Kenfig Pool. Two Jack Snipes were the highlight of our walk and we also managed tow Common Snipe for comparison. Eleven Goldeneye were on the pool, along with small numbers of Tufted Ducks, Pochard and Shoveler which were all new for the tour and we finished with a Grey Wagtail flying over the reserve centre just as it started to rain – perfect timing at the end of a very successful few days in good company.